Barker Coogler

Hollywood’s Gatekeepers Lost Their Grip. Young White Directors Are Back.

Backrooms

Curry Barker

Film

Hollywood

Movies

Obsession

Ryan Coogler

Some belated sequels crash and burn on arrival. Think “Zoolander 2,” “Blues Brothers 2000,” “Terminator: Dark Fate” and “Independence Day: Resurgence.”
All duds or box office disappointments.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” won’t suffer that fate, despite the 20-year gap between the two films. In fact, the sequel might mimic another recent blockbuster that lured women back to theaters in droves.
The 2023 smash “Barbie.”
That film wasn’t just a box office juggernaut. It convinced women to dress up in the grand Barbie tradition to enjoy the experience with their best gal pals. It became a cultural flashpoint, a chance to bond over childhood memories and sisterhood.
Will “Prada 2” be a spiritual sequel to that mega-hit?
<div id="attachment_1076167" style="width: 399px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076167" class="size-large wp-image-1076167" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-389x576.jpg" alt="Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - copyright: 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="389" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-389x576.jpg 389w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-202x300.jpg 202w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-768x1138.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2.jpg 1086w" sizes=" (max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px" />Photo by 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.</div>
The safest bet is “absolutely.” Box Office Pro predicts the sequel will <a href="https://www.boxofficepro.com/long-range-forecast-may-box-office-kicks-off-with-the-devil-wears-prada-2-animal-farm-hokum/">land in the $80-95 million range</a>, a hefty debut for a comedy. Word of mouth might do the rest.
For contrast, the original scored $27.5 million over a Fourth of July weekend.
Why the optimism? Let’s start with the film’s first teaser, which didn’t share much in its brief running time. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMd1at7OwiE">under-60 second</a> clip became last year&#8217;s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/12/24/anticipated-sequels-and-remakes-dominated-the-years-most-watched-movie-trailers/">most viewed trailer</a>, more than sneak peeks at “Sinners,” “Superman” or “A Minecraft Movie.”
That’s despite the original film’s solid but hardly massive $124 million at the U.S. box office (globally, it brought in a hefty $323 million). Yet we had to wait 20 years for a sequel, despite the rising star status of featured players Anne Hathaway (as put-upon assistant Andy) and Emily Blunt as the exasperated Emily.
A new Fandango poll shows “Prada 2” as <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DW4NzTbCZfA/">the third most anticipated film of the summer</a>, behind “Toy Story 5” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
The sequel reunites them with Oscar-winner Meryl Streep as the venomous Miranda Priestly and Stanley Tucci. The May 1 release finds Miranda struggling to keep up with the digital age, something that wasn’t a major issue in the original yarn inspired by Lauren Weisberger’s bestselling novel.
<div id="attachment_1076173" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076173" class="size-large wp-image-1076173" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-864x576.jpg" alt="Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - copyright: 2026 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2-1.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Photo by 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
The marketing team behind the sequel is keeping most of the details under wraps, a wise move.
The sequel does expand the original cast, adding Kenneth Branagh, “Bridgerton’s” Simone Ashley, Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux, B.J. Novak and Pauline Chalamet.
So why is “The Devil Wears Prada 2” not a sign of Hollywood desperation but a sly acknowledgement of what audiences crave?
Some movies simply grow over the years, boosted by streaming access and stories that speak to something profound within us.
The technology in the original “Prada” may be dated — remember that screeching pager tune whenever Miranda needed Andy’s help? The themes, by contrast, are timeless.
“The Devil Wears Prada” nailed the hopes and dreams of young women who flirt with a brand of fame that can be intoxicating. Andy didn’t care about fashion until she worked within the industry 24/7. And, when she got her hands on some of the clothes collecting in her company’s closet, she was hooked.
And she looked fabulous.
Audiences got lost in Andy’s “Pygmalion”-like makeover. We’ll look past the running gag that Andy was both frumpy and overweight at the film’s start. Hathaway has always been lithe and lovely.
<div id="attachment_1076201" style="width: 879px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076201" class="size-large wp-image-1076201" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-869x576.jpg" alt="Copyright: TM and2006 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved." width="869" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-869x576.jpg 869w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-768x509.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006-1536x1019.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Prada-2006.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 869px) 100vw, 869px" />Copyright: TM and2006 Twentieth Century Fox. All rights reserved.</div>
And as much as the Left wants to deny biology, women by and large want to look beautiful in the best fashions possible. It’s why those “Sex and the City” films featured Carrie Bradshaw luxuriating in that monstrous, overstuffed closet.
It’s pure escapism.
Plus, we’ve all had bosses as demanding as Streep’s Miranda Priestly, even if they couldn’t chill us with one withering look. Yes, she was a monster, but who couldn’t admire her drive, talent and ruthless efficiently? It helped that Streep’s performance epitomized the power of the softly spoken villain.
She could destroy someone with a lifted eyebrow or well-manicured insult. The fact that Andy survived her chronic attacks, growing stronger by the day, proved intoxicating.
And then there’s poor Adrien Grenier. He played Hathaway’s frustrated beau in the original film, but he won’t be back for an encore. Could the <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/morganmurrell/anne-hathaway-responded-devil-wears-prada-nate-theory">negative memes</a> around his character be to blame? Or the fact that Grenier opted out of Hollywood, Inc. in the intervening years following his “Entourage” closeup?
That’s showbiz. So is Hollywood’s occasional ability to give audiences what they want. Yes, the industry will crank out woke reboots and insult audiences when they’re summarily rejected.
See “Starfleet Academy” for Exhibit A.
Nostalgia still sells, and movie studios know it. The original “Prada” arrived at a time when culture war battles didn’t distract us from our daily lives. The film lacked the gerrymandered diversity casting we too often see today.
No lectures. No “you go, girl” feminist talking points to stop the movie cold. Andy struggled with being Miranda’s assistant, but her intelligence and wit eventually made her an invaluable part of the Runway magazine team.
But did she sell her soul in the process? Her beau thought so, but audiences had her back from start to finish.
And they’ll have it again soon enough.
<div id="attachment_1076185" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076185" class="size-large wp-image-1076185" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-864x576.jpg" alt="SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - APRIL 08: Meryl Streep attends &quot;The Devil Wears Prada 2&quot; Seoul Premiere at Times Square on April 08, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu/WireImage)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2270419682.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Han Myung-Gu/WireImage</div>
The film is guaranteed a big opening weekend, but the only way to dampen the box office potential is to lean into Hollywood’s worst impulses. Identity Politics. Speeches. Political asides that erupt out of the blue.
Or, the film’s stars will use “Prada’s” publicity tour to politicize the film. Streep is already attempting just that by <a href="https://radaronline.com/p/meryl-streep-slams-melania-trump-controversial-jacket/">insulting fashion icon turned First Lady Melania Trump</a>.
Some movies are critic-proof. “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is both critic and culture war proof, assuming Hollywood can get out of its own way.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” Press Conference & Seoul Premiere

Why ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ Could Succeed Where Woke Hollywood Keeps Failing

Box Office

Entertainment

Meryl Streep

The MCU is yesterday’s news. The NCU, or Nintendo Cinematic Universe, is just beginning.
Ever since Robert Downey Jr. tinkered with that iron suit back in 2008, Marvel movies have dominated Hollywood. “Iron Man” changed the movie-making landscape. In recent years, however, superhero romps no longer light up the box office like they once did.
Even “Superman” <a href="https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/10/8/report-superman-box-office-isnt-the-success-warner-bros-claimed">struggled to turn a profit last year.</a>
Meanwhile, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” spun from Nintendo’s beloved video game franchise, could <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/super-mario-galaxy-movie-biggest-opening-day-2026-1236705460/">make $180 million (or more) in its opening weekend.</a>
Video game movies are having a moment, and Hollywood won’t be the same moving forward.
<div id="attachment_1072101" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1072101" class="size-large wp-image-1072101" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2268776924-864x576.jpg" alt="KYOTO, JAPAN - MARCH 28: Chris Meledandri, Jack Black and Shigeru Miyamoto pose for a photo as Universal Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination present the premiere of &quot;The Super Mario Galaxy Movie&quot; at Minamiza Theater on March 28, 2026 in Kyoto, Japan. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images for Universal Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2268776924-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2268776924-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2268776924-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-2268776924.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images for Universal Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination</div>
The superhero film genre may have run its course organically, but Hollywood hastened its decline. The genre peaked with 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which made an astonishing $2.8 billion worldwide.
It’s been downhill ever since, with MCU gatekeepers injecting girlbossery and DEI platitudes into the saga. That helped crush “The Marvels” and “Eternals,” while slowing the MCU’s winning streak.
Even respectable entries like last year’s “Thunderbolts” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” proved financially underwhelming, at least by previous standards.
So Hollywood needed another source of IP (Intellectual Property) gold. Why not video games? Well, Hollywood had tried that repeatedly, often with ghastly results.
Think 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.,” a colossal misfire starring John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins, 1999’s “Wing Commander” bust, and even 2005’s “Doom” with Dwayne Johnson.
<div id="attachment_1072117" style="width: 405px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1072117" class="size-large wp-image-1072117" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-55990924-395x576.jpg" alt="BERLIN - OCTOBER 24: Actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson gestures during a photo call for his newest movie &quot;Doom&quot; on October 24, 2005 in Berlin, Germany (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)" width="395" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-55990924-395x576.jpg 395w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-55990924-206x300.jpg 206w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/GettyImages-55990924.jpg 702w" sizes=" (max-width: 395px) 100vw, 395px" />Andreas Rentz/Getty Images</div>
More clunkers? The 2005 catastrophe “Alone in the Dark” and 2003’s “House of the Dead,” both courtesy of hack auteur Uwe Boll.
Something was missing, be it A-list actors, competent directors, or the kind of FX to pull off the visually impossible.
Slowly, Hollywood began treating video game adaptations with a critical element — respect. The 2018 film “Rampage” wasn’t a sensation, but by then Johnson was a star attraction, and the film’s budget gave it the gravitas the source material required.
The 2021 comedy “Free Guy” cast likable Ryan Reynolds as an NPC (non-player character) in way over his head. The film packed big laughs with video game elements to the tune of $331 million worldwide.
Reynolds may be gently progressive off-screen, but he knows how to put on a show without pushing Heartland viewers away. Few actors can match his marketing savvy.
The “Sonic the Hedgehog” films, based on the Sega speedster, have all made serious coin, aided by slick video game elements and the unchecked Id of star Jim Carrey.
<div id="attachment_146292" style="width: 544px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-146292" class="size-full wp-image-146292" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Jim-Carrey.jpg" alt="Jim Carrey attends the LA special screening of Paramount's &quot;Sonic The Hedgehog&quot; at Regency Village Theatre on February 12, 2020 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/WireImage via Getty Images)" width="534" height="314" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Jim-Carrey.jpg 534w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2020/09/Jim-Carrey-300x176.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px" />Rich Fury/WireImage via Getty Images</div>
Another secret to video game movies’ recent success? Respecting the audience. These films haven’t pushed a progressive agenda on unsuspecting audiences. No lectures, unnecessary woke asides, or clunky identity politics casting.
Even <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/08/snoop-dogg-scared-movies-grandchildren-same-sex-disney-pixar-lightyear-1236497251/">Snoop Dogg can watch these mostly PG-friendly films</a> with his grandson.
The new wave of video game-inspired films, while far from artistically relevant, cater to fans via Easter Eggs and other source material nods. And, when the fans speak, they listen.
Recall the outrage over the character design shown in the initial “Sonic the Hedgehog” teaser from 2019. <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sonic-hedgehog-release-delayed-fan-outcry-1213486/">Fans mocked the FX</a> behind the titular hero, and the studio quickly addressed the matter by tweaking the film.
That probably cost a pretty penny, and it pushed the release date forward several months. The results spoke for themselves. The film earned $148 million in the U.S. alone and sparked a new franchise.
A fourth “Sonic” film will <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/sonic-4-amy-rose-hammer-sequel-production-hedgehog-1236519779/">debut next year</a>, adding A-lister Kristen Bell to the saga (her voice, to be precise).
Video game adaptations were suddenly vital, but they still couldn’t approach MCU-like box office grosses. Then along came “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in 2023. That animated romp rang up $1.3 billion at global theaters, cementing video game movies as the new Hollywood drug.
The industry couldn’t get enough, and that was before “A Minecraft Movie” debuted two years later. That film, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, earned $424 million stateside and nearly $1 billion globally.
<a href="https://deadline.com/2026/03/minecraft-movie-2-cast-kirsten-dunst-1236760538/">A sequel is in the works</a>. Of course.
<div id="attachment_906779" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906779" class="size-large wp-image-906779" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-1024x576.jpg" alt="Jack Black, Jason Momoa, Sebastian Hansen in ‘A Minecraft Movie’. Photo by Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-11-Apr-2025-03-17-PM-8107-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. IMDB.</div>
That film’s “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/movies/chicken-jockey-minecraft-movie.html">chicken jockey</a>” sequence sparked a viral video sensation. Not only were Gen Alpha types seeing the film in theaters, but they went cartoonishly wild during that farcical moment.
Suddenly, it was cool to be in a theater again. Hollywood is now paying full attention to a competing media landscape, and many more video game adaptations are on the way. This May brings us “Mortal Kombat II,” while a “Resident Evil” reboot by “Weapons” director Zach Cregger is coming in September.
Bigger titles abound in 2027, including “The Legend of Zelda,” “Call of Duty,” and “Elden Ring.” Any one could spark a new film franchise. Maybe all three will do just that.
The potential seems endless, at least for now. The same once could be said for superhero movies given the endless amount of source material, but the MCU is so desperate for a cultural reboot that it reunited virtually every hero under the sun for December’s “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Can that film light a fire under the Men in Tights genre anew? Or have video games taken the box office crown and won’t give it back?
Movies are a natural fit for video game adaptations, but the small screen is also seeing a benefit. Hit shows like HBO Max’s “The Last of Us” and Prime Video’s “Fallout” show how games can also inspire TV sensations.
The video game manufacturers couldn’t be happier about the Hollywood synergy. It’s boosting both <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/tv-adaptations-video-games-new-players-1236372468/">game awareness and sales</a>, meaning these companies will gladly sell the film and TV rights to their properties … for the right price.
It’s one Hollywood studios will gladly pay.
* *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.

Super Mario Bros

The Next Box Office Boom Is Here And It Looks Nothing Like Marvel

Marvel

Nintendo

Video Games

We’ve seen this playbook before.
Hollywood went all-in on behalf of illegal immigration over the past decade. Documentaries. Feature films. TV show plots. The messaging proved consistent and one-sided.
We need open borders, even if they never said those words aloud.
Now, Hollywood is tag-teaming more specifically against ICE and any attempt to arrest illegal immigrants. And if what’s past is prologue, reality will prove superior to Hollywood fiction.
<div id="attachment_1067967" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067967" class="size-large wp-image-1067967" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-864x576.jpg" alt="HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Malgosia Turzanska, pin detail, attends the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266673336.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Mike Coppola/Getty Images</div>
First, a quick review of how aggressively Tinsel Town promoted the open-border madness under Democrats.
Take Fox’s hit series “Party of Five.” The show centered on a tight-knit family surviving after the loss of their parents. The 2020 reboot on Freeform followed a similar storyline, except the parents in question were deported to Mexico.
And, yes, the messaging was as heavy as possible. Newsbusters dubbed the pilot episode pure “<a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/lindsay-kornick/2020/01/08/illegal-immigrant-party-five-reboot-whats-matter-country">parody</a>,” while the saga got a jump on the current anti-ICE mania.
HBO uncorked not one but <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/hbo-torn-apart-liberty-open-borderstorn-apart/">two open-borders documentaries</a> in 2019, and the titles spoke volumes — “Torn Apart: Separated at the Border” and “Liberty: Mother of Exiles.”
More examples? The final season of “Orange Is the New Black” <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/open-borders-hollywood-immigration/">pushed family separation plot lines</a>, while the villain in the third “Descendants” film for kids tried to ban immigration. 
Selena Gomez used her clout to promote the docuseries “<a href="https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/selena-gomez-netflix-docuseries-1203338879/">Living Undocumented</a>.”
<div id="attachment_1067903" style="width: 799px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067903" class="size-large wp-image-1067903" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-789x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 02: Rosario Dawson (L) and Selena Gomez attend the LA Screening for Netflix Doc Series &quot;Living Undocumented&quot;, produced by Selena Gomez at Netflix Offices on October 02, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix)" width="789" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-789x576.jpg 789w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-300x219.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372-768x561.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-1178702372.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 789px) 100vw, 789px" />Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix</div>
Subtle? Hardly. And what happened next?
Donald Trump got re-elected by promising to slam the southern border shut. And when he did just that, by sheer coincidence, America celebrated its <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/murders-plummet-crime-trends-2025/">lowest national murder rate in more than a century.</a> 
Hollywood’s all-powerful messaging machine had failed. So why not try it again, but this time directly targeting ICE?
It started with “One Battle After Another,” a cinematic love letter to violent revolutionaries. Leonardo DiCaprio played a stoner rebel cosplaying as an anti-ICE warrior. His fiery gal pal (Teyana Taylor) was the real deal, using any means necessary to free illegal immigrants and attack U.S. officials.
Films take much longer than TV shows to produce and release, but writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson somehow grasped his industry’s zeitgeist with Kreskin-like accuracy.
Just days ago, Hollywood gave it the Best Picture Oscar.
<div id="attachment_1067923" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067923" class="size-large wp-image-1067923" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-864x576.jpg" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 25: Noah Wyle and Harriet Rose speak onstage during the Q&amp;A for 'The Pitt' to celebrate the launch of HBO Max at Rosewood London on March 25, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for HBO Max)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2268276413.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for HBO Max</div>
TV show productions happen faster, allowing small screen scribes to indoctrinate on demand. That allowed HBO’s hit series “The Pitt” to pick up the “OBAA” propaganda baton. A second season story arc follows an illegal immigrant being treated for a shoulder injury in the show’s Pittsburgh emergency room.
The ICE agents are portrayed as aggressive and unfeeling, while patients and workers alike recoil at their presence.
<div id="attachment_1067931" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067931" class="size-large wp-image-1067931" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-1024x576.jpg" alt="Source: HBO Max/The Pitt" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/The-Pitt-II.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Source: HBO Max/The Pitt</div>
Then, according to The Hollywood Reporter, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-pitt-ice-episode-scott-gemmill-interview-1236514931/">things get personal</a>:
<blockquote>…at the end of the episode, nurse Jesse (Ned Brower) gets detained for stepping in to protect the patient when the ICE agents get too aggressive.</blockquote>
Over at CBS, the “Matlock” reboot <a href="https://www.primetimer.com/features/matlock-season-2-episode-9-matty-s-high-risk-collateral-move-leaves-julian-with-the-ultimate-truth-bomb">concocted its own anti-ICE narrative</a>. An episode dubbed “Collateral,” during the show’s second season, finds Kathy Bates’ character defending a client detained by ICE agents. That bleeds into a larger story with both the client and his family trying to stay in the country despite their illegal status.
The government’s “deal” is cruel, including a demand that the client pay up to $6 million in restitution with zero path to citizenship. Boo! Hiss!
Meanwhile, the just-released second season of “Daredevil: Born Again” tackles ICE in a less heavy-handed, but equally negative fashion. The villainous Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio), now the Big Apple&#8217;s mayor, begins rounding up citizens without due process. That’s been the Left’s battle cry against ICE arrests across the nation.
<div id="attachment_1067935" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067935" class="size-large wp-image-1067935" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-864x576.jpg" alt="Vincent D'Onofrio at the &quot;Daredevil: Born Again&quot; Season 2 Launch Event held at Drai's Supper Club New York on March 23, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2267624335.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images</div>
D’Onofrio’s character is an obvious stand-in for President Donald Trump, or at least the cartoonish version Hollywood holds dear.
The show’s creative team has been coy about any real-world comparisons, but that may be a case of artists trying not to steamroll a show that hasn’t lit up the ratings world upon its belated return.
“Daredevil: Born Again” co-star Michael Gandolfini didn’t follow that advice. He <a href="https://x.com/Variety/status/2036625364890628459?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2036625364890628459%7Ctwgr%5E22e967c30af443b7a7cea49a0a08d23ed1a607a0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollywoodintoto.com%2Fcolberts-lord-of-the-rings-gig-reveals-ugly-hollywood-truth%2F">praised his show</a> for speaking, wait for it, truth to power.
<blockquote>We do a lot of safe things in film now. To do something risky that says something is rare.</blockquote>
More shows will likely follow. These stories aren’t isolated incidents. Late-night TV hosts routinely rage against ICE efforts in their monologues. 
NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” has done the same via its <a href="https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/snl-slams-ice-weekend-update-1236640253/">Weekend Update faux news desk</a>.
<blockquote>“I get that ICE agents are people, allegedly, and they have a job to do. But at some point while you’re pepper-spraying old ladies or shooting at a nurse, do you ever stop to ask yourself, ‘Are we d*cks?&#8217;”</blockquote>
Stars have been raging against all things ICE from their favorite bully pulpits — <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/celebs-slam-ice-independent-spirit-awards-2026-1236506162/">awards season stages</a>. &#8220;White Lotus&#8221; alum Natasha Rothwell expressed her feelings at the recent Spirit Awards:
<blockquote>I’m gonna go to the prompter, but I just want to say, ‘F*** ICE.&#8217;</blockquote>
“ICE Out” buttons have been the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/celebrities/2026/03/15/ice-out-ceasefire-pins-2026-oscars-photos/89172466007/">fashion accessory of the season</a> at these events, and stars have used their red carpet remarks to blast any attempt to uphold the law.
Just don’t expect any shows reflecting heinous illegal immigrant murders, like the deaths of Laken Riley or Sheridan Gorman. Nor will a star or starlet name-drop either victim as they collect their new shiny trophies.
Their names won’t be found on any chic Hollywood buttons, either.
The facts behind their tragic deaths are chilling and undeniable, but they’re inconvenient to the narrative in play. And Hollywood is all about narratives, especially the fictional ones.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.

“Daredevil: Born Again” Season 2 Launch Event

Hollywood’s Biggest Shows Have A New Propaganda Mission: Eliminate ICE

Hollywood Keeps Pushing This Narrative But Ignores What Follows

actors

Celebrities

Democrats

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Leftists

Television

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mks-ep-1935-sub?elementPosition=7&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
Val Kilmer is dead. Hollywood now wants to put him in another movie anyway.
Not through footage he had already completed. Not through a role he finished before his death. Through artificial intelligence.
We are told this is a tribute. It is not a tribute. It is necromancy.
Yes, necromancy. And no, that is not just a melodramatic way of saying I dislike the technology. Taking a dead actor, reconstructing his face and voice with AI, and then putting words in his mouth is not ordinary filmmaking. It is an attempt to conjure a human presence from beyond the grave. Not the man himself, of course, but his image, his shade, his likeness. That is exactly what makes it so grotesque.
I know the objection. No, it’s not. Necromancy would mean literally bringing someone back from the dead. This is just technology. This is just creating an image that looks and sounds like him.
No. That is not really what necromancy has ever meant in practice. 
When people go to a psychic and try to conjure the dead, they are not expecting a flesh-and-blood man to walk back into the room. They expect a voice, a shadow, a movement, a shape, an apparition. They expect an image that gives the illusion of presence. That is what they are after. And that is exactly what this technology offers: not resurrection, but simulation. Not life, but a convincing imitation of it.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mks-ep-1935-sub?elementPosition=7&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-1054531 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MK-watch-now-1.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
That is why the distinction does not save it. It condemns it.
A human being is not merely a face, or a voice, or a recognizable pattern of speech. A man is not reducible to a catalog of gestures and expressions that can be fed into a machine and reproduced on command. A man is body and soul. A body without a soul is a corpse. A soul without a body is a spirit. A digital imitation is neither. It is not the man. It is not Val Kilmer.
Val Kilmer lived, and then he died. That is the truth. And when you start creating AI performances that ask audiences to forget that truth, you are doing more than making a movie. You are teaching people to deny death.
That is one of the deepest temptations of modern life. So much of liberal modernity is about denying mortality, denying limits, denying the fixed realities of the human condition. It is about gathering to ourselves powers that do not belong to us. It is about pretending we can master time, history, memory, identity, even death itself. It is about maximizing human autonomy until man no longer receives the world as a creature under God, but tries to re-engineer it as his own private project.
<div id="attachment_1062869" style="width: 893px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1062869" class="size-large wp-image-1062869" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-607408752-883x576.jpg" alt="American actors Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise on the set of Top Gun, directed by Tony Scott. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)" width="883" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-607408752-883x576.jpg 883w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-607408752-300x196.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-607408752-768x501.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-607408752.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 883px) 100vw, 883px" />Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images</div>
That is what makes this more than a Hollywood gimmick. This is not just another strange special effect or another morally neutral technological advance. It is part of a much larger effort to flatten reality and replace it with manipulation. It invites us to believe that the dead are not really gone, that personhood is just data, that memory can be commercialized into presence, and that all boundaries exist to be crossed so long as the software is good enough.
And it will get good enough. That is part of the problem. If the technology improves, people will look at that screen and think, on some level, that they are really seeing Val Kilmer. Maybe not literally. Maybe they will know, abstractly, that it is AI. But emotionally, imaginatively, culturally, the effect will be the same. The dead man will appear to live again. And when that happens over and over, decade after decade, it will change the way we think about death itself.
It will teach us that death is not a real rupture, merely a technical inconvenience. It will teach us that the dead remain available for reuse. It will teach us that a person can be broken down into commercially exploitable fragments and then reassembled whenever a studio wants one more performance. That is dehumanizing enough when done to the living. Done to the dead, it becomes something darker.
We should not do this.
There are living actors — plenty of living actors. If you want a performance, go find a living man to give one. If you want to honor the dead, then honor them as dead. Remember them. Pray for them. Be grateful for the work they already gave the world. But do not digitally ventriloquize them and call it art.
And this applies beyond Hollywood. The same impulse that says we should build AI versions of dead actors is the impulse that refuses to accept mortality at all. It is the same impulse that wants to summon, recreate, simulate, and control what ought to be received with humility. It is the refusal to let the dead remain dead, and the refusal to let the living remain creatures rather than aspiring gods.
So no, I do not think this is harmless. I do not think it is merely clever. And I do not think Christians, or anyone with a sane understanding of human dignity, should shrug and accept it as inevitable.
Don’t talk to your dead father as though he were still here. Pray for him. Don’t ask a machine to conjure the likeness of the dead so that you can pretend mortality has no claim on us. Speak to the living. Love the living. Live among the living.
Leave the dead in peace.

“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” Photocall at the 58th Cannes Film Festival

Why Bringing Val Kilmer Back With AI Crosses A Moral Line

Artificial Intelligence

Death

Michael Knowles

Opinion

Unknown Man Watching Streaming Service on Smartphone at Home

I Looked Into Why Streaming Became Slop. This is How to Fix it.

Amazon Prime

Hulu

Matt Walsh

Movie Theaters

Netflix

Oscars

Lights! Camera! How-dee!
The city of Los Angeles is losing film and TV productions at an alarming rate. That opens up new opportunities for cities to prove that La La Land can hunker down just about anywhere.
Take Nashville, for instance. Other non-L.A. destinations have made their mark as production hubs — think Atlanta, Georgia, and Toronto. Now, it may be Nashville’s turn in the spotlight.
The Tennessee locale is known as a country music Mecca. More recently, it’s welcomed a growing group of filmmakers who clamor for its talented locals, rich cultural history and, yes, a lower price tag than the City of Angels.
Think “9-1-1: Nashville,” Showtime’s “George &amp; Tammy,” Nicole Kidman’s “Holland” and the upcoming “Scarpetta” (Prime Video), Netflix’s “Ruth &amp; Boaz,” and a film opening Feb. 20, “I Can Only Imagine 2.”
<div id="attachment_1047423" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047423" class="size-large wp-image-1047423" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-864x576.jpg" alt="Ryan Murphy Television. User Error Productions. 20Th Television." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Nashville-911.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Nashville 911. Ryan Murphy Television. User Error Productions. 20th Television.</div>
The sequel to the sleeper 2018 hit revisits how MercyMe became a Christian music sensation, and the struggles lead singer Bart Millard (John Michael Finley) had following his breakthrough hit.
Co-Founder of Kingdom Story Co. and co-director of the film Andrew Erwin, a pioneer in the faith-based film space, tells The Daily Wire why he tackled the sequel.
“It’s the movie that you didn’t know you needed,” he says. The first film appeared to wrap Bart Millard’s story up, but the singer and his fellow musician Tim Timmons — played by Milo Ventimiglia in the film — suffered subsequent tragedies that made a follow-up film make sense.
<div id="attachment_1047439" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047439" class="size-large wp-image-1047439" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-865x576.jpg" alt="Photo by Jake Giles Netter/Lionsgate/Jake Giles Netter/Lionsgate - copyright 2026 Lionsgate" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Milo-Mercy-Me.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Jake Giles Netter/copyright 2026 Lionsgate</div>
And Nashville has proven to be particularly welcoming to Christian artists. That wasn’t the case back in Los Angeles, Erwin said.
“There’s a group of us that started doing faith stories 15, 20 years ago, and we were all struggling to get our feet under us,” Erwin says. “We could literally end any dinner party in L.A. by saying we were faith film guys. They would instantly get a fake phone call and walk out of the meeting.”
Entertainment culture started to swing in their spiritual direction.
“Something has shifted in the past 10 years, particularly in the last five … there has been an appetite for hope. Stories of faith were considered cheesy. Now, they’re counter-culture, rebellious. It’s kind of punk rock.”
<div id="attachment_1047343" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047343" class="size-large wp-image-1047343" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233-384x576.jpg" alt="NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 12: Andrew Erwin attends the &quot;I Can Only Imagine 2&quot; Nashville Premiere at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on February 12, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261337233.jpg 683w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Jason Kempin/Getty Images</div>
What better place than Music City to sing from their storytelling hymnals?
“There’s been a real freedom here,” says Erwin, who even bumps into fellow filmmakers at church. “You don’t have to apologize for us being able to do things that we believe.”
“For whatever reason, a group of actors and writers and directors and producers are all finding (Nashville),” he continues. “I can’t give a reason why … we just feel like we’re supposed to be here.”
“I Can Only Imagine 2” filmed exclusively in Nashville, save a critical sequence shot at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater. The veteran filmmaker was initially hesitant to lean so heavily on Nashville, but the film’s team assuaged those fears.
“We had been worried if the crews were strong enough … it was the best crew I ever had … the most cheerful, the most team-oriented, the least amount of divas, blue collar, everything you aspire to,” he says.
He still wants the state to beef up its incentive programs to grow that crew base and keep it steadily employed.
Nashville has an Oscar-winning benefactor on its side: Kidman is eager to make movies closer to her <a href="https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/nicole-kidman-keith-urban-kids-divorce-custody-home/">Tennessee home</a>. 
<div id="attachment_1047431" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047431" class="size-large wp-image-1047431" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-1024x425.jpg" alt="Photo by Courtesy of Prime/Courtesy of Prime - copyright Amazon Content Services LLC" width="1024" height="425" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-1024x425.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-300x125.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-768x319.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland-1536x638.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Kidman-holland.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Courtesy of Prime/Courtesy of Prime &#8211; copyright Amazon Content Services LLC</div>
Plus, newer studio space is helping smooth this transition. <a href="https://www.nashvillescene.com/arts_culture/coverstory/nashville-film-industry/article_b76671a9-cee1-44e5-84cb-6f30cf4fa99a.html">Recent Nashville-area additions</a> include Vu Studios in West Nashville, Worldwide Stages in Spring Hill, and Skyway Studios.
Erick Goss, CEO of the Christian streaming platform Minno, says Nashville has a cultural advantage.
“People recognize there’s a real creative community here in Nashville [already] with Christian and country music, a real appreciation of the arts,” says Goss, who established his kid-focused company in the city seven years ago.
“It’s not like institutions have moved here, but talent has moved here,” Goss says. “It’s different than Seattle or L.A. There’s a real sense of pride and civic nature here … people love what Nashville stands for and want to be a part of it.”
Some pieces of the Hollywood-like puzzle are still missing, he says.
“There are really world-class storytellers here in Nashville. They don’t necessarily have access to capital in the way they need,” he says.
Goss brings a wealth of experience to Minno, including time spent at Amazon and in the U.S. Military. He praises Nashville as having the “highest caliber” of talent he’s seen. What’s missing? Major tech companies that can complement the city’s blossoming production.
<div id="attachment_1047341" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1047341" class="size-large wp-image-1047341" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-864x576.jpg" alt="NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - FEBRUARY 13: (L-R) Tim Timmons, Milo Ventimiglia, Bart Millard, John Michael Finley and Trace Adkins attend Lionsgate's &quot;I Can Only Imagine 2&quot; Night at The Grand Ole Opry on February 13, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Lionsgate)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-2261145346.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Lionsgate</div>
“What company will aggregate and bring that talent together?” he asks. “We need more talented operators coming into the systems, creating companies that execute really well,” he says, noting that Erwin’s “I Can Only Imagine 2” arrives courtesy of his partnership with Lionsgate, an established film studio.
The key to creating the next L.A.-style production hub is simple, Goss says.
“Get the best projects, the best people, and the best money together. That’s happening. We’re beginning to see these things coalesce [in Nashville],” he says.
Erwin says it helps to believe in both the city and a Higher Power.
“There’s an emboldening that happens when you realize you’re not alone. I can really stay true to the stories I’ve felt called to tell and not have to apologize for it because there are a lot of others who believe what I believe,” Erwin says. “It’s been amazing to see people of faith just find Nashville.”
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
This article has been updated for clarity.

Only Imagine

Hollywood Heads South: Music City’s Faith-Based Film Boom

Bible

Faith

Nashville

Tennessee

Film critics <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/becoming_2020_2/reviews/top-critics">raved</a> over &#8220;Becoming,&#8221; the fawning 2020 documentary about former First Lady Michelle Obama, produced by Michelle Obama.
<blockquote>The Detroit News: It&#8217;s a warm latte, delivered to you in your favorite mug.
NPR: Even with its flaws, Becoming is a compelling documentary, offering a carefully revealing look at a whip smart, ferociously practical woman trying to understand how her historic time in the White House changed herself, her family and the nation. </blockquote>
Now, see if you can detect a <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/melania/reviews/top-critics">slight tonal shift</a> in reviews for “Melania,” the new documentary capturing First Lady Melania Trump, who also produced the film, as she moves back into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
<blockquote>Globe and Mail: Ratner has accidentally delivered the ultimate chronicle of 21st-century excess and greed, a world of casual yet immense cruelty covered in flop sweat and gold glitter.
Variety: A documentary that never comes to life. It’s a “portrait” of the First Lady of the United States, but it’s so orchestrated and airbrushed and stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.</blockquote>
Several reviews compared the film to Nazi propaganda. One critic gave “Melania” a “rotten” score at Rotten Tomatoes while admitting <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/melania-reviews-critic-didnt-watch/">he never actually saw the film</a>. (That review was quickly removed from the critical aggregator site)
<div id="attachment_1040041" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1040041" class="size-large wp-image-1040041" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-384x576.jpg" alt="Amazon MGM Studios. Muse Films. New Element Media. RatPac Entertainment." width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/Melania-poster.jpg 999w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Amazon MGM Studios.</div>
The Guardian’s review compared the movie to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/30/melania-review-trump-film-is-a-gilded-trash-remake-of-the-zone-of-interest">2024’s “The Zone of Interest.”</a> That well-received drama depicted a Nazi family living next door to a concentration camp.
The reviewer didn’t stop there, mocking FLOTUS’s face and voice, a no-no in critical circles. Review the film, not the physical attributes of the people on screen. When a Variety scribe suggested actress Carey Mulligan wasn’t pretty enough to play the femme fatale in 2020’s “Promising Young Woman,” the outlet <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/28/variety-apology-carey-mulligan-film-critics">uttered an apology</a> directly to the actress.
For some reason, that unwritten rule didn’t apply to “Melania.” Nor should FLOTUS expect an apology any time soon.
The chasm between movie critics and general audiences over “Melania” may be the new, startling benchmark. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 7% “Rotten” score from movie scribes and <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/melania">a 99 percent “fresh”</a> rating from the public at large.
Those blistering critiques, delivered by a film body that leans overwhelmingly to the Left, were just part of the media’s war on “Melania.”
The said war began before “Melania” hit American theaters on January 30. Outlet after outlet preened over reports of <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/melania-trump-promotes-film-amid-210206431.html">poor pre-release ticket sales</a>. So did <a href="https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/stephen-colbert-roasts-melania-documentary-144531012.html">Stephen Colbert of “The Late Show” fame.</a>
Empty theaters, reporters cried, suggested “Melania” would underperform even modest expectations. It did the opposite, earning north of $7 million in its opening frame. Recent documentaries made far, far less.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” &#8211; $19K to date in U.S.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">“Orwell: 2+2=5” &#8211; $355K in U.S.</li>
</ul>
For context, most documentaries are lucky to earn $1 million in theaters. “Melania,” media voices argued, might not make it to the $3 million mark. And, with a gaudy $40 million price tag courtesy of Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, that’s a debacle.
Except “Melania” delivered the biggest <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/melania-opens-with-decade-best-documentary-debut/gm-8AE15378FA?gemSnapshotKey=8AE15378FA-snapshot-4&amp;ocid=AARDHP">documentary debut in a decade</a>. The film <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/02/05/nolte-exclusive-melania-gains-more-box-office-steam-with-wednesdays-1-25-million-haul/">has kept earning since then</a>. 
<div id="attachment_1040047" style="width: 632px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1040047" class="size-large wp-image-1040047" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-622x576.jpg" alt="Amazon MGM Studios. Muse Films. New Element Media. RatPac Entertainment." width="622" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-622x576.jpg 622w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-300x278.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel-768x712.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/The-Donald-and-Mel.jpg 1379w" sizes=" (max-width: 622px) 100vw, 622px" />Amazon MGM Studios.</div>
USA Today argued it’s <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/01/30/melania-movie-amazon-documentary-trump/88415378007/">“patriotic” to slam “Melania</a>.”
To be the subject of a documentary, one would think you’d have to accomplish something beyond being a complicit grifter in two of the most cruel, dishonest, and dangerous presidential terms in American history.
Indiewire said the film’s box office success <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/features/commentary/melania-box-office-documentary-filmmakers-worried-1235177403/">is terrible news for the documentary genre</a>.  Suddenly, a rising tide doesn’t lift all boats.
It’s a scary time for documentarians. Will they have to start working with the likes of Brett Ratner to make infomercials that please Donald Trump to pay the bills? The success of “Melania” suggests they might.
Meanwhile, a news media landscape that routinely decries review bombing – the practice of slagging a film or TV show sight unseen due to a variety of pre-release complaints, like overt wokeness – suddenly <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/melania-documentary-reviews-deleted-letterboxd/">cheered on review bombing of “Melania.”</a>
NPR needed something negative to share about the film. So it dug into the demographic breakdown of movie patrons and determined a large number of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/02/02/nx-s1-5693775/melania-documentary-box-office-audience">older white women</a> lined up to see “Melania.”
How often do media outlets report on the demographics of a given film? Hint: Not very often. NPR likely sought to portray the film’s fan base as overwhelmingly white (with a touch of supremacy?)
A few outlets have thrown all credibility to the wind to savage “Melania.” The far-Left Daily Beast took the crown here. The site has repeatedly called the film a “<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-desperately-tries-to-juice-melania-doc-after-box-office-flop/">flop,”</a> although it’s on pace to pass 2024’s “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist?elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Shows+and+Movies&amp;rowType=Portrait+Show+Carousel">Am I Racist?</a>” as the most successful documentary of the last decade.
<div id="attachment_819849" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/am-i-racist?elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Shows+and+Movies&amp;rowType=Portrait+Show+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-819849" class="size-large wp-image-819849" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/00_AIR_16x9_Streaming_V02-1024x576.jpg" alt="Am I Racist?" width="1024" height="576" /></a>DailyWire+</div>
“Melania” expands its release pattern in its second weekend, upping the theatrical count to 2,000 screens. Even if the film underperforms from here, the theatrical release has done its job.
Amazon likely viewed the film all along as a Prime Video draw, first and foremost. The documentary will draw attention and eyeballs to the streaming service, giving it a competitive title in a cutthroat streaming landscape. The film’s theatrical bow is an extended promotion for its final, digital destination.
Why all the unprofessional hate? The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/melania-trump-brett-ratner-documentary-interview-1236489826/">First Lady may have said it best</a> at the premiere of her own movie.
“Superior storytelling drives culture and in turn moves markets.”
Legacy Media outlets fear a conservative encroachment on their turf most of all.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Amazon MGM’s “Melania” World Premiere

The Left-Wing Media Is Losing Its Mind Over ‘Melania’

The Left-Wing Media Is Losing Its Mind Over 'Melania'

Amazon

Documentaries

Legacy Media

Melania Trump

Michelle Obama

Rotten Tomatoes

Disney is preparing to fundamentally reshape the streaming landscape. After taking full ownership of Hulu in 2023, the company is now moving to shut the platform down and fold its entire library into Disney+ as part of a “one app experience.” That migration could occur imminently, and the scale of change is staggering.
When Disney launched Disney+ in 2019, the streaming marketplace was already crowded. Amazon Prime Video debuted in 2006, Netflix in 2007, and Hulu in 2008. With few external restrictions on content — no oversight from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and no advertisers, at that time, to hold content in check. As a result, these platforms broke boundaries that even premium cable channels like HBO and Cinemax would not have dared. offering more vulgarity, more graphic violence, more sex and nudity.
Disney+ promised to be different. 
From the beginning, Disney positioned its platform as a safe haven for families; a platform parents could trust implicitly. That promise worked. More than 10 million subscribers signed up within the first 24 hours, many of them parents desperate to escape the exhausting and never-ending task of shielding young eyes from suggestive poster art and racy titles like “Zac and Miri Make a Porno” or “Nymphomaniac” while they searched menus for the handful of child-appropriate titles that might be available. 
Market research confirmed this distinction. One industry analysis <a href="https://morningconsult.com/articles/disney-plus-streaming-market-brand-data">called</a> Disney+ “the category’s most intentionally chosen service.” Morning Consult found Disney+ scored +45 for “entertaining the kids,” while competitors posted negative scores across the board. “Disney+ is not interchangeable here,” the analysis concluded. “In household decision-making, this is Disney+’s moat.”
Disney executives publicly reinforced this family-first positioning. Months before launch, entertainment reporter Eric Vespe recalled asking a Disney representative whether R-rated content would appear on Disney+. The answer: Disney+ would remain PG-13 or softer, while more mature material would live on Hulu. Disney invested heavily in Hulu so adult-oriented material could remain off the Disney+ platform.
That intentional separation is now being completely dismantled. 
In the summer of 2025, executives signaled plans to shut down Hulu and migrate its entire library into Disney+.
Concerned Women for America (CWA) <a href="https://concernedwomen.org/2026-cwa-netflix-research/">looked at</a> the numbers and discovered that while Disney+ currently hosts fewer than 20 R-rated films, after the merger, that number will exceed 400 — a more than 2,200% increase. Mature-rated television series will escalate from 45 to nearly 400 — a more than 800% increase. Families who subscribed specifically for child-friendly programming will suddenly find their child’s favorite streaming platform flooded with volumes of adult material.
Parents have already seen glimpses of what this future looks like. Last year, families reported surprise and frustration when mature-themed series promotions appeared on Disney+ home screens, prompting uncomfortable questions from young children. Many parents believed Disney+ was designed to prevent exactly this scenario.
This shift represents more than a technical update. It represents a fundamental brand reversal.
Disney was once synonymous with wholesome family entertainment. Parents built household media habits around that identity. Children were given access to Disney+ because families trusted the brand.
That trust is now being put at risk.
Even more concerning is the creative direction Disney leadership appears eager to embrace. One of the most striking examples is the company’s reported interest in hiring producer Ryan Murphy as soon as his development deal with Netflix ends; Murphy’s career has largely focused on dark, adult-themed dramas. 
Murphy’s previous projects have centered on crime, horror, and provocative themes that were never intended for children. Yet Disney executives appear willing to fold this creative approach into a corporate ecosystem historically built around family audiences.
Walt Disney famously said, “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.” That philosophy guided decades of storytelling built around imagination, optimism, and moral clarity.
Today’s leadership seems increasingly disconnected from that legacy.
And while Disney may point to parental controls as a solution, technology cannot solve a branding problem. The issue is not whether filters exist. The issue is whether adult content belongs on the same platform that parents deliberately chose for preschoolers and elementary-age children.
Mixing Mickey Mouse with mature television may make business sense on a spreadsheet. But it erodes the trust that made Disney+ successful in the first place.
The question now is simple: Will Disney honor the promise that built its streaming success — or abandon the families who made it possible?
The future of Disney+ may depend on how loudly parents answer that question.
* * *
Melissa Henson is the Senior Policy Advisor for Media and Culture for <a href="http://www.concernedwomen.org/">Concerned Women for America</a>, the nation’s public policy women’s organization, dedicated to promoting biblical values and constitutional principles in public policy. On X: @CWforA
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Rear View Of Two Boys Watching Movie Together, Lena, United States

Disney+ Is About To Be Flooded With Adult Content, And Parents Are Right To Be Alarmed

Children

Disney

Family Values

kids

Parenting

sexual content

Violence

The following is an edited transcript excerpt from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1903-the-three-million-new-pages-of-epstein-files-explained?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>. 
* * *
Christopher Nolan is doing a movie about &#8220;The Odyssey,&#8221; Homer&#8217;s epic poem, and he has cast Lupita Nyong&#8217;o as Helen of Troy — the face that launched a thousand ships, the most beautiful woman in the Greek world.
Lupita Nyong&#8217;o is a very good actress. However, let&#8217;s just say she doesn&#8217;t look Greek.
She doesn&#8217;t have any of the features that are traditionally associated with Helen of Troy. Helen is portrayed as having very, very fair skin, sometimes slightly darker hair, sometimes blond hair. So it doesn&#8217;t quite match. Some people are making all sorts of nasty comments about Lupita Nyong&#8217;o, this perfectly nice-looking lady, who is certainly a very good actress.
This does not seem to serve the story, does it?
The purpose of casting is the same as acting, directing, editing, and producing — it&#8217;s to tell a story.
To cast Lupita Nyong&#8217;o in that role is to distract from the story. It undermines the story. She&#8217;s not fit for that part.
Philip Seymour Hoffman is probably the greatest actor of my lifetime. He’s just absolutely magnificent. It would be a little odd to cast Philip Seymour Hoffman as Malcolm X in “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” wouldn&#8217;t it? He&#8217;s a very good actor. But there are limits.
There are limits to what an actor can do. There are limits to this entire world.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1903-the-three-million-new-pages-of-epstein-files-explained?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
There was a famous debate within the theater, by the way, on so-called &#8220;colorblind casting,&#8221; which is never really colorblind. They call it colorblind casting when they cast Lupita as Helen of Troy, but they don&#8217;t call it colorblind casting if they were to cast Philip Seymour Hoffman as Malcolm X. That would be an outrage. It would never happen.
So it&#8217;s not exactly colorblind. It&#8217;s just casting black and Latino people in white roles, and not casting white people at all.
There was a famous debate on this between Robert Brustein, who ran the American Repertory Theater, and August Wilson, who was probably the most famous black American playwright, perhaps ever. He wrote “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” he wrote “Fences,” which was a movie with Denzel Washington some years ago — a good playwright as far as contemporary playwrights go.
And Brustein, the white liberal, argued for colorblind casting. Oh yeah, anybody of any race, any background can play any part. And August Wilson, the black guy — or half-black guy — said, no, they can&#8217;t. He didn&#8217;t want white people to play roles where they&#8217;re a garbage collector in the early 20th century in black neighborhoods with black families. It doesn&#8217;t read. It takes you out of the story. It isn&#8217;t true.
And there&#8217;s obviously some wiggle room here in certain roles because actors pretend. But it is beyond the capacity of certain actors — of all actors — to overcome their natural limits.
Christopher Nolan&#8217;s a good director, but one can object to the casting without being offensive and mean-spirited; it just doesn&#8217;t make a lot of sense.
Someone on X/Twitter rightly put it, “this is now the face that launched a thousand quips because people think it&#8217;s kind of funny.”

The Museum of Modern Art Film Benefit Presented by CHANEL

Why Lupita Nyong’o As Helen Of Troy Does Not Work

Why Lupita Nyong'o As Helen Of Troy Does Not Work

Blacks

Cultural Appropriation

Race

Whites

The year in pop culture gave us reality stars smiting governors, a Coldplay concert going viral for nothing music-related, and a pop star’s career crashing upon re-entry.
And even though late-night TV had begun to fizzle out years ago, in 2025, Stephen Colbert and co. watched their gigs finally go up in smoke.
It’s impossible to look back on the last 12 months and not gawk at late-night propagandists getting their just desserts.
For Colbert of “The Late Show” fame, that meant getting a time-release pink slip. Someone finally crunched some serious numbers behind the scenes and realized Colbert’s DNC agenda is costing CBS a pretty penny … <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/go-f-yourself-colbert-unleashes-anti-trump-tirade-amid-report-his-show-loses-40m-annually">$40 million a year</a>, to be precise.
So Colbert was forced to read his professional obituary on-air. And the show won’t even go on without him. Come May, “The Late Show” heads to the dustbin of history alongside eight-track tapes and TiVo devices.
<div id="attachment_1021603" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1021603" class="size-large wp-image-1021603" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2238453774-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest Jimmy Kimmel during Tuesday's September 30, 2025 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2238453774-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2238453774-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2238453774-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2238453774.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images</div>
Fellow progressive Jimmy Kimmel was spared that fate, but not by much. The ABC host insinuated MAGA nation fired the bullet that killed conservative hero Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, setting off a series of events that led to Kimmel’s week-long suspension.
He got his job back and a tepid show of support via a one-year contract extension. The damage was done. Kimmel’s “Man Show” past and irreverent shtick is no more. Now, he’s more likely to cry on-camera than make us howl.
His only hope is that Colbert’s audience tunes in for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” come May, delaying his show’s inevitable cancellation.
On the film front, theaters once again struggled to reclaim their pre-pandemic mojo. The box office receipts looked awfully similar to 2024, hardly a golden age for theatrical attendance.
Films like “Superman,” “Thunderbolts” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” failed to duplicate that ol’ superhero magic, leaving it to video game adaptations like “A Minecraft Movie” to pick up the slack.
At least we weren’t subjected to <a href="https://variety.com/2024/film/news/skibidi-toilet-michael-bay-movie-adam-goodman-1236077245/">“Skibidi Toilet: The Movie</a>.” Not yet, at least. 
Meanwhile, Hollywood’s far-Left agenda got a workout via “One Battle After Another.” The Paul Thomas Anderson screed so overtly progressive even some Antifa types might cry foul.
And, of course, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-the-best-picture-race-already-over">it’s bound for Oscar glory come March</a>.
Speaking of Oscars, 2025 saw an awards hopeful crash and burn in record time. The woke musical comedy “Emilia Pérez” seemed likely to dominate awards season until we learned some of the less-than-progressive comments made by its trans lead, Karla Sofia Gascón.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce finally made their courtship official, but the best news for football fans is that his Kansas City Chiefs missed the playoffs. That means no more obligatory “Taylor is crying/cheering/laughing” shots interrupting the NFL action.
<div id="attachment_1021607" style="width: 865px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1021607" class="size-large wp-image-1021607" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2250411061-855x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 06: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) presents actor Sylvester Stallone (R) a medal for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honorees during a medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House on December 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. The 2025 Kennedy Center honorees are Sylvester Stallone, George Strait, the rock band KISS, Gloria Gaynor, and Michael Crawford. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)" width="855" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2250411061-855x576.jpg 855w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2250411061-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2250411061-768x518.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2250411061.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px" />Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images</div>
Sylvester Stallone capped a remarkable career by picking up a Kennedy Center Honor at long last, courtesy of former reality show star and two-term president Donald Trump. The 79-year-old legend also defied Father Time by returning for the third season of Taylor Sheridan’s “Tulsa King.”
Of course, it would be impossible to recap entertainment in 2025 without a tip of the hat to Taylor Sheridan, television’s undisputed king of rugged episodic dramas. From “The Mayor of Kingstown” to the “Yellowstone” franchise, Sheridan’s shows keep attracting A-list talent and plenty of eyeballs. And he’s positioned to strike gold again in 2026 with the release of the next “Yellowstone” spinoff, “Y: Marshals,” starring Luke Grimes.
Sheridan made headlines once again in 2025 by signing a mega-deal with NBCUniversal and having his “Landman” series skewer the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/taylor-sheridan-show-landman-mocks-the-view-bunch-of-ped-off-millionaires">“p***ed off millionaires” of “The View.”</a>
<div id="attachment_1021611" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1021611" class="size-large wp-image-1021611" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1486674789-864x576.jpg" alt="INDIO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 30: Taylor Sheridan speaks onstage during Day 3 of the 2023 Stagecoach Festival on April 30, 2023 in Indio, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Stagecoach)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1486674789-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1486674789-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1486674789-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-1486674789.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Stagecoach</div>
The devastating Palisades fires should have roasted Governor Gavin Newsom’s political fortunes for good. Not quite, but reality show alum Spencer Pratt made it his mission to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/reality-star-spencer-pratt-slams-california-plan-to-build-low-income-housing-in-fire-ravaged-areas">shame both Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass</a> for their extreme incompetence.
“Having the people in charge of the town they just let burn down make any decisions in rebuilding it … seems crazy to me,” Pratt said in one of many well-earned rants. Podcaster Adam Carolla piled on, filing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8IKPIDVIoY">vlog posts</a> decrying the lack of progress on the home building front all year long.
HBO Max’s “The White Lotus” became the show everyone talked about at the cyber-water cooler – AKA Elon Musk’s X. This season’s ick factor likely played a part, thanks to guest star <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/sam-rockwell-white-lotus-monologue-acting-coach-1236175014/">Sam Rockwell’s disturbing revelations</a> to that <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-white-lotus-brothers-kiss-season-3-1236164899/">brotherly buss</a> with Ah-nold’s son getting too much attention.
And while the culture remains hopelessly divided on political grounds, Americans did unite to mock a Coldplay concert moment that went insanely viral. A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/viral-coldplay-kiss-cam-woman-speaks-out-is-furious-with-gwyneth-paltrow">Kiss Cam caught Kristin Cabot</a> canoodling with her boss, Andrew Byron, a moment that proved inescapable for anyone remotely online.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-969733 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Coldplay-concert-1022x576.png" alt="Coldplay concert" width="1022" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Coldplay-concert-1022x576.png 1022w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Coldplay-concert-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Coldplay-concert-768x433.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Coldplay-concert.png 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1022px) 100vw, 1022px" /></div>
Netflix remained atop the streaming heap, and its plans to swallow Warner Bros. will have sizable implications for Hollywood and beyond. The streamer’s signature show, a four-episode saga dubbed “Adolescence,” caught everyone by surprise. Each installment, shot in a single take, captured a young boy in the weeks following his arrest for a shocking murder. Must-see TV? Perhaps, but it left audiences feeling queasy for the next generation.
If that wasn’t enough, 2025 had us focus on the Sean Combs trial. Sure, we cracked wise about baby oil sales, but the particulars of P. Diddy’s life and alleged crimes made us wonder what else is happening behind the scenes in Hollywood that we won’t hear about for years to come?
<div id="attachment_1021623" style="width: 842px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1021623" class="size-large wp-image-1021623" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2229729015-832x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 11: Katy Perry performs onstage during Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour - New York at Madison Square Garden on August 11, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for KP)" width="832" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2229729015-832x576.jpg 832w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2229729015-300x208.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2229729015-768x532.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2229729015.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px" />Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for KP</div>
And then there’s Katy Perry.
The “I Kissed a Girl” superstar headed into space, or at least a small part of it, via Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard rocket. The experiment became social media fodder, in part due to the “astronaut&#8217;s’” inflated sense of self.
Perry might have been better off staying in orbit. She <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/katy-perry-experiences-frightening-onstage-mishap-concert-san/story?id=123894140">experienced not one</a> but <a href="https://www.eonline.com/news/1420864/katy-perrys-bloody-knee-injury-photo">two</a> concert accidents, watched her choreography get roasted on social media, and capped 2025 by winning a legal victory over a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/11/28/entertainment/katy-perry-to-receive-1-8m-payout-from-dying-veteran-in-years-long-battle-over-montecito-mansion/">dying military veteran</a>.
She’ll be lucky to Dance with Any Stars come 2026.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-ENTERTAINMENT-CBS-LATE SHOW-COLBERT

The Year Pop Culture Finally Began To Eat Its Own

Jimmy Kimmel

Katy Perry

Music

Stephen Colbert

Taylor Swift

Woke Culture

The horror genre and comedian Rodney Dangerfield have something in common. Neither gets much respect.
Sure, audiences flock to horror movies as much as any genre over the decades. We turn cinematic serial killers like Art the Clown, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees into pop culture icons.
The films rarely get a once-over when it’s time for awards season. This time it’s different. And it’s not just about golden statuettes. Horror kept this year’s box office afloat in 2025, a year that saw a shocking number of commercial duds litter movie houses.
Think Robert De Niro’s “The Alto Knights,” Disney’s “Snow White” and Robert Pattinson’s “Mickey 17” as prime offenders.
Multiple horror movies will be vying for the year’s biggest prize – the Best Picture Oscar. They may come up short to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-the-best-picture-race-already-over">“One Battle After Another,”</a> a prestige film that sends the exact message progressive Hollywood craves in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Stop ICE at all costs.
Still, these horror entries matter, and they may scoop up a golden trophy or two before the dust settles.
It starts with director Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” an unconventional vampire movie that doubled as an exposé of early 20th century racism. The film hit theaters in April, with forecasters wondering if its large budget <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ryan-coogler-sinners-box-office-opening-1236193272/">($90 million</a>) might preclude it from making a profit.
Most horror movies are made for a fraction of that amount.
<div id="attachment_1015643" style="width: 399px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1015643" class="size-large wp-image-1015643" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Sinners-II-389x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Warner Bros. Domain Entertainment. Proximity Media. All rights reserved. IMDB." width="389" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Sinners-II-389x576.jpg 389w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Sinners-II-202x300.jpg 202w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Sinners-II-768x1138.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Sinners-II-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/Sinners-II.jpg 1382w" sizes=" (max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px" />Credit: Warner Bros.</div>
The film opened big and expanded its audience week after week, wrapping its run with a gaudy $279 million stateside haul. Critics and crowds alike rallied behind it – witness the film’s <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sinners_2025">dueling Rotten Tomatoes’ scores</a> – 97% &#8220;fresh&#8221; from critics, 96% &#8220;fresh&#8221; from general audiences.
Now, it’s <a href="https://www.awardsdaily.com/2025/08/08/2026-oscar-predictions-what-makes-sinners-a-strong-contender/#:~:text=The%20big%20threats%20in%20the,Good%20luck%20attacking%20Sinners%20%E2%80%A6">front and center</a> in the current Oscar race, with experts predicting nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and maybe Best Actor for Michael B Jordan in a dual role.
Coming in a close second is director Craig Zegger’s “Weapons,” a deliriously original film about a town where an entire class of children disappeared overnight, save one.
What happened? Is the class’s teacher (Julia Garner) to blame? The film’s core mystery is told via multiple perspectives, adding layers to the eventual shocks. 
<div id="attachment_1015637" style="width: 471px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1015637" class="size-large wp-image-1015637" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MV5BNTBhNWJjZWItYzY3NS00M2NkLThmOWYtYTlmNzBmN2UxZWFjXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-461x576.jpg" alt="Credit: New Line Cinema. Domain Entertainment. Subconscious. All rights reserved. IMDB." width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MV5BNTBhNWJjZWItYzY3NS00M2NkLThmOWYtYTlmNzBmN2UxZWFjXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MV5BNTBhNWJjZWItYzY3NS00M2NkLThmOWYtYTlmNzBmN2UxZWFjXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MV5BNTBhNWJjZWItYzY3NS00M2NkLThmOWYtYTlmNzBmN2UxZWFjXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MV5BNTBhNWJjZWItYzY3NS00M2NkLThmOWYtYTlmNzBmN2UxZWFjXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/MV5BNTBhNWJjZWItYzY3NS00M2NkLThmOWYtYTlmNzBmN2UxZWFjXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg 1638w" sizes=" (max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" />Credit: New Line Cinema.</div>
Once again, critics and customers hailed the film (<a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/weapons">Rotten Tomatoes – 93/85</a>) and the box office sales soared ($151 million). The price tag? <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/weapons-box-office-freakier-friday-opening-1236341131/">A modest $38 million</a>.
The film’s Best Picture chances are less secure than “Sinners,” but creepy co-star Amy Madigan is a lock for a Best Supporting Actress turn for her memorable turn as Aunt Gladys, and Best Screenplay honors are also likely.
And then there’s “Frankenstein.” Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro brought the classic monster story back from the grave via Netflix. His take on the property earned him a Best Picture nomination from the Golden Globes, and Oscar love may shortly follow.
Del Toro’s brand matters to Academy voters, and he treated the pulpy material with a keen idea for the humanity within the reconstructed monster.
Imagine not one or two but three horror films gracing this year’s Best Picture nomination list? The last time horror had such a prestigious close-up was when 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs” swept that year’s Oscars ceremony, netting five statues (including Best Picture).
The year’s box office picture is another, murkier matter. Yes, the numbers are up from 2024, but that’s hardly something to crow about. This year’s domestic box office is <a href="https://deadline.com/2025/12/box-office-u-s-ticket-sales-2025-1236640883/">up 1%</a>, but the industry battle cry “<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/global-summer-box-office-overseas-2025-domestic-1236357631/">survive until 2025</a>” when more populist films were lining up for release didn’t quite transpire.
Don’t blame horror movies.
Not only did “Sinners” and “Weapons” pull their weight (“Frankenstein” barely played in theaters before jumping to Netflix), but other horror hits stunned Hollywood.
The fourth film in the “Conjuring” series, “Last Rites,” made $177 million and a total of $494 million globally. That made it the most profitable film in the saga.
“Final Destination: Bloodlines,” the first film in that lo-fi saga since 2011’s “Final Destination 5,” made $138 million in the U.S. alone and revived the franchise. That film also included an emotional farewell to horror favorite Tony Todd, who knew he was gravely ill when he shot his final scene for the series.
Recent horror hits include “Black Phone 2” (a respectable $77 million US to date), “28 Years Later” ($70 million US) and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” (a $64 million opening weekend).
<iframe loading="lazy" title="How Hollywood Can Bridge Its Disconnect With the American Public w/ Christian Toto" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yNIV7dmOYFI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Why is horror having a moment? Start with a new crop of directors who know the genre well, from Coogler and Cregger to Osgood Perkins (“Keeper,” “The Monkey”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”).
Horror films don’t require starry casts and can be made on a shoestring budget. Plus, when they insert the obligatory left-leaning messages, it’s embedded in the scares, not force fed to us in lectures.
Audiences crave the unfettered escapism the genre offers. We’re living in a divided age, but political ideology mostly gets left behind when settling in for a horror film. Jump scares don’t ask audiences how they vote.
And while video games and social media keep cutting into the theatrical pull, there’s nothing like being scared silly in the dark with a group of like-minded strangers. It helps to savor some A-plus films that respect that reality.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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MBJ Sinners poster

While Hollywood’s Big Bets Fail, Horror Just Keeps Delivering

Horror Movies

Michael B Jordan

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