According to a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/media/see-how-hollywoods-job-market-is-collapsing-230be437?mod=e2tw">new report</a> from The Wall Street Journal, the Hollywood job market is collapsing at an alarming rate.
The news outlet found that entertainment motion picture and video production employment saw a 30% reduction in jobs as compared to 2022. That includes work for actors, carpenters, costume makers, and the hundreds of other professions behind movies and TV shows.
WSJ noted that studios are making fewer movies and shows in general, and that when they do, those projects are often being made in countries that offer cheaper prices for filming.
Noah Wyle, who stars in and serves as executive producer of the popular medical drama “The Pitt,” said it was “a near cratering of our once thriving industry.”
The outlet noted that studios, labor unions, and soundstage owners have been pushing for a federal tax incentive of 15%, which could be combined with state incentives ranging from 20% to 40%. They claim this would entice studios to bring production back to the United States.
But even if those incentives brought the action back to Hollywood, it wouldn’t solve the issue of a general downturn in output. Hollywood has been serving up <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-just-had-its-worst-summer-box-office-in-over-40-years">a lot of flops lately</a>, and that track record has led to major studios being more cautious with what they’re willing to make. This likely has a lot to do with churning out woke crap that audiences are sick of seeing, even if they’d never admit it.
The bad box office results are being blamed on the rise of streaming, short attention spans in the TikTok age, and a general refusal of audiences to return to theaters in a post-COVID world, among other issues. Hollywood analysts insist there is too much competition to make a great hit. But then a success story like “Project Hail Mary” comes along and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hollywood-learned-the-wrong-lesson-from-project-hail-mary">blows that theory to shreds</a>.
In September, President Trump addressed the issue, threatening a “100% tariff” on films made overseas in an effort to bring movie production back to the United States.
“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.’ California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit! Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States,” the president shared in a Truth Social post at the time, echoing similar statements he made in May.

Distressed image of movie clapperboard

Hollywood Is In Deep Trouble And May Have Itself To Blame

employment

Entertainment

Hollywood

Jobs

Los Angeles

Wokeness

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

Film

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Leftists

Television

Cheryl Hines is pushing back on claims from leftist comedian Chelsea Handler that she and her husband, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., sold her a “toxic” $6 million home in Los Angeles.
The “Curb Your Enthusiasm” alum provided her version of events on an upcoming episode of the “Tomi Lahren is Fearless” podcast, questioning why Handler is creating the drama years after purchasing the property. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Cheryl Hines Gets Candid on Politics, Trump, and Life With RFK Jr." width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MXTRs5279sk?start=446&#038;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>
“She bought this house five years ago and she&#8217;s just now complaining about it,&#8221; Hines said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know that she&#8217;s getting a lot of sympathy from people. She&#8217;s buying a $6 million house&#8230;and talking about how she feels duped and that we tried to sell her a house that was, her word, ‘toxic,’ which also doesn&#8217;t make sense.&#8221;
Hines went on to say Handler’s claim “doesn&#8217;t really hold water,” pointing to what she described as a friendly and open line of communication during the sale. 
“I did write her a personal note when she moved in, just saying how much we love the house. And I hope that she has a beautiful life in this house. And if you need anything, call me. And I left my number,” Hines said. “So I don&#8217;t know… if we were trying to unload a toxic house on her, I wouldn&#8217;t have left my number.”
Hines had some theories about why Handler would be making the claims now, telling the podcast host that Handler is “just trying to get attention” and that it&#8217;s “probably fun for her to make fun of&#8221; Kennedy.
“So, what are you going to do? She&#8217;s trying to get a laugh, I guess, and some likes,” Hines added.
Handler, meanwhile, says she has experienced problems with the home for years. During an appearance on &#8220;Jimmy Kimmel Live!&#8221; earlier this month, she blamed Kennedy and Hines for issues that were not caught during inspection.
“It took me four years to move in. There [were] a lot of problems with the house — I blame him,&#8221; she said, referring to RFK Jr. &#8220;And that didn’t get caught during inspection. And a lot of drama with the house. But I did just move in for the first time yesterday. So, I’m good.&#8221;
“I mean, I have chlamydia, herpes, and what else does he have?” Handler joked. “Oh, measles. I have chlamydia, measles, and herpes.”
Handler first brought up the topic during an episode of her “Dear Chelsea” podcast, saying the home was “toxic” and uninhabitable when she purchased it. 
“I still have not lived in this house. That&#8217;s how f***ed up this house was,” she said at the time.
Handler also confirmed Hines&#8217; story about leaving a note and said she wouldn&#8217;t have purchased the home had she known who previously owned it.
“Cheryl Hines sent me a note saying, ‘Thank you, we’re so excited you bought our house. Let us know if there’s anything we can do,’” Handler said on her podcast. “And I was like, ‘Oh no! I bought RFK Jr.’s house?’ Like the one person in the world that I would flag whose house not to buy.”

Cheryl Hines

RFK Jr.’s Wife Cheryl Hines Fires Back At Chelsea Handler Over ‘Toxic’ Accusation

Chelsea Handler

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A newly announced “Lord of the Rings” movie is getting trashed online after Warner Bros. announced that late-night host Stephen Colbert will develop the project with his son. 
The announcement came via social media on Tuesday night, which was also Tolkien Reading Day.
First, film director Peter Jackson gave an update on the sequel “The Hunt for Gollum,” which is currently in production. “Andy [Serkis] is doing a terrific job. It’s looking amazing. The script is coming together really well, and I think it’s going to be a really good film,” Jackson said before revealing what’s up next.
The director had Colbert join him on the video after announcing he’d be writing “The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past.” Colbert explained that the movie would be based on chapters of “The Fellowship of the Ring” that weren’t in Jackson’s 2001 film.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
In honor of Tolkien Reading Day and the destruction of the One Ring, we bring you a special announcement. <a href="https://t.co/ufh9RLBIxO">pic.twitter.com/ufh9RLBIxO</a>
— Warner Bros. (@warnerbros) <a href="https://twitter.com/warnerbros/status/2036654308557500560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“You know what the books mean to me, and what your films mean to me,” Colbert told Jackson. “But the thing I found myself reading over and over again were the six chapters early on in [‘The Fellowship of the Ring’] that y&#8217;all never developed into the first movie back in the day. It’s basically the chapter ‘Three Is Company’ [Chapter III] through ‘Fog on the Barrow-Downs’ [Chapter VIII]. And I thought, ‘Oh, wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story. Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made?&#8217;”
Colbert said that he and his son, screenwriter Peter McGee, have been working with Jackson on the project for two years.
The hyper-partisan, Trump-hating late-night host made headlines last year after CBS canceled his “Late Show,” which led to him crying censorship rather than admitting that the program had been allegedly hemorrhaging money for years. CBS confirmed it was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cbs-cans-ultra-leftist-stephen-colberts-late-show-all-just-going-away">a financial decision</a> to sunset the program.
Most reactions to Colbert’s new gig were negative.
“This is by far the worst thing to ever happen to the franchise,” one X user <a href="https://x.com/RedRebeccax/status/2036687719620100401">wrote</a>. 
“Is it gonna have a sequence with dancing vaccine syringes? What about an evil orange man?” another person <a href="https://x.com/Logh_13/status/2036659222054568435">wondered</a>.
“No, absolutely not,” a third commenter <a href="https://x.com/tmo_melonmaster/status/2036679186010787973">said</a>. “Colbert hasn’t been anything remotely close to a competent writer, comedy or otherwise, for a very long time. Just the thought of the Lord of the Rings getting put through a heavily political infusion, Colbert only schtick at this point, is sickening.”
“Imagine burning billions on rings of power and still not learning any lessons from it,” another commenter wrote, referencing the controversial, widely panned Amazon series based on the fantasy series.
The film’s description for “Shadows of the Past” says, “Fourteen years after the passing of Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin set out to retrace the first steps of their adventure. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter, Elanor, has discovered a long-buried secret and is determined to uncover why the War of the Ring was very nearly lost before it even began.”
J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” was turned into three massively popular films, with releases in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Jackson&#8217;s epic fantasy trilogy is considered the highlight of his career and won 17 Academy Awards.

Colbert

‘Lord Of The Rings’ Just Got Handed Over To A Trump-Hating Late-Night Host

'Lord Of The Rings' Is Being Handed Over To A Hyper-Partisan Late Night Host

J.R.R. Tolkien

Movies

Stephen Colbert

In any other time, Timothée Chalamet would be the toast of Hollywood.
Young, handsome and versatile, few actors take their craft as seriously as Chalamet. So why is he suddenly considered a cartoonish villain within the halls of Tinsel Town? At a time when the industry still relies on 60-something stars named Cruise, Pitt, Depp and Reeves to fill seats, shouldn’t Hollywood be rallying around a much younger star?
Instead, we’ve spent weeks dissecting an offhand comment he made during a podcast chat and wondered if his “<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/timothee-chalamet-oscar-campaign-analysis-marty-supreme-1236521110/">swagger</a>” alienated too many Oscar voters.
Is this any way to treat a generational talent?
<div id="attachment_1064909" style="width: 819px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1064909" class="size-large wp-image-1064909" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2110850824-809x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 24: Timothee Chalamet is seen on location for the Bob Dylan biopic titled 'A Complete Unknown' on March 24, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Gotham/GC Images)" width="809" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2110850824-809x576.jpg 809w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2110850824-300x214.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2110850824-768x547.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2110850824.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 809px) 100vw, 809px" />Gotham/GC Images</div>
In a just a short span, Chalamet has played a bevy of iconic roles. He gave us Paul Atreides, the complicated hero of the “Dune” saga, a remarkable take on Bob Dylan via “A Complete Unknown” and even a young Willy Wonka. He’s earned three Oscar nominations to date, cementing his status among his peers.
And these weren’t emotional picks by any stretch. He earned them.
His sublime turn in last year’s “Marty Supreme” had him earmarked for Oscar night glory. It was his time, especially since he missed out the year prior despite a dazzling turn as a young Bob Dylan. Chalamet spent years performing like the folk-rock legend, so when the cameras started rolling, he’d be more than ready for his close-up.
Cillian Murphy bested Chalamet for his work in “Oppenheimer” all the same. It happens, but the young star never stopped hustling.
He trained obsessively once more for “Marty Supreme,” the tale of a ping-pong prodigy whose moral lapses threatened his dreams of global domination.
<div id="attachment_1064923" style="width: 605px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1064923" class="size-large wp-image-1064923" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2176665467-595x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 07: Timothee Chalamet is seen on the set of &quot;Marty Supreme&quot; on October 7, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by XNY/Star Max/GC Images)" width="595" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2176665467-595x576.jpg 595w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2176665467-300x290.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2176665467-768x743.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2176665467.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 595px) 100vw, 595px" />XNY/Star Max/GC Images</div>
Not only was he preparing years before the film hit theaters, he had to ape the precise ping-pong style of the 1950s. Tricking audiences that he was an elite ping-pong champion wasn’t enough. 
That’s hardly new for Chalamet, who happily rolls up his sleeves for the right role. He <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/timothee-chalamet-marty-supreme-ping-pong-training-1236454197/">learned Italian for his 2017 film</a>, “Call Me by Your Name,” which landed him his first Oscar nomination.
His latest extreme challenge didn’t grant him the ultimate acting prize. His fading can’t-miss status collapsed over the last few months, paving the way for the talented Michael B. Jordan to take Best Actor honors for “Sinners.”
That came as no surprise to Oscar observers. They watched Chalamet’s can’t-miss status crumble in real time.
First, he was working too hard to promote the film, appearing in public at pop-up events and flexing his Instagram account to drum up interest for the film. Why wouldn’t Hollywood crave such a creative approach to marketing?
<div id="attachment_1064925" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1064925" class="size-large wp-image-1064925" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2195483518-864x576.jpg" alt="SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 1876 -- Pictured: Host and musical guest Timothée Chalamet during the monologue on Saturday, January 25, 2025 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2195483518-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2195483518-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2195483518-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2195483518.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images</div>
Did anyone think a ‘50s era look at ping pong would draw huge crowds all by itself? Chalamet’s energy and enthusiasm helped make the film a hit, outgrossing the year’s eventual Best Picture winner, “One Battle After Another,” in American theaters — $95 million to $72 million, respectively.
Later, some pundits were turned off by his swagger. He simply wanted that golden statuette too much. What if he earned it fair and square? Since when is swagger a negative trait in a movie star?
Since now, apparently.
The post-Oscars recap of Chalamet’s loss is even more dispiriting. The Hollywood Reporter essentially asked the actor to disappear for a while<a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/timothee-chalamet-break-dune-3-1236536689/"> so we’d “miss” him</a>, at least until the third “Dune” saga hits theaters in December.
<div id="attachment_1064927" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1064927" class="size-large wp-image-1064927" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266738177-864x576.jpg" alt="HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Timothée Chalamet at the 98th Annual Oscars held at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266738177-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266738177-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266738177-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266738177.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Emma McIntyre/Getty Images</div>
Overexposure is a real concern for some stars, but Chalamet doesn’t work nearly as often as some of his high-profile peers. Heck, there’s a running joke about the ubiquitous Pedro Pascal, but Chalamet’s resume is far less busy than the “Mandalorian” star.
Chalamet makes one sizable film a year, with the occasional supporting turn to flesh out his resume.
The craziest attack on the star came late in the recent Oscar campaign. The actor told fellow star Matthew McConaughey that he hoped film wouldn’t drop off the cultural scene<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/timothee-chalamet-still-getting-slammed-for-saying-ballet-and-opera-are-dead"> like ballet and opera</a> have in recent years.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it&#8217;s like, &#8216;Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.&#8217; All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there.”
That set off a firestorm, even though there’s some truth to his comments. How many people can rattle off the biggest opera or ballet stars in the world, as opposed to the biggest TV or film actors?
The critique <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doja-cat-admits-she-piled-on-chalamet-for-clicks-says-she-was-virtue-signaling">got blasted</a> far and wide, making its presence felt during the 98th Oscars ceremony hosted by Conan O’Brien.
“Security is extremely tight tonight. I’m told there’s concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.”
The camera quickly panned to Chalamet, who grinned sheepishly at the bit.
<div id="attachment_1064919" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1064919" class="size-large wp-image-1064919" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266716206-864x576.jpg" alt="HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Elle Fanning, Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet attend the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266716206-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266716206-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266716206-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2266716206.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Kevin Winter/Getty Images</div>
That imbroglio may not have hurt him in the Oscar voting tally as much as some suspected. Many votes had already been cast at that point. Still, the fallout was considerable, and some voters likely would have held it against him if possible.
The notion that they would let such a silly spectacle warp their perspectives is a tragic glimpse at award season decline, not anything about Chalamet’s talent.
We need younger stars to step in while the old guard recedes for character parts and retirement. Chalamet offers exactly that, but is Hollywood ready to embrace him?
* * *
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.

2026 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Mark Guiducci – Arrivals

The Strange Backlash Against Timothée Chalamet

Academy Awards

Oscars

Timothee Chalamet

A Variety writer is getting absolutely annihilated online for his headline about legendary action star Chuck Norris’s death last week.
While most mainstream outlets spoke highly of Norris and his career, William Earl, writing for Variety, chose to focus on the martial arts star’s politics instead. His headline <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/opinion/chuck-norris-death-politics-legacy-1236695065/">said</a>, “Chuck Norris Was a Great Action Star — but Politics May Overshadow His Legacy.”
In the article, Earl asks, “When a star is the poster boy for American exceptionalism and might, at what point does his legacy transition from escapism to dangerous propaganda?”
Social media critics were not on board with the author’s opinions and weren’t shy about letting him know.
“No normal person thinks about politics when Chuck Norris’ name is brought up,” one X user <a href="https://x.com/chrismartzwx/status/2035158114425594238?s=43">wrote</a> in reply. “However much you hate the press, you do not hate them enough.”
“Chuck Norris was an action legend and a great American. ‘Variety’ is an example of why so many people detest the media,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis <a href="https://x.com/rondesantis/status/2035138429995164036?s=43">agreed</a>.
“What a crappy way to honor a legend. You guys suck,” a third person <a href="https://x.com/ScottApogee/status/2035238328669290927">echoed</a>.
“All day people were telling Chuck Norris jokes. That was 100% shaped by his action movies and shows. Nobody was discussing Chuck’s politics. This is just stupid and lazy Variety. Be better,” another said.
“Chuck Norris remains an American legend whose tough guy roles defined an era. Ignore Variety&#8217;s biased political nonsense,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/WhisperEpo6823/status/2035097613922422996">agreed</a>.
Norris, who died on March 19, was one of the few unapologetic and wildly successful Christian conservatives working in Hollywood. He advocated for Republican politicians, supported gun rights, pushed for the Bible to be brought back into schools, and published a regular column at conservative website WorldNetDaily, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rip-chuck-norris-the-man-who-never-let-hollywood-smother-his-beliefs">reported</a>.
Besides advocating for his faith and for Bibles to return to public schools, the martial arts star was a fervent supporter of the military and took several trips overseas to visit deployed troops. Norris was a patriot with a strong sense of national pride.
He was also a big supporter of President Trump, which clearly didn’t win him any friends at Variety.

Chuck Norris

Variety Writer Dragged For Derogatory Chuck Norris Headline

Mainstream Media

Obituaries

U.S.

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" 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.
***
From “Star Wars” to Sandra Bullock, the intergalactic rescue mission has become one of Hollywood’s most overworked templates.
So I was skeptical when I settled in for “Project Hail Mary,” a new sci-fi epic adapted from Andy Weir’s novel of the same name. The film stars Ryan Gosling as a scientist on a last-ditch effort to save the world.
The plot is, admittedly, well-worn. And at its weakest moments, the film dips into the prolonged peril and aimless drift of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Gravity.” But ultimately, “Project Hail Mary” succeeds in offering something new. It is a heartwarming story about friendship, sacrifice, and the grace of finding something worth living and risking your life for. It blends the best of Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” with Weir’s own “The Martian,” and may be the finest performance of Gosling’s career.
The plot revolves around a mysterious intergalactic organism discovered spreading across solar systems, draining stars of their fuel, and hastening their collapse. This poses something of a problem for humanity, which relies on the sun for energy even more so than the Strait of Hormuz.
With no military solution available, the United States joins forces with the rest of the world to spearhead Project Hail Mary — a literal last-ditch attempt to save civilization. Scientists soon discover that one distant star alone appears immune in an otherwise infected galaxy, prompting a one-way mission to investigate the source of that immunity and relay the findings back to Earth.
One of the film’s strengths is its believable hero. A middle school science teacher with a PhD in molecular biology who flamed out of academia after a controversial but daring thesis sunk his reputation, Grace is a far cry from the roughnecks turned astronauts who save the world in Michael Bay’s “Armageddon.”
Upon awakening from a medically induced coma aboard the interstellar ship lightyears from home, Grace pieces together the mission through a series of flashbacks, alternating between his lonely presence in space and his memories of the events that led him there. The structure works well, gradually filling in both the mechanics of the plot and the contours of Grace’s character without sacrificing momentum.
But what gives Project Hail Mary its heart and distinguishes the film in such a saturated genre is the unlikely friendship that forms between Grace and Rocky — a bizarre extraterrestrial life-form resembling an animated boulder formation he encounters along the way. Following an extended and amusing sequence in which Grace, after mapping Rocky’s range of beeps and rhythms to English words, cycles through voice options ranging from a sprightly Irish gentleman to a seductive phone-sex operator, he settles on a charming, faintly Stephen Hawking-like rhythm redolent of Dug from Disney’s “Up.” Their relationship is the film’s emotional center and by far its most rewarding achievement.
The early moments of contact between them are suffused with genuine wonder. Grace’s first glimpse of Rocky’s alien ship — an elegant, Art Deco-like vessel the size of the Empire State Building gliding through the void — is enchanting. As are the scenes in which the two cautiously learn to communicate, discovering not only each other’s language and biology, but that their meeting is no accident. Rocky is on a parallel mission to determine why this lone star is immune and use that knowledge to save his own world. In a genre crowded with stories about intergalactic war, conquest, and sheer firepower, there is something refreshing about a science fiction film in which survival depends instead on problem-solving, ingenuity, and cooperation.
For all the film’s surface resemblance to “Interstellar” or “The Martian,” its spirit is much closer to Steven Spielberg than Nolan. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, whose backgrounds are more rooted in comedy (“21 Jump Street” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) bring a buoyancy and warmth that keep the material from being bogged down by increasingly abstract and high-concept ideas which have plagued Nolan’s more indulgent works – “Interstellar” was borderline affected but “Tenet” was firmly mired by its own conceptual weight. “Project Hail Mary,” by contrast, conveys the unvarnished and unapologetic sense of amazement seen in the iconic scenes of such Spielberg classics as “Close Encounters” or “E.T.”
That said, “Project Hail Mary” is not without its own indulgences. At a sprawling two-and-a-half hours, it occasionally drifts and feels unnecessarily languid. The lethargic slow burn of the first act is understandable; the film needs time to build its world and its central relationship. By the climactic third act, you are cheering for Grace and Rocky with enthusiasm tantamount to a live sports game. But there are moments that feel unnecessary. The film could excise multiple scenes of Ryan Gosling sleeping, or an extended karaoke sequence that lingers through several verses of a Harry Styles song without losing a beat.
The tension, however, when it arrives, is palpable. One particularly gripping sequence finds Grace and Rocky descending into the atmosphere of a nearby planet to collect samples at the risk of being torn apart by its gravitational pull. Even with the understanding that the film is closer in tone to Disney than to Ridley Scott’s “Alien,” the film still manages to generate gripping suspense.
Speaking of Disney, there are also faint echoes of Marvel in the film’s tonal register, particularly in its impulse toward humor — even amid dire circumstances. But where Marvel’s house style often feels glib or emotionally evasive, the levity here is deployed far more intelligently. With such minimalist casting — this is, for the most part, a one-man Ryan Gosling show — the humor becomes a narrative tool rather than a mechanism for undercutting emotion. Gosling plays Grace as a charismatic, endearing goofball, a man with the intellectual gifts of Oppenheimer but the whimsical comic timing of Ken in “Barbie.”  It is a delicate balance, and Gosling makes it look deceptively easy.
If the film has a weakness beyond its occasional pacing lethargy, it lies in its music. The jukebox choices, including The Beatles’ “Two of Us,” are serviceable enough, but they lack the transporting emotional force a great original score from a talent like John Williams might have provided.
Even so, “Project Hail Mary” triumphs because it understands that spectacle and CGI alone do not make a movie. Its heart and soul lie in the enduring relationship between Grace and Rocky, and in the notion that salvation may ultimately depend less on brute force than on intelligence, loyalty, and the willingness to trust an alien from another world — that he has the personality of a golden retriever certainly streamlines this. At its lowest points, the film drags. But at its highest, it shines. This is populist cinema in the best sense: earnest, crowd-pleasing, and suffused with enough wonder to make even a familiar cosmic premise feel newly alive.
***
Harry Khachatrian (<a href="https://x.com/harry1t6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@Harry1T6</a>) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at <a href="https://www.betweenbottles.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetweenBottles.com</a>.

PHM_30245_R2_2000x1333_thumbnail-min(1)

Ryan Gosling Breathes New Life Into A Tired Genre With ‘Project Hail Mary’

Ryan Gosling

Science

Space

Upstream

Even as he grew famous for his martial arts prowess and adrenaline-pumping movies, Chuck Norris stayed true to his Christian faith and conservative political values for decades in a deeply liberal Hollywood.
Norris, who died Thursday, was the rare Christian conservative in Hollywood. He advocated for Republican politicians, supported gun rights, pushed for the Bible to be brought back into schools, and published a regular column at conservative website WorldNetDaily.
A devout Baptist, Norris spoke frequently about his faith, crediting both famed evangelist Billy Graham and his mother for shaping his beliefs. In his 2004 book, “Against All Odds: My Story,” Norris discussed his mom’s influence on his faith.
“She loves Jesus with all of her heart and soul and made sure we understood that,” Norris <a href="https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/chuck-norris-tells-how-gods-plan-was-bigger-than-his-own/">said</a> at the time. “She influenced me spiritually and instilled in me a sense of responsibility that carried over in my later adult life. She always told me ‘God has plans for you,’ and I didn’t know what she meant. I think I do now.”
He often talked about how his faith kept him going during difficult times and wrote in his 2004 book about how he turned to God when his wife went into preterm labor.
“I had earned millions of dollars over my lifetime,” Norris wrote. “I’d been a friend to several presidents, yet all the money in my bank account couldn’t help me now. &#8230; There was only one person to whom I could turn.”
As a public figure, Norris <a href="https://www.wnd.com/2007/04/41002/">advocated</a> for the Bible to be taught in public schools, working with the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools to lobby for biblical education.
Aside from his faith, Norris became known for his patriotism, advocacy for veterans, and conservative political beliefs. He took multiple trips overseas to visit with American service members, including to troops deployed in Southwest Asia and Iraq.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1063345" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM.png" alt="" width="1288" height="839" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM.png 1288w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM-300x195.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM-884x576.png 884w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-2026-03-20-at-1.58.15-PM-768x500.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1288px) 100vw, 1288px" /></div>
Norris opposed gun control, speaking at the National Rifle Association’s national meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2010. He <a href="https://reason.com/2012/02/16/chuck-norris-r-lee-ermey/">worked</a> on a publicity campaign to get supporters of the Second Amendment registered to vote.
Active in Republican politics, Norris endorsed Mike Huckabee during the Republican primary for the 2008 presidential race.
<div id="attachment_1063347" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1063347" class="size-full wp-image-1063347" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128.jpg" alt="Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee listens as actor Chuck Norris speaks, during a visit the New Hampshire Veteran's Home in Tilton. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and actor Chuck Norris visit the N.H. Veteran's Home in Tilton. Norris accompanied Mike Huckabee as Huckabee campaigned in New Hampshire. | Location: Tilton, New Hampshire, USA. " width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-525598128-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images.</div>
&#8220;My plan to secure the border? Two words: &#8216;Chuck Norris,&#8217;” Huckabee said in one ad from 2007.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8220;My plan to secure the border? Two words: &#8216;Chuck Norris'&#8221; &#8211; Mike Huckabee, 2007 <a href="https://t.co/aS2DrExPZR">pic.twitter.com/aS2DrExPZR</a>
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/JacobRubashkin/status/2035001581234426315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Huckabee would go on to win the Iowa caucus, fueled in part by Evangelical Christian voters like Norris. In 2012, Norris would endorse Newt Gingrich’s run for office before later supporting Mitt Romney’s bid against President Barack Obama.
While his preferred candidates didn’t win in 2008 or 2012, Norris <a href="https://www.wnd.com/2025/01/2-presidents-who-were-not-supposed-to-win-and-when-i-met-each-of-them/">wrote</a> about getting to meet two of his favorite presidents, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, both of whom he said were “not supposed to win.”
Norris said that Nancy Reagan’s assistant called his office and invited him to a celebrity tennis game at the White House. He said he accepted before remembering he had never played tennis before.
“When I hung up the phone, it dawned on me that I had never played tennis in my life! So, I hired a tennis teacher to give me 10 days of intensive lessons before I had to fly to Washington, D.C.,” Norris said. “It was a lot of fun playing in the White House tennis event. I had a great time. I didn&#8217;t play so great, but at least I didn&#8217;t embarrass myself.”
Norris said that he first met Trump back in 1974 at the World Martial Arts championships. At the time, Norris was retiring and moving on to pursue acting. He said that Trump “looked at me square in the eyes and said, ‘I have a feeling you are going to do well as an actor.’ Then, he simply turned around and walked off.”
The two later bumped into each other again at another wrestling event.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Donald Trump meets Chuck Norris at Wrestlemania VII in Los Angeles, California, March 1991.
35 years ago this week.
Rest in peace, Chuck. 🙏 <a href="https://t.co/DmT4u2FpBu">pic.twitter.com/DmT4u2FpBu</a>
— johnny maga (@johnnymaga) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnnymaga/status/2035004558221386163?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Norris also supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and took multiple trips to Israel. Netanyahu <a href="https://x.com/netanyahu/status/2035005998792950052?s=20">called</a> Norris &#8220;a great friend of Israel and a close personal friend.&#8221;
A native of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said that his state had &#8220;lost a legend.&#8221;
“All of Texas mourns the passing of Chuck Norris. He was not only a martial arts champion, action icon, and the one and only Walker, Texas Ranger,” Abbott said. “But he electrified generations of conservatives. Giving them a passion and voice to fight for the principles that make America the greatest nation on earth. He embodied the toughness, grit, and patriotism that makes Texas supreme. Rest in peace, Chuck.”

2017 Wizard World Comic Con Philadelphia

RIP Chuck Norris: The Man Who Never Let Hollywood Smother His Beliefs

Christianity

Mike Huckabee

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

An AI-generated version of actor Val Kilmer will appear in the film “As Deep as the Grave” following the death of the celebrity from throat cancer last year.
Film director Coerte Voorhees explained to <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/val-kilmer-ai-film-as-deep-as-the-grave-1236691042/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a> that his heart was set on Kilmer being in the indie project, but the “Top Gun” star became too ill to come to set, even for one day.
“He was the actor I wanted to play this role,” Voorhees told the outlet. “It was very much designed around him. It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest. I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot. He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn’t do it.”
The director said Kilmer’s estate, including his son and daughter, were on board with resurrecting an AI version of their famous dad to star in the project.
“His family kept saying how important they thought the movie was and that Val really wanted to be a part of this,” Voorhees went on. “He really thought it was [an] important story that he wanted his name on. It was that support that gave me the confidence to say, &#8216;Okay let’s do this.&#8217; Despite the fact some people might call it controversial, this is what Val wanted.”
“We really figured out that this is a major missing element,” the director insisted. “Normally we would just recast an actor. I’m all about working with our actors, and we have brilliant performances all throughout this movie. But we can’t roll camera again. We don’t have the budget. We’re not a big studio film. So we had to think of innovative ways to do it. And we realized the technology is there for us.”
The AI version of Kilmer was created using film, photos, and voice recordings from various points in his life. 
“The character in the film also suffers from tuberculosis,” John Voorhees, the film’s producer and Coerte’s brother, explained to Variety. “Again, this historical character mirrored Val’s actual condition when he was suffering from throat cancer. And so when it comes to the voice this is a really unique opportunity for the character to reflect the condition that the actor was actually suffering from, thus creating a kind of a bridge.”
“As Deep as the Grave” was originally titled “Canyon of the Dead,” the outlet noted. It’s based on the true story of archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris as they performed excavations in Arizona to uncover the history of the Navajo people. Kilmer’s likeness will play Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes said in a statement that her late father “always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling.” 
“This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part,” Mercedes added.
While still alive, Kilmer worked with Sonantic to create an AI version of his voice, which was used for his role as “Iceman” in “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022).
“As human beings, the ability to communicate is the core of our existence and the side effects from throat cancer have made it difficult for others to understand me,” he said at the time. “The chance to narrate my story, in a voice that feels authentic and familiar, is an incredibly special gift.”

Val Kilmer

A Year Since His Death, An AI Version Of Val Kilmer Will Star In New Film

The 98th annual Academy Awards on Sunday was the least-watched broadcast since 2022, attracting just 17.86 million viewers on ABC and Hulu, marking a 9% decline from last year. 
Hollywood’s biggest night was emceed once again this year by former late-night host Conan O’Brien. He mostly avoided hot-button political topics as promised, but did make some subtle political references, including a dig at the TPUSA Halftime Show.
Other presenters were more direct. Jimmy Kimmel, predictably, attacked President Donald Trump during the show, joking that Trump must be “mad” that “Melania” wasn’t nominated in the documentary category despite the film not being eligible this year. He also described “Melania” as being about “[walking] around the White House trying on shoes.&#8221;
Presenter Javier Bardem took a moment to <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/03/16/us-news/javier-bardem-faces-criticism-for-using-oscars-to-attack-israel/">virtue signal</a> from the stage, saying, “No to war and free Palestine,” while wearing buttons with identical messaging on his jacket.
Documentary filmmaker David Borenstein also had some thinly veiled criticisms of the Trump administration, which he expressed during his Best Documentary win for his critique of the Russian regime, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.” 
During his acceptance speech, Borenstein said the film is about “how you lose your country,” which happens “when we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities, when we don’t say anything when oligarchs take over the media and control how we produce it and consume it.” 
The blatantly political “One Battle After Another” was the night’s big winner, taking home six Oscars, including the coveted Best Picture and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson.
“Sinners,” a horror film that tackled the Jim Crow-era South, also performed well, winning four golden statuettes, including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan.
It was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oscars-trade-abc-for-youtube-in-2029-because-fewer-people-are-watching-anyway">announced</a> at the end of last year that the Oscars will move from ABC, its broadcast home since 1976, to YouTube beginning in 2029, as part of an effort to reach younger and more global audiences.

Politics Took Center Stage At The Oscars And It Didn’t Go Unnoticed

Menu