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

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

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

Box Office

Entertainment

Film

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Meryl Streep

Movies

Unions love nothing more than blaming problems on non-union operations.
So it was no surprise last weekend when the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, best known as IATSE, blamed the lack of union representation on the set of The Daily Wire’s new action film when movie star Jonathan Majors <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/jonathan-majors-falls-through-window-crew-strike-daily-wire-1236773038/">fell through a prop window</a> and <a href="https://x.com/realDailyWire/status/2041273088428413189">“nearly died.”</a>
Well, not exactly. Majors only fell a few feet. He’s totally fine. In the video of the “accident” posted by Deadline you can hear Majors immediately asking, “Did we shoot it? Use it!”
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-1-hollywood-union-0-production-wraps-on-jonathan-majors-action-movie">Daily Wire 1, Hollywood Union 0: Production Wraps On Jonathan Majors Action Movie</a>
Still, IATSE, the self-proclaimed “union behind entertainment,” wants people to believe that if they were there, nobody could have possibly gotten hurt.
Except, here’s the thing: IATSE is full of it. It’s all a game to twist producer Dallas Sonnier’s arm into entering a collective bargaining agreement with the union. And it’s a game <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-1-hollywood-union-0-production-wraps-on-jonathan-majors-action-movie?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Daily+Wire+1%2C+Hollywood+Union+0%3A+Production+Wraps+On+Jonathan+Majors+Action+Movie">the union lost</a>, because Sonnier “doesn’t negotiate with communists.”
But let’s go back to the issue of the unions and safety. 
Forget for a moment that a Screen Actors Guild representative was present on set the entire time and had no safety concerns. Forget, again, that Majors only took a small tumble and was totally fine. Let’s pretend Sonnier had caved to the union’s demands and given them everything they wanted. That would have prevented even this minor injury, right?
Well, sure. Nobody ever gets hurt on union-run Hollywood sets — at least if you don’t count the “Mission: Impossible” where Tom Cruise broke his ankle jumping off a building.
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Yes, IATSE was on set for that. It’s on set for every Hollywood movie. It’s unclear whether anyone walked off after that accident, which was so bad that they even included it in the film’s promo. Shout out to Cruise, who had the same reaction as Majors and immediately told the director to use the footage. He kept going after he knew he snapped his ankle, because he knew it was the perfect shot. 
IATSE was also probably on the set of “Django Unchained” when Leonardo DiCaprio slammed a table so hard that he smashed a prop glass and bled all over his co-star, Kerry Washington.
It’s unlikely that anyone walked off that set. In fact, it’s said the crew broke out into applause after director Quentin Tarantino called “cut.” And Tarantino put DiCaprio and his blood-soaked hand into the final cut of the movie.
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On the set of “Cast Away,” Tom Hanks ignored a small cut on his leg and developed an infection that nearly killed him. He was rushed to the hospital, and production was shut down for weeks as Hanks recovered. Again, it’s unclear whether any crew left the set in Fiji in protest.
George Clooney was so badly injured performing a stunt on the set of 2005’s “Syriana” that he considered suicide. It was during a torture scene, and Clooney flipped the chair he was tied to and cracked open his skull. He leaked spinal fluid out of his brain.
He won the Oscar for best actor, back when an Oscar really meant something. There were no reports of a union worker mutiny for an unsafe set.
<div id="attachment_629217" style="width: 820px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-629217" class="size-large wp-image-629217" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-810x576.jpg" alt="Tom Hanks" width="810" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-810x576.jpg 810w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-300x213.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-768x546.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-1536x1093.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/10/Tom-Hanks-2048x1457.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px" />Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images</div>
Sylvester Stallone got slammed so hard by wrestling legend Stone Cold Steve Austin in “The Expendables” — an awesome movie which he directed himself — that he broke his neck and dislocated both of his shoulders. He needed seven surgeries and ended up having a metal plate inserted into his neck.
Jackie Chan gets injured in almost every movie he does: cracked skull from a jump off a tree, legs crushed between two cars, and even one time where he almost lost an eye to a roundhouse kick. 
We can imagine that an IATSE production assistant advised Jackie Chan to take a few plays off, but I assure you that didn’t happen.
As Sonnier told Deadline, sometimes the people making action movies are just “too busy being bad asses, blowing sh*t up, flying helicopters, and killing movie terrorists to concern ourselves” with attention-seeking union assholes. 
So, no, unions don’t make film sets any safer. If anything, injuries on union-run sets are so common at this point that it’s almost malpractice to involve them.

Untitled design (1)

Hollywood Debunked: No, Unions Don’t Make Movie Sets Safer

Jonathan Majors

Unions

Actress Olivia Munn is complaining that a male co-star objected to a scene in which her character saves his, leading to a dispute on set. 
The 45-year-old ranted about the unnamed colleague during a recent appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show.” 
“There have been a few times where I’ve been filming something, and my character was either like CIA, or a cop, or something, and there’s been scenes where my character has been the one to save the other character,” Munn told the talk show host, noting that the scene involved her and the co-star fighting side by side in a bunker. 
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“If you read the script, it was that he was guarding his side, I was guarding my side, then we switch sides and then there’s a guy that was coming for him who was gonna shoot him in the back, so I shoot him,” she went on. “And then we’re about to shoot and, somehow, I guess he didn’t read the script, and in that moment, he realized, ‘Wait, wait, wait. Hold on. She can’t save me. No, no. She can’t save me.’”
Munn claimed that her colleague was “combative with the director” and held up production for close to an hour. The actress lamented that he had “no insecurity about being obnoxious and everyone hearing this and being like, ‘She can’t save me! We’re not doing this.’”
“Finally, after like 45 minutes of just stopping down, I said, ‘OK, how about instead of my character saving you, it’s just that we switch because it’s time for us to switch and so this is my guy to get,’” she told Barrymore. “And he was like, ‘OK.’”
Online commenters called out Munn for her complaints, criticizing what they view as a double standard in Hollywood.
“So it’s totally cool for a woman to feel like she doesn’t need to be saved by a man, but it’s bad if a man thinks he doesn’t need to be saved by a woman? Did I get that right?” one popular reaction <a href="https://x.com/Variety/status/2042056151936987227">said</a>.
“And if Olivia Munn refused to be ‘damseled’ in a scene, you bet your bippy it would be a tale of female empowerment,” another <a href="https://x.com/Scribe_Light/status/2042056424440918201">agreed</a>.
Many commenters called Munn out for not naming names, leading them to question the story entirely.
Calling out colleagues without naming them has become a bit of a pattern for the “X-Men: Apocalypse” star. Last summer, she <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/olivia-munn-male-director-ruin-career-1236445139/">complained about</a> a director she worked with on HBO’s “The Newsroom” who she claimed tried to sabotage her.
“I was on the one-yard line for the movie, and my manager calls me and says, ‘Hey, you’re gonna get the role. But first, I guess there’s another director who they know and he says that on “The Newsroom” you were late all the time and really combative,’” Munn said at the time. 
“I lived seven minutes from there. I was never late. I was like, ‘I know who this is.’ He just was trying to bash me. And I told my reps, ‘Please tell the directors this.’ And then I still got the role. But I will always remember that just because of our conflicts of how we approached a role, he wanted to ruin my chances of getting anything else.”

Olivia Munn

Olivia Munn Calls Out Male Co-Star Who Refused To Be Rescued By A Woman

Feminism

After a long weekend of union agitator-fueled rumors about The Daily Wire&#8217;s new action film, production has wrapped after five weeks, as planned, and the union reps didn’t get their way.
It all started with Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/04/jonathan-majors-falls-through-window-crew-strike-daily-wire-1236773038/">publishing</a> an exclusive story about actor Jonathan Majors falling through a window while on set of the production in progress, which, according to their sources, led to a union strike and other allegations of safety concerns on set.
Faithful Daily Wire fans won&#8217;t be surprised to learn that there’s more to the story. Film producer Dallas Sonnier provided a short, yet direct, statement to Deadline, saying simply: “The entire industry is in freefall due to strikes, and now that their members are out of work, they’re trying to sabotage the few people who are still producing. We don’t negotiate with communists.”
So what really went down?
During the fourth week of filming, an executive from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, best known as IATSE, reached out to Sonnier claiming that she “represented the majority of the crew,” which consisted of both local hires in South Carolina and returning staff from previous projects. The IATSE rep “demanded” that they immediately be recognized and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement to cover staff wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions.
Before the deadline she proposed even arrived, a small handful of picketers were out creating a nuisance. It was that same day that Majors and actor JC Kiljoyne fell through a window filming a scene. Deadline posted video of the incident, and reported it was a six foot drop — though pictures posted show it was barely four feet off the ground.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The height of the window btw <a href="https://t.co/Lr1KlckW9c">https://t.co/Lr1KlckW9c</a> <a href="https://t.co/sAZF0UYiLb">pic.twitter.com/sAZF0UYiLb</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2041249651840454989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
That stunt with the window was part of production&#8217;s plans for later that day, and Sonnier says it was far from an emergency.
&#8220;Everyone handled it quickly and successfully. We always have licensed medics on our sets, and this day, we had two,&#8221; Sonnier said. &#8220;The production was immediately halted to ensure safety sign-offs by both medics before moving forward.&#8221;
He also says the clip leaked to Deadline is definitely going to make it into the final cut.
The actors&#8217; comments are fully aligned. Kiljoyne’s rep told Deadline in the aftermath that he &#8220;did not feel unsafe on set and continues to have a positive experience working on the project.&#8221;
Majors made similar <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/04/jonathan-majors-says-hes-fine-after-falling-through-window-on-set/">comments</a> to TMZ. &#8220;I&#8217;m ok. I was happy to be on set and help tell the story. I am grateful for whoever is checking on me, the cast and crew for regarding our safety. It&#8217;s going to be a great movie and I am looking forward to fans seeing it!&#8221;
While IATSE came out of left field, there was a SAG rep on set many days who confirmed that the actors “should show up and finish the movie as planned” following the accident. It was noted that the SAG rep had “zero safety concerns” for the movie.
“We had a licensed armorer every single day,” Sonnier said. “We had a safety meeting at the top of each day, and prior to any special effect or stunt. The reason we don’t have a ‘RUST’ situation is because we take this stuff so seriously,” he added, referring to Alec Baldwin’s firearm discharging while filming and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
During the fourth week of filming, 15% of the crew decided to leave. Based on conversations Sonnier had with the whole crew, this was the result of IATSE pressure and not because of any safety concerns, he said. All the staff who left were replaced by the next morning.
Crucially, those who left did not appear to be part of the picketing. “The ‘strikers’ were just angry union rep protestors,” Sonnier said, noting that by day two, their numbers were reduced to about seven people total.
The picketers caused minor annoyances, such as yelling at actors, encouraging cars to honk to disrupt filming, pressuring vendors to pull gear, sending threatening letters, and yelling “CUT!” and “ACTION!” as a way of confusing the actors on set. But in the end, production rolled on.
The Deadline article was released after all these efforts failed, especially after Sonnier refused to engage with their demands.
Sonnier said IATSE reps never called him or contacted him beyond the first email &#8220;because they are total cowards and whiny busybodies.&#8221; The producer says this was an illegitimate strike. 
Does IATSE have any response to this? IATSE, of course, did not respond to questions from The Daily Wire.

photo-output_720

Daily Wire 1, Hollywood Union 0: Production Wraps On Jonathan Majors Action Movie

Daily Wire

The Daily Wire

U.S.

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

Super Mario Bros

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

Marvel

Nintendo

Video Games

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

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

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

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

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.
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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.
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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>.

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