Spider-Man just beat the assembled Avengers where it counts — at the box office.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” earned $360 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, making it the biggest opening of all time. The 2019 superhero extravaganza “Avengers: Endgame” held the previous record of $357 million.
Everyone’s favorite wall-crawler had a little help. The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) co-star in the fourth “Spider-Man” feature starring Tom Holland. Still, the film’s gargantuan take signals something profound.
Superhero fatigue is situational, at best, with the summer’s “Supergirl” revealing that its relevance still matters in extreme cases. Plus, reading the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s last rites may be premature, even if recent titles (“Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts”) failed to blow away the competition.
Yet caveats abound, and they’re all worth exploring.
Let’s start with “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The 2021 romp did more than unite three Peter Parkers in one film. It proved a nostalgic smart bomb, revisiting old villains for a near-perfect blend of action, adventure and humanity.
Plus, the film came out as the COVID-19 lockdowns were easing, letting the country enjoy the theatrical experience again. The goodwill generated by those elements proved massive, setting the stage for “Brand New Day.”
After all, the latest Spidey adventure doesn’t have a sizable hook. It doesn’t continue a major plot point from previous MCU films. The villain has been hidden in the marketing rollout, robbing the film of a key selling point.
The MCU didn’t hire a “name” director (think Spielberg, Tarantino or Villeneuve) to tackle the assignment. Destin Daniel Cretton previously helmed “Shang-Chi,” a well-received MCU effort but far from a blockbuster.
There’s something deeper here — a type of attraction that demands the attention of not just superfans or Marvel acolytes. America’s favorite wall-crawler holds special appeal that can’t be relegated to the halls of Comic-Con like some obscure spin-off side character. Spider-Man has been part of Western culture for decades, from the animated TV show with the catchy theme song (“… Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can”) to Saturday-morning cartoons and a late-1970s TV show with Nicholas Hammond.
He’s a science nerd and social outcast, the kid who got bullied in school until a radioactive spider changed, well, everything. He remains relatable and real, even if we can’t swing from skyscraper to skyscraper.
Plus, he’s had the benefit of sublime actors bringing him to life. Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield proved to be critical casting choices, while Holland has masterfully allowed his Peter Parker to mature before our eyes.
The new film finds him fighting crime while missing his best bud, Ned (Jacob Batalon), and his girlfriend, MJ (Zendaya). That matters.
The “Spider-Man” films fall under the Sony banner, even while Disney’s MCU recently paired up with the film studio. That means the live-action Spider-verse didn’t follow the woke road that derailed the MCU in recent years.
No forced identity politics or woke plot points. The Sony films proved smart, resourceful and effective. The same can’t be said for MCU clunkers like “The Marvels” and “Eternals.”
The MCU has course-corrected of late, even including some pro-life messaging in last year’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
The MCU still has a galaxy of minor heroes who could save the day (and crush the box office), but they must be launched wisely. Most people didn’t know what a Deadpool was, but star Ryan Reynolds used his personal touch and plenty of humor to <a href="https://ew.com/article/2016/02/17/deadpool-viral-marketing-campaign/?srsltid=AfmBOorzn6DjOSRQkkS7_oTgEF4iEAMZhxtAUCkv5FVQEl41jDfZp8oi">sell the character to the masses.</a>
A decade after its solo film debut, Deadpool is a familiar pop culture staple and a phenomenon that has far exceeded the 2016 film’s modest $58 million budget.
Reynolds &amp; co. also showed fidelity to the source material, telling fans they could trust the stories coming to their local cineplex. Geek Nation is a tiny fragment of the movie-going audience, but its members are the best marketers an MCU film can have when they’re working on your behalf.
Holland himself has played a key role in this MCU success story. The British actor doesn’t say a peep about ICE, voter ID, or other red-hot-button issues. He’s charming in publicity interviews, even keeping a low boil on his marriage to fellow superstar Zendaya, a kind of humility akin to “Brand New Day” — even down to the old-school Spidey suit that goes without the bells and whistles seen in recent MCU adventures.
That goodwill matters. Plus, <a href="https://screenrant.com/spider-man-brand-new-day-hulk-return-success-mark-ruffalo-comment/">Team MCU apparently benched Ruffalo</a> during the “Brand New Day” press tour, knowing the far-Left actor would likely distract from the film with his progressive lectures.
It’ll be much harder to silence the crush of stars assembling for this winter’s “Avengers: Doomsday” feature. The December 18 release is a who’s who of superhero actors, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
If an “Avengers” film can’t pull off Spidey-sized numbers, then the MCU will be better off hyping their best individual characters moving forward. Why spend all that money on a film that can’t outperform a geeky wall crawler?
The X factor that can’t be overlooked? The old saw “a rising tide lifts all boats” still matters. The theatrical model made a stunning comeback this year, with breakout hits like “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” “Project Hail Mary,” “Toy Story 5” and “Obsession.”
Suddenly, going to the movies is cool again, with Gen Z often leading the way. That might be the one superpower the MCU needed most of all.
***
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. He&#8217;s also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hollywood-in-toto-podcast-w-christian-toto/id1186449155">The Hollywood in Toto Podcast</a>. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>.

Los Angeles Premiere Of Columbia Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”

Is ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ The MCU Superhero That Saves Hollywood’s Summer?

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Florida law enforcement rushed to the home of media personality Perez Hilton Tuesday night following reports that the gossip blogger appeared to be repeatedly cutting himself and engaging in self-harm during a TikTok livestream. 
According to The Sun, viewers who watched the livestream contacted emergency services after Hilton appeared to harm himself on camera.
Disturbing and graphic videos on social media, which The Daily Wire is not publishing, appear to show Hilton, the longtime chronicler of Hollywood scandals, bloodied from head to toe. 
The Miami-Dade Sheriff&#8217;s Office confirmed it received numerous calls about the incident.
“The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office received multiple calls regarding an individual who was live-streaming acts of self-harm on social media,” the agency <a href="https://x.com/kforresternews/status/2084824581257257148?s=20">said</a> in a statement to The Sun. “Deputies quickly located the individual’s residence, where they spoke with family members on scene, and confirmed he was alone inside.” 
The sheriff&#8217;s office said deputies opted to use de-escalation tactics rather than immediately enter the residence.
“At this time, deputies have tactically disengaged while continuing to monitor the situation,” the sheriff’s office said. 
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Hilton, 48, <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/08/04/police-respond-to-perez-hilton-after-alarming-tiktok-live/">rose to fame</a> in the 2000s through his celebrity gossip website before expanding into television and other media. He is the father of three children. 
This is a developing story. Stay with The Daily Wire for updates.

Las Vegas Celebrates Liberace With Charity Benefit Hosted By Perez Hilton At Modern Showrooms

Gossip Blogger Perez Hilton Sparks Police Response With Disturbing Video

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Vincent Pastore, the veteran character actor best known for portraying Salvatore &#8220;Big Pussy&#8221; Bonpensiero on HBO&#8217;s acclaimed crime drama “The Sopranos,” has died at the age of 80.
Pastore was found dead Saturday at his home in the Bronx after friends became concerned when they had not heard from him for several days, according to multiple reports. His longtime manager, Robert Attermann, confirmed his death in a statement, remembering the actor as both a devoted performer and a loyal friend.
&#8220;I had the privilege of representing Vinny for more than 30 years, long before ‘The Sopranos’ made him a household name,&#8221; Attermann said in a statement to <a href="https://ew.com/vincent-pastore-dead-the-sopranos-star-was-80-12032321">Entertainment Weekly</a>. &#8220;To the world, he will always be remembered as the unforgettable &#8216;Big Pussy,&#8217; but to those of us who knew him, he was so much more.&#8221;
Authorities have said there were no signs of criminal activity in the death.
Although Pastore built a lengthy career playing gangsters, police officers and other tough-guy characters, he became a television icon through his role as Bonpensiero, one of Tony Soprano&#8217;s closest friends whose secret cooperation with the FBI became one of the defining storylines of the series&#8217; early seasons. His character&#8217;s death at the end of Season 2 remains one of the show&#8217;s most memorable moments, though Pastore later returned in flashbacks and dream sequences throughout the series.
Before landing the role that made him famous, Pastore appeared in a number of crime films, including “Goodfellas,” “Carlito&#8217;s Way,” “Gotti,” “The Jerky Boys: The Movie,” and “Men of Respect.” He also made appearances in television series including “Law &amp; Order,” “Blue Bloods,” “The Practice,” “General Hospital,” “One Life to Live,” “Hawaii Five-0,” and later competed on reality programs such as “Celebrity Apprentice” and “Dancing With the Stars.”
Born in the Bronx on July 14, 1946, Pastore served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War before studying drama at Pace University. He came to acting later in life after working as a nightclub owner, bouncer and chauffeur, eventually building a steady career in film and television.
In recent years, Pastore continued acting, appearing in the crime drama “Gravesend” and making a guest appearance on “Yellowjackets.”
Pastore and his fellow Sopranos cast members received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2000, with another nomination the following year.
Tributes from former co-stars quickly followed news of his death. Actor Michael Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti on The Sopranos, remembered Pastore as &#8220;a kind hearted brother who cared deeply about his family and friends.&#8221;
&#8220;This is a hard one for us,&#8221; Imperioli wrote on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbg1eWLhaMv/">Instagram</a>. &#8220;We did lots of work together and traveled all over the USA as well as Italy and Australia. Lots of good times. Lots of laughs. I will miss him always.&#8221;
Pastore is survived by his daughter, Renee Pastore.

HBO’s “The Sopranos” 25th Anniversary Celebration

‘Sopranos’ Star Vincent Pastore Dies At 80

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“Heya pal, got a cigarette?”
Frank Sinatra was walking outside the Moulin Rouge in Los Angeles, heading west. Outside the club, the guests at the evening’s charity event had started heading out, getting some fresh, damp spring air to cure their mild drunkenness — not as drunk as Spencer Tracy or Clark Gable, but enough that a few stumbles were caught beneath the circular words, perched on the building’s broad side facing Sunset Boulevard: “Thru These Portals Pass The Most Beautiful Girls In The World,” and the rendering of a woman’s profile illuminated in neon — a relic that the club’s manager, Frank Sennes, wouldn’t dare remove, lest the cache of the club go down in the dumps with it. No, this was Hollywood and no one made a move without having some well-connected friends or a bulletproof reputation. Frank Sinatra had both.
Lighting his cigarette, Sinatra stared up at the neon goddess and kept walking. Somewhere in the night, the HOLLYWOOD sign was staring down from Mount Lee, above Beachwood Canyon, right over 6230 Sunset Boulevard. Its blinking marquee lights had been taken down years before, but its looming presence remained, overlooking its Pacific desert empire, daring young men and women to follow their ambitions. Fortunes and reputations and dreams were made and lost here ­— Peg Entwistle’s ghost would oversee all of it from the top of the Hollywood “H.” Sinatra, by this May 13 night in 1960, had been through it all. And now he was back on top.
To an outsider, there was no better place to be than in the Sinatra orbit. Post-WWII America was still in the midst of a national boom and tiptoeing up to a decade-long transition that would wave a wistful goodbye to one Golden Age and then oversee its burial without realizing how rich we had it.
Sinatra had taken over the original Rat Pack from his pal Humphrey Bogart, who hosted the group in a revolving-door style in the Holmby Hills home he shared with his wife Lauren Bacall. And they made a show of it in this showbiz town. David Niven, Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland, Swifty Lazar, Sinatra, Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Lana Turner. They stayed at The Garden of Allah and dined at Romanoff’s. They drank Rusty Nails and champagne and played practical jokes, had affairs, danced, romanced, gossiped, and broke up. They started rumors and ended them. And when Bogart died in 1957, a part of that world went with him.
It was a new, old era. Sinatra had gathered his permanent crew, rebranded the Rat Pack in his swinging image, and set off for Las Vegas. He, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford had a standing show at The Sands Hotel and Casino. “Ocean’s 11” was being filmed; casinos up and down the strip were headlining the stars of the day that would be buried by the counterculture of tomorrow. But the Old Guard&#8217;s code still worked. There was carousing and drinking, gambling, smoking, showgirls, money, drugs, sex, parties, and the ease of life that was confident in the present. Untouchable. It was a brotherhood of Rats but clad in black tuxedos, endearing itself to a nation at the cusp of revolution. And the genius of it all — what made it work — was the adherence to a line of respect that came down to what it meant to be a man.
By 1960, Rock and Roll had weaved its way into the mainstream. Romonoff’s skipped over Wilshire Boulevard, moving from North Rodeo Drive to South Rodeo. It preserved the original building&#8217;s mood, but the cultural shift proved too much to bear, and the restaurant closed its doors two years later. The Brown Derby on Wilshire was also shuttered, followed years later by the Brown Derby on Sunset — the one that created the Cobb salad and the sticky-sweet Shirley Temple — relics of an age that seemed like it would live forever until one day it didn’t. The culture never offers an explanation; only an autograph at the bottom of an IOU.
It was, at its core, a town of men, just like any town. And here was Sinatra, smoking a heater, a little drunk, and in a full Indian squaw outfit. The Moulin Rouge party had a Western theme, and the crooner showed up in drag with a feather-topped headdress. It was a deliberate move to tempt the entertainment gods into a fight, and that night, the god was John Wayne.
Wayne showed up as himself because he was always John Wayne, and performed his act on stage and received his applause and laughs and cheers. But not from Sinatra. The leader of the pack had beef to settle with Duke. In that town, nothing is as good as the story behind the story, and this was one for the papers. The two Big Men of the Golden Age were at odds over politics, scripts, the Blacklist, Albert Maltz, and the art of being a man — an uncompromising commitment to reputation, honor, and a Code. And so, in the small hours of a Saturday morning with half of Tinsel Town in Cowboys-and-Indians, Sinatra called out, “Hey Duke, why’d you run your mouth?” The five-foot-seven Sinatra, who registered 150 pounds soaking wet, shoved the 220-pound Wayne, a towering figure at six-foot-four even without his hat.
Wayne didn’t move; he didn’t have to. He had the advantage of size and posture and a lifetime spent being the final word in the room. Sinatra had the advantage of nerve. This was not merely a fight between two famous men. It was a collision between two competing ideas of manhood, both shaped by the old Hollywood machine but ultimately a reflection of the American Man: overcoming challenges, flaws, and sins (because&#8230; who among us?), and stepping into responsibility and danger and sacrifice for honor, reputation, the friends beside you and the family behind you.
 The romance of the Rat Pack era, when stripped of the smoke, dazzling lights, crinoline-lined dresses, whitewalls, and the cultural sins of the age, rested on aspiration. A man wanted to be better than he was. He wanted to sing better, dress better, tip better, dance better, and love better. Masculinity was not victimhood. It was not a podcast grievance. It was not a rented sports car photographed at a low angle. It was movement — toward a woman, toward a friend, toward the door, toward the next town, toward the next chance to prove that style was not a costume but a discipline. And if you stepped out of the Moulin Rouge on a starry night below the Hollywood Hills with a heater and an attitude and moccasined feet right into your custom, two-toned 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham and headed toward Route 91, the crystal desert air giving way to the razzle-dazzle of Sin City, a man just might find that discipline refined in ways that only shone under the electrified oasis.
That is the thing about the lure of this show town, embedded in the ethos of Las Vegas in its heyday: glamour that is too easy to misunderstand from a distance. It was not simply the tuxedos, the cigarettes, the neon, the women, the jokes, the drinks, the swagger, the snap of a cufflink, or the band hitting the downbeat while a man in a dinner jacket leaned into a microphone as if the whole country had been waiting for him to explain the meaning of cool. It was performance, but performance with obligations. You had to be funny. You had to be generous. You had to be able to take a joke, buy a round, show up for your friend, and know that the woman across the table was not an accessory to your mythology but the reason the mythology had any stakes at all. The Beautiful Babies who understood that what it meant to be a lady was just as important as what it meant to be a man.
This is why the film “Swingers,” released in 1996 and set inside the hungry, half-broke, retro-cool Los Angeles of aspiring actors and late-night bars, understood the Rat Pack better than most nostalgia ever could. Set against the backdrop of the revival-swing era, an underground, niche scene that was at its best when it was still below the surface — a spontaneous zeitgeist that originated in small, intimate venues in Southern California — was a reaction to the heavy-handed hair bands and carbon-copy grunge rockers popular at the time. The players never took themselves too seriously, and it reflected the upbeat, carefree fun of the original American Swing of the 1930s and ’40s, but with a punk/ska twist. It only became cringe when GAP mainlined it into its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ735krOiPo">khaki commercial</a>, and Super Bowl XXXIII featured one of the more commercially successful bands, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.
Doug Liman’s film, written by Jon Favreau, was not about men who had made it. It was about men rehearsing for the possibility that they might. Mike was heartbroken, broke, embarrassed by his own need. His friend Trent was loud enough to cover the terror beneath confidence. Rob, Sue, Charles — all of them were orbiting the same dream factory Sinatra had conquered and the same city that keeps a ledger of everyone who thinks wanting something badly enough makes it inevitable.
But “Swingers” is not cruel to Mike. That is its grace. His friends tease him, push him, dress him up in their borrowed bravado, drag him to Vegas and back, and tell him he is money long before he believes it. Their friendship is noisy, immature, and occasionally ridiculous, but it is also tender. The movie knows that male friendship, at its best, is a rescue mission disguised as a bit.
And the women in &#8220;Swingers&#8221; matter precisely because they are not merely trophies in the boys’ recovery narrative. Nikki’s answering machine becomes a tribunal — a trainwreck of a scene that rivals any horror flick. Mike humiliates himself not because a woman is cruel but because he’s upended by his own panic. Lorraine (Favreau ahead of the curve, utilizing an old-fashioned name before it became trendy, again), when she arrives, is not conquered. She is met. She is another person in Los Angeles trying to begin again. The happy ending is not that Mike gets the girl as a reward for suffering. It is that he becomes capable of speaking to her without dragging the wreckage of his old life into the conversation. He becomes, in the old sense, a gentleman — not because he wins, but because he finally stops making his pain someone else’s problem.
And here’s the thing that made Swing revival the understated hero: Swing music wasn’t meant to be heard over speakers. It was meant to be live. It was meant for dancing — partner dancing. With a live swing band playing and a postage stamp dance floor, a guy who wasn’t afraid to dance had no shortage of girls to dance with. It was an immediate icebreaker. No stupid pickup lines; all you had to ask was, “May I have a dance?” Hell, maybe she’d buy you a drink if you made her look good. It was a real-life part of the L.A. scene.
Favreau frequented the Los Feliz Derby, a version of one of the original Brown Derby restaurants, located in the Los Feliz neighborhood in the greater Hollywood area of Los Angeles, abutting Hollywood and encompassing part of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Hollywood location was the haunt of Bogart and the boys, and the spirit was the same: There was no animosity between men and women; no “trad,” no longhouse. There is no patriarchy, matriarchy, manosphere, feminazis, cat ladies, or chads. There were beautiful babies and cool cats, and no one took it or themselves too seriously.
A few members of the cast of “Swingers” recalled that mood in a 2014 interview in <a href="https://grantland.com/features/an-oral-history-swingers/">Grantland</a>:
<blockquote>
Vince Vaughn: When Jon moved to L.A., I started to take him out to a lot of these swing music places. A lot of the old punk rock bands started to play swing. It was an alternative to the alternative scene — great live music, people dressing up, and the dancing was fun in a fun, intimate way. You would go and dance with a girl and hang out. It was really conversational. It was like being back in Chicago, where people would actually talk.
Glen “The Kid” Marhevka (trumpet player, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy): When we first started playing, we would show up at a club in suits and fedoras and people would just trip. They stared at us like we were aliens. But you’d go out and you’d dance. You’d dance with people. There was physical contact. It was kind of romantic. And just plain cool.
Morris: It was Hollywood personified. I mean, it was as hip as any club I have ever been into ever.
</blockquote>
There is a line running from Sinatra’s Vegas to Favreau’s Los Feliz, from the Sands to The Derby, from the tuxedo to the bowling shirt, from “Luck Be a Lady” to “You’re so money and you don’t even know it.” It is not a straight line of virtue. It is a line of posture, music, friendship, romance, and the belief that life is worth dressing up for even when your checking account says otherwise. The swing revival of the 1990s understood that glamour was democratic if you had the nerve to enter the room. You didn’t need to own the casino. You needed a jacket, a friend, a song, and enough self-respect not to confuse rejection with oppression.
In the Golden Age of aspiration, risk, men with ambition, men in love and the beautiful babies they pursued — from the mahogany booths of The Brown Derby, the glitz and red lips of the Sands and the showgirls at the Flamingo; hard-boiled toughness of Bogart and the easy swagger of Wayne — post WWII America placed a lot of expectations on men and men were up to the challenge.
The grifter, by contrast, never risks the room. He broadcasts from a throne he built out of insecurity and charges admission to men who have not yet learned that no woman, no friend, no city, no world owes them applause, and when life breaks your heart, call your buddy. Put on the jacket. Go hear the band. Try again. “Cock your hat — angles are attitudes,” Sinatra said.
This is the inheritance worth keeping from the Rat Pack’s long shadow: not the vices, not the swagger for swagger’s sake, not the belief that masculinity is proven by intimidation, but rather the American wager that a man can lose, get dressed, meet his friends, hold onto the woman in front of him, and still walk into the night as if the band is playing his song. That’s money, baby.
***
Editor&#8217;s note: Part two of the Sintara-Wayne Saga, Las Vegas, the new Western Frontier, and a shifting Americana will appear next week.

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Celebrities who publicly back President Donald Trump are both rare and brave. The stance puts a bright red target on their professional backs.
Just ask Cheryl Hines, who only stood by her man (Trump Health and Human Services appointee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.) and saw her <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0385644/?ref_=fn_t_1">Hollywood career fade to black</a>.
Backing Israel comes with similar drawbacks. It’s not the “cool” position in La La Land like shouting “Free Palestine” at major awards shows. It might cost you work or put another kind of target on your back.
Pop superstar Boy George just found that out. The ‘80s mainstay isn’t known for his political musings, but he recently leaned on A.I. to create a new song supporting Israel.
“We Will Dance Again” slams those who claim the country’s war on Hamas is a genocide:
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You say genocide, I say war, when you’re attacked, it’s what the army’s for … Does it get ugly? You bet it does, when I know you want to kill every last one of us.
</blockquote>
The fallout proved swift. He just voluntarily backed out of a London-based “Jesus Christ Superstar” production.
The singer, who would have played King Herod, said he made the decision for the good of the production. Would he have had to do that if he had shouted, “Free Palestine” at a glitzy awards show?
Unlikely. Will more career repercussions haunt the 65-year-old star? Likely.
That’s the arts-and-culture status quo.
Michael Rapaport has been unequivocal in his pro-Israel comments and attacks on Hamas terrorists. And, as a result, he received a <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/antifa-michael-rapaport-portland-protest/">not-so-veiled threat</a> from an Antifa-like group in 2024 for daring to bring his comedy act to Portland, Oregon.
When he performed in Denver last year, his team had the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/14/opinion/jewish-comics-no-longer-safe-in-hollywood/">club wand</a> patrons, ensuring no weapons entered the building. That’s not standard operating procedure at the club in question.
That hasn’t silenced the loquacious star. Rapaport released a searing satirical video last year before the Oscars ceremony that mocked his fellow artists for ignoring the plight of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
He claims his prolific acting career has <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/13/entertainment/michael-rapaport-claims-hes-having-trouble-finding-acting-jobs-over-his-israel-advocacy/">cooled a bit</a> since becoming more vocal on the issue.
More recently, he vowed to challenge New York City’s Zohran Mamdani, a leader eager to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in 2029 for Big Apple mayor.
Singer John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting fame has been equally vocal in his support for Israel. Ondrasik repeatedly mentioned the ongoing hostage crisis during his recent music tours. He even vowed to sing alongside pianist Alon Ohel, one of many Israelis held hostage by Hamas.
Earlier this year, the singer-songwriter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFpYqi4kRzM">fulfilled that pledge</a> by performing his hit song “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” with Ohel on his tour. “We prayed for that miracle. We hoped for that miracle, and my friends, that miracle is right now.”
The music industry was shockingly silent on the Oct. 7 savagery, specifically the massacre at the Nova Music Festival. U2’s Bono and Madonna mentioned the atrocities, albeit briefly. Otherwise, the industry has been quiet, save for comments from Ondrasik, more recently from Boy George, and from heavy metal singer David Draiman of Disturbed fame.
The singer scrawled “Bleep Hamas” on an <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2025-11-03/ty-article/.premium/disturbed-announces-a-hiatus-after-david-draimans-public-support-of-israel/0000019a-4a7d-dd6e-a7db-5ffda1a40000">IDF artillery shell</a> and has used his X account to share pro-Israel messaging. His stance also sparked safety concerns and at least one concert cancellation.
The band’s Belgium gig got <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/watch-disturbed-call-unity-onstage-092807238.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAhWiYwQC87E4z_0Smku5DO9Yz5PrF08EKBw_hg5QsEO3nMhuG2GR_Tcoh8C5iOzcCpaQ35tdLebnPJsABrKIgWs__eI6MLmX530-gqbTMzzZXa1xoW9Mmu6P4-oLHl3w7rNnkc79u6IWrfhbK2P61wbiW45Tj8abPdSwlrzXF0l">scrapped by the city’s mayor</a> due to “public safety fears” tied to protesters.
Other pro-Israel voices came from unexpected places. Actress Patricia Heaton isn’t Jewish, but she’s been loud and proud in defending Israel and calling out Hamas for its terrorist ways. She also helped create the October 7 Coalition (07C), a Christian-led group to rally spiritually minded souls to fight antisemitism and support Israel.
“Will &amp; Grace” alum Debra Messing penned a post for The Times of Israel calling out the stunning rise in antisemitism while suggesting her fellow progressives <a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/my-inconvenient-jewish-fear/">have lost their way</a> given the party’s recent anti-Israel stance, writing:
<blockquote>
I still believe in the progressive vision. But I’m watching closely, because if it can’t make space for my community, then it’s not what it claims to be.
</blockquote>
Israeli-born actress Gal Gadot of “Wonder Woman” fame <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gal-gadot-israel-hamas-gaza-genesis-prize-hollywood-3b674679ece9e27db14f9ebc948f5bf5">earned her homeland’s Genesis Prize for her support</a>. She hasn’t hidden her pride in her homeland, which may have been awkward during the 2026 “Snow White” press rollout. Her co-star, Rachel Zegler, is a strong pro-Palestine force.
The actress known to millions as Blossom, Mayim Bialik, lent her voice to the small pro-Israel contingent of Hollywood stars. Bialik did more than <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/hollywood-stars-like-mayim-bialik-debra-messing-among-1200-blasting-israeli-film-boycott-erasure-art">sign an open letter condemning an Israeli film boycott.</a>
Her staunch support of the Jewish state has her <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jun/26/mayim-bialik-recalls-parking-lot-confrontation-israel-views-says/">fearing for her life</a> and the lives of her children. She has had several incidents in recent years that left her feeling threatened for her views.
And then there’s the least political comedian possible, Jerry Seinfeld.
The stand-up legend has been hounded in public by pro-Palestinian protesters. Each time, he’s deflected their comments with biting humor. That wasn’t all he has done for Israel.
<a href="https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/thank-you-to-comedy-legend-jerry-seinfeld-for-always-standing-with-israel/">He visited Tel Aviv</a> following the Oct. 7 attacks to meet with survivors as well as the family members of the hostages.
These artists stood up for Israel, the Jewish people, and against Hamas. It&#8217;s a small list that comes with no perks and plenty of sacrifices, but these voices refuse to be silenced.
***
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. He&#8217;s also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hollywood-in-toto-podcast-w-christian-toto/id1186449155">The Hollywood in Toto Podcast</a>. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>.

World Premiere Of Disney’s Snow White

Pro-Israel Stars Are Still Ostracized In Terrorist-Supporting Hollywood

antisemitism

Boy George

Cheryl Hines

Gal Gadot

John Ondrasik

Michael Rapaport

Pro-Hamas

Zohran Mamdani

Academy Award-winning Russell Crowe revealed a lot about his own values, giving a thoughtful answer when he was asked about which movies should be required viewing for young men, specifically Gen Z.
Crowe, who won the coveted Best Actor award for his role in &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; was asked to look back at his filmography and explain which movies he thought every young man should watch. He based his answer on what values and lessons the younger generation could take away from the movies he&#8217;d chosen to make.
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&#8220;That&#8217;s kind of a very serious question,&#8221; Crowe began with a smile, adding, &#8220;It would probably take me a month to write a dissertation.&#8221;
Crowe then selected three of his movies — 2000&#8217;s &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; 2003&#8217;s &#8220;Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,&#8221; and 2005&#8217;s &#8220;Cinderella Man&#8221; — and explained what he believed young men might learn from each of them.
<h4>&#8220;Gladiator&#8221;</h4>
&#8220;Gladiator&#8221; was first on his list because he said it would teach young men about &#8220;honor and the importance of la familia.&#8221;
Crowe has often talked about the fact that family, and one man&#8217;s mission to avenge his loss, is the heart of that film. He felt so strongly about that particular point that he pushed back — hard — when producers and even director Ridley Scott wanted to add a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/russell-crowe-reveals-why-he-refused-to-do-a-sex-scene-for-gladiator">sex scene</a> into the movie.
&#8220;When we were shooting that film, there was a lot of pressure. The studio, the producers [thought] there should be sex between Maximus and the female characters. I just kept pushing back,” he said in a previous interview.
&#8220;This is the story of a man avenging the death of his wife and his child,” Crowe explained. “There cannot be a moment in that journey where he stops and has sex with somebody. It doesn’t make any sense because then that destroys the journey.&#8221;
The end results spoke for themselves: Scott ultimately sided with Crowe, agreeing that a sex scene would take away from the film&#8217;s &#8220;moral core.&#8221; The finished product netted them not only Crowe&#8217;s Best Actor statue, but also the Best Picture Oscar. (Crowe has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/russell-crowe-blasts-gladiator-2-for-lacking-moral-core-that-made-the-first-one-great">also said</a> that the reason &#8220;Gladiator 2&#8221; failed to capture the audience in the same way was that it strayed from that &#8220;moral core.&#8221;)
<h4>&#8220;Master and Commander&#8221;</h4>
The second film Crowe listed was &#8220;Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,&#8221; a period piece set in 1805 and loosely based on the &#8220;real-life naval exploits of British Captain Lord Thomas Cochrane.&#8221;
The actor said that film, which did not garner anywhere near the commercial or critical success he saw with &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; would nonetheless teach young men &#8220;about loyalty and fealty.&#8221;
&#8220;There are a few movies in the things that I&#8217;ve done which can have a profound connection to a young man,&#8221; Crowe continued before offering up his third and final selection. &#8220;Those two are very important, but there&#8217;s also a film called &#8216;Cinderella Man,&#8217; which is about somebody who&#8217;s facing the worst kind of situation, but he still goes forward. And because they go forward, they end up achieving what they set out to achieve.&#8221;
<h4>&#8220;Cinderella Man&#8221;</h4>
&#8220;Cinderella Man,&#8221; as Crowe noted, follows the career of the boxing champion who almost wasn&#8217;t: Jim Braddock. After a hand injury and the onset of the Great Depression stalled what had looked to be a promising boxing career, Braddock was forced to work manual labor jobs on the New Jersey docks — and rely on government assistance at times — to support his family.
In 1934, he got a chance to step back into the ring, but he wasn&#8217;t fighting for the title so much as for his own name. He won in a knockout — and kept winning. But as the prize money rolled in, Braddock didn&#8217;t spend it or even put it into savings. Instead, he tracked down every government agency through which his family had gotten aid, paying every cent back.
Dubbed &#8220;the Cinderella Man&#8221; due to his rags-to-riches story, Braddock went into the 1935 championship match at Madison Square Garden against World Heavyweight Champion Max Baer with 10-1 odds that he would lose. But years of working on the docks had given him the stamina to wear Baer down, and after 12 rounds, Braddock was named the new world champion.
With more than 80 acting credits to his name, Crowe could have answered that question dozens of different ways. The way he chose to answer, what he chose to pass on to the next generation, revealed that values he holds dear: family, loyalty, honor, and determination. And, as Crowe himself showed when the &#8220;moral core&#8221; was threatened during the filming of &#8220;Gladiator,&#8221; he is willing to fight for them when necessary.
***
This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe’s Three Movies Every Young Man Should Watch

family

Gen Z

Kennedy Centert

Movies

Parenting

Upstream

Despite all the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ed-harris-said-he-almost-quit-dutton-ranch-get-me-the-f-out-of-here">complaining</a> he did about the significance of his role on “Dutton Ranch,” actor Ed Harris will reportedly be returning for season two.
Per sources who spoke with <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/07/ed-harris-returning-dutton-ranch-season-2-showrunner-change-1236999568/">Deadline</a>, the second season of the popular “Yellowstone” spinoff has already been picked up by the network, and Harris’s character will be part of the story to some degree.
Harris, 75, made headlines earlier this week after going on a rant about how small his role was in the show. He did eventually admit that he thought the series was “pretty good” overall.
“Midway through the first season, I was ready to say, ‘get me the f*ck out of here,’ to tell you the truth,” Harris said on the red carpet for Apple TV’s “The Dink.” “I didn’t feel I was being used. I felt very misled. Prior to signing on for it, I was talked to quite a bit about what the season was, and what my character was going to do, and that I was one of the four main characters. And that wasn’t really the case.”
He brought up how one scene of him singing in a bar got cut from the finished product. “They said it was too ‘up’ for the dark ending of the episode … I’m like, ‘F*ck you people!’ That, to me, is reason enough to say, ‘I’m voiding my contract,’” Harris said.
“Dutton Ranch” showrunner Chad Feehan left the series ahead of the premiere due to behind-the-scenes friction. The Deadline sources claimed that this was potentially due to how Harris’s character arc was handled, and said the actor was involved in choosing Feehan’s replacement. Paramount+ has not issued any public statements on these claims.
“Yellowstone” creator and “Dutton Ranch” executive producer Taylor Sheridan has made it a habit to underutilize big stars. He’s addressed this in the past, saying he’s well aware it can cause controversy. He did the same with Demi Moore on “Landman.”
“The critics are going to come after me. I’m underutilizing [Moore], can’t write for women, all this nonsense. Then I’m going to kill your husband and you’re going to have to run the oil company. The critics and me … I don’t care what they think, and it annoys the sh*t out of them that I don’t care. I’ll be the first to tell you that there are things that I do that rage-bait them a bit, and this is one of them. F*ck ’em, honestly,” Sheridan said last month, as The Daily Wire previously reported.

Ed Harris

Ed Harris’ Future On ‘Dutton Ranch’ Revealed After He Complained About Role In First Season

Celebrities

Paramount

Taylor Sheridan

It’s no secret that conservatives are the David to Hollywood’s Goliath on the pop culture front.
Much of that isn’t their fault. The Heartland is mostly shut out of Hollywood, Inc. Conservative stories rarely get a close-up on screens of any size. The list of openly conservative stars remains microscopically small.
Yet conservatives may have hurt their own cause by going to war with “The Odyssey,” mostly sight unseen.
Director Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic poem drew endless online attacks from both Right-leaning YouTube creators and conservatives. It’s woke! It’s D.E.I. gone wild! The source material’s translator is a <a href="https://www.slashfilm.com/2219268/how-emily-wilson-feels-christopher-nolan-the-odyssey-adaptation/">woke feminist</a>!
A woke feminist, for what it’s worth, who had some unkind things to say about Nolan’s finished product.
Now, with the film generating rapturous responses from <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_odyssey_2026">film critics</a> and <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/odyssey-audience-cinemascore-even-beyond-031733557.html">audiences alike</a>, that knee-jerk response is looking worse. The film earned a whopping <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/the-odyssey-box-office-christopher-nolan-opening-weekend-shatters-expectations-1236815861/">$264 million globally</a> in its opening weekend, and the subsequent numbers show little sign that it’s a one-weekend wonder.
Nolan isn’t your average Hollywood storyteller. He never weighs in on politics directly, lets his art speak for him, and once made a blockbuster that side-eyed the Occupy Wall Street movement – “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012).
He spent an entire Oscar campaign for 2023’s “Oppenheimer” without shouting “Free Palestine” or attacking a certain U.S. president. He’s also not a social media diva. He reportedly doesn’t own a smartphone and has his assistants <a href="https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/jaelaniturnerwilliams/christopher-nolan-no-smartphone-email">print out emails for him</a>. (Maybe we can all agreed that’s a bit much.)
That should have earned him some respect on the Right, the sense that this wasn’t your average Hollywood progressive weaponizing a classic against Red State USA.
No.
Social media allowed some Right-leaning souls to predict the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldGE53GwLlc">film’s financial doom</a> and slam the film sight unseen. Even Elon Musk entered the chat, pummeling the film for weeks prior to its release.
On one key front, the Right had a point.
Nolan cast trans actor Elliot Page in “The Odyssey,” but he and his team refused to explain what role Page played. That sparked rumors that the part was Achilles, known to all as a fearsome warrior.
Page is five-foot-one and slender.
No matter. That Fake News story ricocheted around the web, desperate for a fact check that took too long to arrive. It’s notable that Nolan didn’t immediately debunk the misinformation, nor did his marketing team.
The latter likely possess smartphones.
Casting Page deserved some raised eyebrows. The actor is intensely political, before and after the transition. Page’s on-screen appearance is a distraction, no matter where you stand on so-called “representation” and trans rights. Period. Good filmmakers should understand that, but like even the very best storytellers in Hollywood, Nolan isn’t perfect.
Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o co-stars as Helen of Troy, a character described as fair-skinned in the text and played by white actors in previous takes on the source material. It’s a race swap! Yes, yes, it is, but it’s a very minor point in a much larger story.
Some savaged the star for not being beautiful enough for the role, a characterization that is both subjective and silly. Plus, Nyong’o has little screen time.
Nolan spoke repeatedly of his attempt to “modernize” the epic tale for modern audiences. Nyong’o’s casting may have been part of that effort. Some other minor “Greek” roles also clashed with the time period. Was Nolan pulling a minor “Hamilton” move, where casting choices took a creative turn to say something about the culture at large?
Right-leaning podcaster Bridget Phetasy leveled the cruelest dig at the film’s conservative critics. She called their <a href="https://www.phetasy.com/p/walk-ins-welcome-400?utm_source=podcast-email&amp;publication_id=348276&amp;post_id=208139218&amp;utm_campaign=email-play-on-substack&amp;utm_content=watch_now_gif&amp;r=2rv17&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email">attacks “liberal” in nature</a>:
<blockquote>
You had a criticism of making everything political for a decade, and now you haven’t seen the movie and you’re making it political and telling people not to go enjoy a good movie.
</blockquote>
That’s not to say some conservative arguments weren’t solid or leaned on little more than tired talking points to fit their agenda. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh skewered “The Odyssey” while bringing up salient arguments about the casting, the impact of Page’s character and more.
He actually saw the film and gave his two cents thereafter. Agree? Disagree? He stated his case well.
Andrew Klavan mostly praised the film but found the screenplay wanting, to put it mildly.
The Critical Drinker, who isn’t overtly conservative but leans to the cultural Right, served up a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_W0z6hZlrI">nuanced take</a> that mixed criticism with praise.
Conservatives should take great care in “jumping the gun” on pop culture matters. In a way, that’s what the Left often does. Consider the L.A. Times’ <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/la-times-daily-wire-run-hide-fight-racist/">recent assault on “Run Hide Fight: Infidels,”</a> a movie that doesn’t hit Daily Wire+ until the Fall.
The newspaper read a generic synopsis of the film, set on a college campus where Islamic radicals take charge, and declared the film deeply problematic. The film could inspire violence, the paper argued, while implying it should be censored.
The worst part of this ugly culture war battle? The anger and absolutism behind the critiques. “The Odyssey” is just a movie, albeit a massive one with cultural heft. We can love or loathe it, find it inspiring or wanting.
Walsh is right, to a degree. So is The Critical Drinker and the Left-leaning mainstream critics who adored “The Odyssey.”
Conservatives should still engage in the culture wars, create art on their own terms (when feasible) and not cede Hollywood to the modern Left. The latter would be disastrous.
They also should hold their fire until they see the art in question and bring vital context to their culture war crusades. The Right is working at a distinct disadvantage here. They shouldn’t make matters worse.
***
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. He&#8217;s also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hollywood-in-toto-podcast-w-christian-toto/id1186449155">The Hollywood in Toto Podcast</a>. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>.

“The Odyssey” New York Premiere

Conservatives Lose A Culture War Battle Over ‘The Odyssey’

Andrew Klavan

Christopher Nolan

Culture wars

Elliot Page

Lupita Nyong’o

Matt Walsh

The Odyssey

Woke Culture

Punch-Odyssey-2

Is ‘The Odyssey’ A Sign America Is Post-Woke?

Homer

Shane Gillis

Spencer Klavan

Weekend Punch

Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery have agreed to delay closing their proposed $110 billion merger until at least June 2027 as they battle a multistate antitrust lawsuit, extending uncertainty over a deal that could reshape the American media landscape.
The agreement allows both sides to avoid a court fight over a preliminary injunction while the case proceeds toward trial.
A coalition of 12 Democratic state attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, sued to block the transaction. The lawsuit claims the merger would &#8220;extinguish competition&#8221; in the media and entertainment industries.
If approved, the merger would unite major media brands, including Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming platforms, CBS News, and CNN under one corporate umbrella.
Rather than continue fighting emergency motions, the companies agreed not to close the transaction until June 2027 or until the court reaches a final decision.
Bonta celebrated the agreement as a major victory for the states challenging the merger.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today’s agreement is great news for audiences, movie theaters, and the many people who write, build, and create the art, news, and entertainment so many of us enjoy.
We are eager to continue to make our case in court and celebrate another tremendous win in our effort to ensure… <a href="https://t.co/m4LFxiA5tP">pic.twitter.com/m4LFxiA5tP</a>
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) <a href="https://x.com/AGRobBonta/status/2080754504388259849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Today&#8217;s agreement is great news for audiences, movie theaters, and the many people who write, build, and create the art, news, and entertainment so many of us enjoy,&#8221; Bonta said. &#8220;We are eager to continue to make our case in court and celebrate another tremendous win in our effort to ensure this unlawful merger never sees the light of day.&#8221;
New York Democratic Attorney General Letitia James also praised the decision, <a href="https://x.com/NewYorkStateAG/status/2080742874610626683">calling</a> it &#8220;a critical victory in our efforts to uphold the law and protect the film and television industries.&#8221;
Paramount defended the merger and said the delay would allow the company to make its case in court.
&#8220;This is the fastest and clearest way to prove that this transaction is good for competition, good for consumers, and good for creators, a conclusion dozens of competition authorities around the world have already reached,&#8221; a Paramount spokesperson <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/paramount-skydance-agrees-halt-warner-bros-merger-june-2027-rcna589137">told</a> NBC News. &#8220;We look forward to proving our case at trial.&#8221;
The merger has attracted attention beyond Hollywood because Paramount is now controlled by Skydance founder and CEO David Ellison, 43, whose acquisition of Paramount was backed by his father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, a longtime ally and supporter of President Donald Trump. Since Skydance took control of Paramount earlier this year, Ellison has overseen significant changes at CBS News, including bringing in journalist Bari Weiss to overhaul the network&#8217;s news division.
Ellison has drawn praise from President Trump, who has expressed optimism that new ownership could restore credibility to CBS News after years of criticism from conservatives and Republicans.
If this merger happens, one company will control CBS and CNN under ownership that conservatives believe is moving in a different editorial direction.

In this photo illustration, the Paramount logo is seen

One Of Hollywood’s Biggest Deals Just Hit A Wall

Business

CBS News

David Ellison

Donald Trump

HBO Max

Letitia James

Media

Rob Bonta

Warner Bros

Warner Brothers

In a cold, sterile room, officials at two long tables, separated by a wide divide, sat, staring. On one end, Team USA was represented by the Biden administration. On the other end, Team China. As U.S. officials slowly rolled out each scripted word, they informed the People’s Republic of China of their modern-day human rights abuses. <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/03/26/china-defends-itself-on-human-rights-by-pointing-to-history-of-slavery-in-us/">Then came China’s turn</a>. Staring down the barrel of the divide, right into the eyes of America’s top diplomat, the Chinese leader spat out, unscripted, that the U.S. no longer spoke from a position of strength; it had no authority to lecture on human rights abuses.
They painted the picture of America’s human rights abuses as “deep-seated … they did not just emerge over the past four years, such as Black Lives Matter.” On the issue of forced labor, Chinese officials rebuked the U.S., saying it had no moral authority to judge. They then proceeded to show pictures of their machine cotton production versus America’s historical production through slavery.
Even through a screen, you could feel the air sucked out of the room.
And that’s when I realized, as a public relations professional, China was officially on track to win the PR war. Just a few short years later, it looks like they’ve done just that.
This month, the Pew Research Center <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/07/15/people-in-many-countries-now-view-china-more-positively-than-the-u-s/">released a blockbuster report</a> showing that more nations had a favorable view of China than the U.S. The data also pointed to an indisputable trend: most countries still believe America respects its citizens’ freedom more than China does, but that gap is rapidly shrinking. Across the board, global sentiment toward China trended up. Pakistan topped as China’s biggest fan. But most telling, the countries with the highest regard for the U.S. were those in China’s crosshairs: Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and, most interestingly, India.
I can attest to this. As someone who grew up in Taiwan, the closer you are geographically to China, the more acutely aware you are of its striking capabilities. Literally. The <a href="https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol52/iss3/2/">mid-90s Chinese missile attacks on Taiwan</a> are seared in my mind, as my school operated daily air raid simulations. The people who live closest to China’s power often have the least romanticized view of it.
But lest you think this positive shift is just a global phenomenon, it’s not. We’re seeing the same trend here in America.
Pew also noted <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/14/americans-views-of-china-have-grown-somewhat-more-positive-in-recent-years/">Americans are steadily warming to China.</a> Today, over a quarter of Americans have a positive view of China, doubling over the last three years. Just like the global data, 2023 seems to be a pivotal year, with the graphs showing, pretty much across the board, most countries softening their views on the PRC. Why is that? I’m not sure anyone knows for sure. But as a PR professional, I’m convinced it is in part due to China’s refreshed messaging.
Every PR practitioner knows that two of the biggest PR metrics are message pull-through and audience sentiment. China appears to be excelling at both. The ultimate victory isn’t when someone repeats a paid message but when they repeat it organically, in their own words, believing it’s their own conclusion. Scroll through TikTok, and you’ll see videos of young influencers comparing the human rights abuses of America vs. China, debating who is more “imperialistic.”
Look at top streamer and socialist political commentator Hasan Piker. His recent trip to China was viewed millions of times as he stood in Tiananmen Square, not mentioning the atrocities but rather holding a Chinese flag, stating he had <a href="https://thehill.com/video/hasan-piker-blasted-for-china-livestream-i-dont-have-any-patriotism-for-america/11256155/">“no patriotism in his heart for America.”</a> Later, he showed reverence for former communist dictator Mao Zedong by claiming he would never criticize him. In an interview with a <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3343845/hasan-piker-talks-about-his-controversial-china-trip-and-thinking-chinese-thoughts">Chinese news outlet</a>, Piker said that China&#8217;s social contract outperforms America&#8217;s, emphasizing the country’s perceived achievements.
When it comes to positive sentiment, it’s not just Piker; we can also look at social media to reflect the patterns found in the Pew data. Social media accounts share “Chinamaxxing” content: A social trend where Gen Z romanticizes the communist nation and adopts Chinese aesthetics. For years, experts <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/5432077-tiktok-china-influence-us/">recognized the significant impact</a> China’s use of TikTok can have on its 170 million U.S. users. Even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/19/the-guardian-view-on-perceptions-of-superpowers-the-world-isnt-chinamaxxing-its-america-avoidant">The Guardian points out</a>, “China is increasingly investing in overseas influence operations, including working with or amplifying local social media content creators.” It appears that the CCP understands a critical point of PR sentiment: You don’t have to win complete adoration; sometimes reducing opposition is victory enough.
I see this in my personal interactions as well. Because I grew up in Taiwan, many people share their thoughts with me about China. And what I’ve heard is a definite softening on <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/china">China’s human rights abuses</a>. “They just want to be left alone” or “They only want to operate in their sphere.” They paint China as some geopolitical Greta Garbo, when that’s just not the case.
It’s why Chinese President Xi Jinping recently described U.S.-China relations through the framework of the <a href="https://gsas.harvard.edu/news/discussing-thucydides-trap">Thucydides Trap</a>, wishcasting his nation to surpass the U.S. as the global superpower. It’s why <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1630978524684413">U.S. farmers are alarmed at American farmland being sold</a>. Even Hollywood can’t produce some American movies without agreeing to zero mentions of the <a href="https://www.heritage.org/china/heritage-explains/how-china-taking-control-hollywood">“Three Ts”</a>: Taiwan, Tibet, or Tiananmen Square.
China doesn’t need to convince Americans that it’s good. It just needs to convince us we’re hypocritical. Make us feel its ambitions are harmless. The latest Pew data confirms China’s global sentiment is improving, while its talking points are increasingly repeated by Americans themselves. By the two measures I know best, sentiment and message pull-through, the country appears to be gaining. Regrettably, China has been waging the PR war for years — and it appears to be winning.
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Emily Osment Davis is a writer and communicator with a background in non-profits and politics and a not-so-secret love of celebrity gossip. She covers the space where Hollywood meets D.C. — because sometimes the two aren’t so different. You may have read her work in Newsweek, USA Today, Fox News and more.

Hands waving small Chinese flags

Is China Winning The PR War?

Chinamaxxing

Communist China

Foreign Policy

Hasan Piker

Public relations

Taiwan

Thucydides Trap

Tiananmen Square

TikTok

Xi Jinping

Christopher Nolan&#8217;s “The Odyssey” delivered the biggest opening weekend of the director&#8217;s career, generating $264.1 million worldwide, including $139.6 million internationally and $124.5 million domestically, according to <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/the-odyssey-christopher-nolan-biggest-global-debut-1236815981/">Variety</a>. 
“The Odyssey” has become the biggest worldwide opening of Nolan’s career, a record previously held by “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012), which earned $249 million, and “The Dark Knight,” which earned $198 million, as the outlet noted. 
The film&#8217;s record-setting debut comes despite pre-release criticism from some conservatives over several casting decisions. After seeing the movie, however, many have praised Nolan&#8217;s latest epic.
Several conservatives admit that despite a lot of build-up about casting decisions Nolan made, including putting in transgender-identifying actress Elliot Page as a male character and race-swapping Helen of Troy by casting Lupita Nyong’o, the movie is absolutely worth seeing. 
Ben Shapiro, Editor Emeritus of The Daily Wire, had heaps of praise for the film, saying there were flaws, but they weren’t enough to spoil the entire movie. 
“Nolan is unparalleled. He’s the best director working today, without a doubt. He just creates iconic movie after iconic movie,” Shapiro said during his review. 
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He also said Matt Damon shined as the movie’s lead. “I think he’s great in nearly everything. He sort of disappears into the part in a way that he doesn’t in a lot of other movies. He’s great as Odysseus.”
As for other casting decisions, Shapiro was also full of praise, save for a few of the more glaring choices. “Robert Pattinson as Antinous is an excellent antagonist. He’s sleazy and gross. Tom Holland as Telemachus is excellent, well cast. Anne Hathaway does a great job as Penelope,” he said.
Shapiro said Nyong’o was actually a fine choice of Helen of Troy unless Nolan was going to cast an actual Greek star in her place.
“So, I know a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my god, Lupita Nyong’o is supposed to look like Diane Kruger.’ I don’t know. Diane Kruger doesn’t look very Greek. She’s German,” Shapiro said. “Lupita Nyong’o is a beautiful woman. But here’s the thing, actually, in the script, Nolan goes out of his way to explain that the war wasn’t really launched over Helen being gorgeous.”
Shapiro did mention Page’s casting as Sinon, saying it was an “absolute puzzler” from Nolan because the actress is “about 5’2 and 105 pounds soaking wet and has the voice of a woman. It doesn’t work.”
Madeline Fry Schultz <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/go-ahead-watch-the-odyssey">reviewed</a> the film for The Daily Wire&#8217;s Upstream, calling it, “a big, glorious summer blockbuster based on a pillar of the Western canon. It explores mercy, hospitality, vengeance, family bonds, honor, and, of course, homecoming.” 
Like Shapiro, she said the issues with the film don’t outweigh the benefits. “With the ‘Odyssey’ controversy, conservatives are getting hung up on the details (some more troublesome than others) when the headline is that one of Hollywood’s best directors just made a three-hour-long film about a father returning home to his family, facing terrifying monsters and deftly wielding his bow and arrows on the way.”
“It’s beautifully shot, it has mass appeal, and there’s little in the film itself to subvert Homer’s epic tale, which is now reaching a new audience,” Schultz wrote. 
Another Upstream reviewer pointed out what many others were saying: that the film is infused with Christian themes.
“Christian morality has become so deeply embedded in Western life that even secular people treat many of its assumptions as universal. They reject Christianity as a religion while continuing to believe that compassion is superior to force, that the weak and downtrodden possess inherent moral worth, that guilt should result from cruelty, and that forgiveness rather than retaliation is a sign of strength,” Rob Henderson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/what-christopher-nolan-couldnt-bring-himself-to-do?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Rob+Henderson&amp;category=Upstream&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=What+Christopher+Nolan+Couldn%E2%80%99t+Bring+Himself+To+Do">wrote</a>. “Nolan can’t resist placing a Christian (or secular Post-Christian) moral code within a pagan hero.”
Critics and audiences agree that, despite its flaws, “The Odyssey” is a masterpiece. It currently has a 95% critical rating and an audience score of 97%.

Conservatives Had Concerns About ‘The Odyssey.’ Now They’re Praising It.

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