The director of the original “Naked Gun” movie starring Leslie Nielsen said the producer of the 2025 reboot, Seth MacFarlane, “missed the mark.”
David Zucker made the remarks during a recently published <a href="https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/movies/what-naked-gun-creator-david-zucker-really-thinks-about-the-reboot-exclusive">interview</a> with Woman’s World. 
“My brother, Jerry, and our partner, Jim Abrahams, started doing spoof comedies 50 years ago, and we originated our own style … and we did that so well that it looks easy, evidently,&#8221; he told the outlet. 
&#8220;People started copying it, like Seth MacFarlane for the new ‘Naked Gun,’&#8221; Zucker continued. &#8220;He totally missed it.”
Zucker explained how “there’s a certain method to the madness” that’s difficult to replicate. “We had our 15 rules, and I’m teaching them in the hopes that if anybody tries to do a movie like this again, they’ll do it right.”
Zucker is best known for directing “The Naked Gun” (1988), “The Naked Gun 2½” (1991), and for writing “The Naked Gun 33⅓” (1994). He also directed the popular spoof comedy “Airplane!” (1980). 
He took issue with the film’s budget, for one thing.
&#8220;You shouldn’t spend too much money on comedies, and one of our rules is about technical pizzazz. Big budgets and comedy are opposites, and in the new ‘Naked Gun,’ you could see that they spent a lot of money on scenes full of technical pizzazz while trying to copy our style,” he went on.
Zucker <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/naked-gun-david-zucker-reaction-reboot-liam-neeson-1236337047/">told</a> The Hollywood Reporter when MacFarlane&#8217;s version hit theaters in August that he wasn’t planning to see the reboot.
&#8220;I’ve told [director Akiva Schaffer] that I have no intention to see it,” he continued. “He actually invited me to come see an early cut of it, but I told him there’s nothing I could do to help because it really isn’t what I would have done.&#8221;
&#8220;That’s not to say that he didn’t actually end up doing a good movie. But I don’t think I could help with that,&#8221; Zucker said.
The filmmaker also said that he was offered an executive producer credit on MacFarlane’s version, but said he turned it down because he didn’t want to “take credit on anything that I didn’t work on from the beginning.&#8221;
MacFarlane’s new version of “The Naked Gun” grossed $102.1 million worldwide and currently has an 88% critic’s score and 73% audience score on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_naked_gun_2025">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. 
The movie stars Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., the son of the late Nielsen&#8217;s character Frank Drebin. Pamela Anderson also starred in the film, leading to rumors of a real-life romance between her and Neeson.

The Naked Gun

Original ‘Naked Gun’ Director Slams Seth MacFarlane-Led Reboot

Comedy

Entertainment

Hollywood

Movies

Seth MacFarlane

Before director James Cameron became <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/james-cameron-reflects-king-of-the-world-titanic-oscars-speech-2023-3">&#8220;king of the world&#8221;</a> he sat on the hottest of hot seats.
Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic” arrived with enough bad buzz to sink a battleship. Time magazine ran a cover story on the bloated, $200 million affair with the words, <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/titanic-trailer-james-cameron-bad-buzz-blockbuster-1236552019/">“Glub, Glub, Glub” as the tag line.</a>
All signs suggested the headstrong director behind “Terminator” and “True Lies” had bitten off far more than he could chew, and Hollywood was ready to rub his nose in an epic failure.
What happened next? “Titanic” became the biggest blockbuster of all time, at least up until he dethroned himself (twice) with 2009’s “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022).
One man is responsible for three of the most popular American films in U.S. history. This Cameron fella knows what he’s doing and, more importantly, what moviegoers crave. He better, since Hollywood is banking on his latest film to give theaters one last jolt before 2025 wraps.
And, up until now, it hasn’t been a blockbuster year for movies. Can Cameron save Hollywood with “Avatar: Fire and Ash?”
The December 19 release is the third film in the enviro-friendly franchise. Once again, Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang bring the world of Pandora to life, along with endless zeroes and ones. The CGI-heavy franchise slathers recognizable stars with endless digital effects.
<div id="attachment_1000779" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1000779" class="size-large wp-image-1000779" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-1024x425.jpg" alt="“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” 2025. Sam Worthington. Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="1024" height="425" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-1024x425.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-300x125.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-768x319.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9-1536x638.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Untitled-design-9.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS &#8211; Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
The latest “Avatar” installment finds the Sully clan dealing with a new threat along with a familiar foe. A violent Na’vi faction dubbed the Ash People has aligned with the evil Colonel Quaritch (Lang), setting up more action-packed sequences in the bustling saga.
That’s roughly all we know about the film. Team Cameron knows less is more when it comes to movie marketing.
Plenty is riding on the film, including the saga’s future. Cameron has said if “Fire and Ash” underperforms, <a href="https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/10/3/james-cameron-says-avatar-3-has-to-make-a-lot-of-money-for-the-franchise-to-continue">parts 4 and 5 could be in jeopardy</a>. He’s betting “Fire and Ash” will come close to replicate his past successes, partially based on early box office predictions. The film is expected to rake in <a href="https://boxofficetheory.com/6-week-box-office-tracking-wicked-for-good-and-zootopia-2-check-ins-plus-other-updates/">at least $110 million</a> in its opening frame.
He’s not alone in wishing for the best.
The box office isn’t the same as it once was, not even when “The Way of Water” helped theaters bounce back from the pandemic shutdowns three years ago. For every “A Minecraft Movie” or “Sinners,” there are many 2025 films that either flopped or dramatically underperformed in 2025.
“Christy.” “The Alto Knights.” “Good Fortune.” “Snow White.” “Elio.” “Tron: Ares.” Even some hits have been misses. “One Battle After Another” is approaching $70 million at the U.S. box office, but the film’s price tag (a reported $130 million) means it’ll lose plenty for Warner Bros.
One report suggests <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/one-battle-after-another-lose-100-million-dollars-theaters-1236552914/">that figure could be $100 million.</a>
Variety reports that this year is <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/october-box-office-record-low-ticket-sales-smashing-machine-tron-ares-flop-1236567987/">currently 2.9 percent ahead</a> of 2024, hardly a boastful account. Stateside revenues are still more than 22 percent behind 2019. That’s the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered movie houses and sent patrons scrambling to streaming services.
That, plus the continued rise of social media, video games, and streaming platforms, leaves cinema uniquely vulnerable as 2026 approaches.
<div id="attachment_1000763" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1000763" class="size-large wp-image-1000763" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-1024x424.jpg" alt="“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="1024" height="424" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-1024x424.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-300x124.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-768x318.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb-1536x636.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar-imdb.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS &#8211; Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
There’s something else about Cameron’s “Avatar” franchise that isn’t discussed enough. Do people actually care about the saga and its heroic figures? How many Halloween costumes have been inspired by the series? Does “Avatar” merchandise sales spike when a new film hits theaters?
Comic-Con Nation genuflects to “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” the MCU, and other geek-friendly IPs. Does “Avatar” hold sway over that demographic in a similar fashion? Are names like Neytiri, Jake Sully, and Miles Quaritch as recognizable as Han, Luke, and Leia? What about Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy?
Hardly.
Cameron has spent much of his career defying the odds, and his “Avatar” films do so in another remarkable way. The phrase, “get woke go broke” finally pierced the Hollywood bubble in recent years. The industry has dialed back on its progressive messaging, realizing audiences would rather be entertained than lectured.
Yet the “Avatar” saga is unabashedly pro-environment and, on more than a few occasions, anti-human. We’re meant to root for the Na’vi, not Colonel Quaritch and his human foot soldiers.
<div id="attachment_1000753" style="width: 792px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1000753" class="size-large wp-image-1000753" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-782x576.jpg" alt="“Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, James Cameron. Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS - Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB." width="782" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-782x576.jpg 782w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-300x221.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-768x566.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co-1536x1131.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Avatar.-Cameron-co.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 782px) 100vw, 782px" />Photo by 20th Century Studios/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS &#8211; Copyright 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. IMDB.</div>
The director’s green activism infects every frame of his “Avatar” films, and he makes no apologies about it. That hasn’t impacted the franchise’s box office receipts, though. Not yet, at least.
Cameron’s undeniable skills can take eco-lectures and dress them up in clear-eyed action sequences and relatable themes. The pro-family sentiment of “The Way of Water,” for example, was impossible to miss.
Look past the director’s progressive streak and you’ll find a populist lurking in plain sight.
And while most filmmakers have wisely left 3D technology behind, Cameron clings to the format while pushing cinema technology forward. Each new “Avatar” film represents a leap in what’s possible on the big screen.
Who knows what “Fire and Ash” will deliver come December.
Boy, could the industry use another Cameron miracle to christen the New Year’s box office dreams and, in theory, prove the “rising tide lifts all boats” axiom anew. It wouldn’t be the first time Cameron defied the odds, but they haven’t been stacked so tall in ages.
* * *
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.

“L’Art De James Cameron – The Art Of James Cameron” Exhibition At La Cinematheque

Can James Cameron Save Hollywood Again?

actors

Box Office

Film

James Cameron

Congress gears up for a fight over the fate of Obamacare, Hollywood suffers a monstrous slump, and a federal contracting program aimed at minority-owned businesses fields fraud accusations.
It’s Friday, November 14, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251114-member-exclusive">video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/obamacare-battle-brews-hollywood-suffers-slump-11-14-25/id1576594336?i=1000736722424" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Lawmakers Prepare For Battle Over Obamacare</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000675" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Obamacare-Reckoning.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: With the shutdown finally ended, the fight between Democrats and Republicans over healthcare subsidies and the fate of Obamacare is only ramping up.
Obamacare subsidies were expanded in 2021 during the COVID pandemic. The subsidies, which are technically tax credits, were supposed to last only 2 years, but Democrats extended them through the end of this year.
Currently, about 24 million Americans are on Obamacare plans, up from 11 million at the start of the pandemic. It’s a considerable increase, mainly due to subsidies. It’s <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-would-eliminating-0-marketplace-premiums-affect-insurance-coverage/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">estimated</a> that about 42% of 2025 Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees pay less than $10 a month, with a vast majority paying nothing at all. Notably, Democrats removed the income cap on subsidy eligibility, so people earning over 400% of the federal poverty level qualify for these subsidies, too.
The cost: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says that extending the subsidies through 2035 would increase the federal deficit by about $358 billion.
Democrats’ message: Democrats reportedly want to make the midterms about healthcare. Their message is that inaction from Republicans will drive up healthcare costs for millions of Americans.
Morning Wire spoke to Ryan Long, a Senior Research Fellow at Paragon Health Institute, to explain all of this. He said that if these subsidies expire as scheduled, people on ACA plans will once again return to paying something, even if it’s just a small amount, instead of having access to $0 plans. Those $0 plans, he said, have actually led to widespread fraud and abuse.
GOP’s message: Republicans generally want the subsidies to expire when the Democrats scheduled them to expire. They argue that Obamacare is a failure and needs serious reforms or a complete overhaul. Premiums, for example, rose <a href="https://www.cms.gov/cciio/resources/forms-reports-and-other-resources/downloads/uninsured-affordability-in-marketplace.pdf">143%</a> in the first six years after the ACA took effect. Next year, premiums are set to rise another <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/aca-insurers-are-raising-premiums-by-an-estimated-26-but-most-enrollees-could-see-sharper-increases-in-what-they-pay/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">26%</a>.
As for the fate of Obamacare, President Donald Trump has ramped up calls to move on from the “Obamacare madness.”
&#8220;I am calling today for insurance companies NOT to be paid. But for this massive amount of money be paid directly to the people so they can buy their own healthcare,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1988810290767548793?s=20">said</a> Trump.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Hollywood’s Serious Slump</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000673" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Silver-Screen-Slump.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Hollywood is in a major slump, with October marking the worst box office revenues in nearly 30 years. Even Halloween weekend, usually a horror cash machine, failed to draw audiences.
With the exception of the COVID-19 shutdown year of 2020, when theaters were closed, October was the worst box-office month since 1997. Halloween weekend had the worst earnings in 31 years. The biggest culprit appears to be the lack of must-see content.
The numbers: Disney’s &#8220;Tron: Ares&#8221; opened to $38 million — the franchise’s worst debut. A24’s &#8220;The Smashing Machine&#8221; with Dwayne Johnson got $11 million. The Bruce Springsteen biopic earned $9 million. The total October take was $425 million.
The first couple of releases of November aren’t faring any better. &#8220;Christie,&#8221; starring Sydney Sweeney, came out last week and was a major flop. Some are suggesting politics played a role, but given Sweeney’s popularity, that isn’t very likely. The most probable explanation is that Sweeney’s young male fan base wasn’t especially interested in seeing her look nothing like herself playing a boxer.
Expert says: Veteran Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1489424842344237">told</a> finance outlet, Cheddar News, that a couple of Japanese anime movies outperformed expectations, and without them, the story here would be even worse.
“There was just nothing commercially exciting enough to mainstream audiences to drive them in huge numbers. And you know, last year, there was a Venom movie that opened at $50 million in October. We didn&#8217;t have that this year. And so I think that definitely hurt the box office,” said Dergarabedian.
The deeper issues: The ongoing disruption of streaming and social media is always at play, but not necessarily in the way typically thought. Many veteran filmmakers are starting to talk about the problem of what gets greenlit — they say studios are playing it safe and aren’t willing to gamble on creative, out-of-the-box ideas, so audiences are getting tired of seeing the same old thing.
Directors like Michael Bay and James Cameron are warning that something bigger may be broken. In an interview a few months ago, Bay voiced frustration over what he called “a system afraid of risk.” Now, he’s the king of big-studio blockbusters, but he said he’s moving into independent filmmaking so he can be more creative.
And he said that Cameron told him that no individual executives are empowered to greenlight anything anymore. The result is too many sequels, too few original ideas, and a growing reliance on algorithms to decide what gets made.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Crackdown On Minority Contracting Fraud</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-1000671" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Contracting-Crackdown.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The Trump administration is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-crack-down-on-minority-contracting-schemes-d-c-s-worst-kept-secret">turning</a> its eye on a long-running DEI program that may be one of Washington’s most corrupt. The federal government awards a percentage of contracts to companies whose owners are “socially disadvantaged.” But they might not even be the ones doing the work. 
At issue is a process known as 8(a) contracting or “set-aside” contracting, where certain contracts, which could be for tens of millions of dollars, are either given to one company with no competition, or limited so that only “disadvantaged” companies are eligible to compete – essentially, racial minorities and women-owned companies.
This way of contracting is likely behind much of the poor performance in government, such as websites seeming old-fashioned and broken. But this has been the way Washington works for decades. Typically, GOP-favored interest groups such as disabled veterans and Alaskan native corporations have gotten a share. And then big, non-minority-owned companies end up doing much of the actual work as subcontractors.
ATI: One company, ATI Government Solutions, seemed to admit to the cozy dealmaking in an <a href="https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1981042870460252398">expose</a> put out by undercover activist James O’Keefe last month.
ATI is a company that gets contracts because it’s owned by Native Americans, though on ATI’s website, all the executives listed appear to be white.
The website is almost entirely focused on selling the idea that it’s easier for government officials to skip holding a competition to find the best company for a job. Meanwhile, big companies can get a shortcut to a government contract by working with ATI, which essentially has an automatic in because it’s partly owned by an Indian tribe.
Seems sus: Kelly Loeffler, the head of the Small Business Administration, said there’s a “full review of the 8(a) program” underway that has found “institutionalized abuse” to the tune of billions.
Loeffler said ATI’s CEO, Firmadge Crutchfield, had a network of seven companies, all of which had been suspended from receiving new contracts, and that their names were provided to law enforcement. 
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), chair of the Senate Small Business Committee, said the Biden administration tripled the goal for minority set-asides from 5% to 15%, and did little to make sure they were actually doing the work, instead of serving as pass-throughs. 
“Small business contracting programs were never intended to function as welfare systems for favored classes or give no-bid contracts to do-nothing companies,” Ernst said, adding that over the decades, “penalties against rulebreakers have not been swiftly and resolutely imposed.”

MRN_251114_V1

Morning Brief: Obamacare Battle Brews, Hollywood Slump, & D.C.’s DEI Rackets

Donald Trump

Kelly Loeffler

Morning Wire

Obamacare

Small Business Administration

Sydney Sweeney

Washington D.C.

Actress Ruby Rose, who was allegedly passed over for the lead role in the boxing biopic “Christy,” came out swinging with a derogatory social media post against Sydney Sweeney.
The sports drama about competitive boxer Christy Martin was a massive flop at the box office, earning just $1.3 million from 2,011 theaters.
“The original Christy Martin script was incredible. Life changing. I was attached to play Cherry,” Rose <a href="https://www.threads.com/@rubyrose/post/DQ5-UJnDSE7">posted</a> on Threads. 
“Everyone had experience with the core material. Most of us were actually gay. It’s part of why I stayed in acting. Losing roles happens all the time,” the “Orange is the New Black” star went on. 
“For her PR to talk about it flopping and saying SS did it for the ‘people’. None of ‘the people’ want to see someone who hates them, parading around pretending to be us. You’re a cretin and you ruined the film. Period. Christy deserved better.”
Rose was referencing comments Sweeney made following the film’s lackluster opening weekend. The actress defended the film being a flop, saying she was still “proud” of her work and insisting that art films didn’t need to make a lot of money.
“[T]hank you to everyone who saw, felt, and believed and will believe in this story for years to come. if Christy gave even one woman the courage to take her first step toward safety, then we will have succeeded,” Sweeney <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sydney_sweeney/p/DQ4OYqPEeN1/">wrote</a> on Instagram Monday. 
“So yes I’m proud. why? because we don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact. and christy has been the most impactful project of my life. thank you Christy. i love you,” she concluded.
Sweeney recently made <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sydney-sweeney-praised-for-keeping-her-cool-as-gq-reporter-tries-to-shame-her?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Sydney+Sweeney+Praised+For+Keeping+Her+Cool+As+GQ+Reporter+Tries+To+Shame+Her">headlines</a> for refusing to take the bait when a liberal journalist tried to force her into apologizing for how her viral American Eagles ad campaign was perceived.
“I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear,” the actress said, shutting down the conversation. 
It was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-delighted-to-learn-sydney-sweeney-is-a-republican-now-i-love-her-ad">reported</a> this summer that Sweeney is a registered Republican.

Ruby Rose and Sydney Sweeney

Gay Actress Who Lost Role In Boxing Biopic Lashes Out At Sydney Sweeney, Calls Her A ‘Cretin’

Actress Who Lost Role In Boxing Biopic Lashes Out At Sydney Sweeney, Calling Her A 'Cretin'

“Star Wars” alum Oscar Isaac said he would be willing to return to the franchise if Disney stayed woke.
The actor played X-wing fighter pilot Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy that began with “The Force Awakens” in 2015. During a newly published <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/oscar-isaac-gq-cover-story-interview-men-of-the-year-2025">interview</a> with GQ, Isaac reflected on a comment he previously made about returning to “Star Wars” only if he “needed another house.”
“Yeah. That was a real likable quote. Jesus Christ,” he told the interviewer after it was brought up. “Y’know, people ask you things, you say stuff, you don’t really think about it that much. I said a slightly d***ish thing.”
Isaac had said he was done with Disney for years, but now claims to be “open to” returning, with stipulations.
“Although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney,” he told GQ. “But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great,” Isaac added.
The interview included an editor’s note, noting it was “conducted two days after ABC and Disney suspended production of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in response to comments Kimmel made following the death of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel was back on the air four days after this conversation took place.”
Isaac appeared in several “Star Wars” franchise films, including “The Last Jedi” (2017) and “The Rise of Skywalker” (2019). He also voiced the character Dameron in the “Star Wars Resistance” animated series. 
Hollywood went into full-on meltdown mode following Kimmel’s suspension in September. Most celebrities blamed President Donald Trump for the suspension.
Kimmel’s remarks were taken to imply that Kirk’s killer was linked to Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. Investigators say that the 22-year-old man arrested for Kirk’s killing was deeply steeped in leftist ideology and disliked Kirk for his conservative views.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during the monologue in question.
When he returned following a brief suspension, Kimmel claimed that “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”

Oscar Isaac

‘Star Wars’ Actor Says He’ll Work With Disney If It Passes His Woke Purity Test

'Star Wars' Actor Said He'll Work With Disney Only If It Doesn't 'Succumb To Fascism'

Celebrities

Disney

Fascism

Star Wars

U.S.

Depending on who you ask, there are anywhere from seven to 20 different basic plots into which every story ever told fits. Kelsey Grammer thinks there may only be two or three — and one that matters more than the others.
“The reason we love the stories that we have about a central figure who is lost and then is found, that is basically a retelling of the Jesus story over and over again,” the actor told The Daily Wire in a recent interview.
“It’s always about sacrifice, about someone giving of themselves to save somebody else,” Grammer said. “These are the things we aspire to and are also drawn to, because they remind us that we have a purpose,” he said, “and it’s to have a relationship with God, and with one another.”
&#8220;Frasier&#8221; — the hit show in which Grammer played the titular character for 11 seasons, 13 if you count a recent reboot — is one of these stories, he says. The &#8220;Cheers&#8221; spinoff ultimately focused on a group of “people who loved each other who worked through our differences to get to the place where we realigned.”
So too is Grammer’s latest project. “Karen Kingsbury’s The Christmas Ring,” in theaters nationwide, tells the story of a military widow on a quest to find her family’s long-lost ring, an heirloom whose tale begins on D-Day. Along the way, she meets and falls in love with an antiques dealer. Grammer plays the dealer’s father, Howard, a lovable widower who, it turns out, may hold the key to the mystery of the ring.
The movie, Grammer says, “is not a reinvention of the wheel.” It’s “not a movie that’s going to change the world,” but a movie to remind us that “the world is actually okay.”
“It’s a romantic comedy, basically, about loss and love and finding new love and redemption and forgiveness and generosity, sacrifice, the things that come along for the ride when you celebrate the Christmas season.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="YouTube video player" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u3PmNwiu_EE?si=4MtrYxcTapVM0pX3" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> 
But formulaic doesn’t mean bad, as Grammer is quick to point out. After all, we tell the same story each year on Christmas — the greatest story ever told.
“Into a world of Roman rule and infanticide and crucifixion, basically, God sent a baby to be cared for by humans, that we would discover our humanity,” Grammer says. “And that’s a pretty remarkable thing, and that story gets repeated every Christmas.”
“The Jesus story is, you know, always about finding love.”
Grammer is clearly happy to play roles in faith-forward movies. But he isn’t seeking them out exclusively — he reprises his role as the X-Man Beast in the forthcoming “Avengers” movie, he points out — nor is he trying to make some grand public pronouncement of his beliefs.
“I’m not a big proselytizer,” he says. “I’m not going to deny that I have faith and I’m a follower of Jesus, but I don’t walk around saying I’m gonna pray for you today.”
“But I say the Lord’s Prayer every night before I go to bed,” he adds. “My kids say it with me, and we try to walk towards God, towards a sense of faith, towards a higher purpose and a higher power, all these things that define your life by virtue of something outside of you.”
Grammer says he “was a Bible nerd” growing up, and while he “wasn’t a part of a church,” he “always thought” he “had a relationship with Jesus, in some way.”
The pull he’s felt throughout his life he now thinks others are feeling across the country.
“There is a movement back towards the idea that we live by faith and we are destined to do so,” he says. Even Hollywood “is catching on to the fact that there are maybe people like that who are willing to pay for a ticket, too.”
And while Grammer acknowledges that “not everybody” shares his beliefs, he’s quick to note that “even the ones who are on the other side reviling this sort of spiritual awakening” are still “our brothers and sisters.”
He hopes, though, that those on the other side of the road find their way to where he’s standing.
“It’s a real thing,” he says of America’s spiritual awakening. “And you can hate it or you can have the grace to go along with it.”
Faith, hope, and love. As a Bible nerd, Kelsey Grammer must realize these are the three things he’s mentioned most in our interview. St. Paul tells us that the greatest of these is love. And, while Grammer surely has no interest in rejiggering that order, it’s faith that he keeps coming back to — or at least what he speaks most eloquently about.
“We graduate into our humanity by the faith we carry,” he says, “And our belief in that is what unites us. Not human behavior — human behavior’s always going to let you down. But it’s God that teaches us to forgive that.”

Untitled design (66)

Kelsey Grammer Talks Faith, Hollywood, And His New Christmas Movie

Christmas

Christmas movies

Frasier

interview

Jesus

Kelsey Grammer

The movie business has just suffered the worst Halloween box office in over 30 years, causing many people who think seriously about Hollywood to laugh uproariously while baring their buttocks in the direction of Los Angeles and singing made-up song lyrics that rhyme with “Pharma is a glitch, you sleazy brother duckers!”
The box office tally showed that after releasing around 11 Halloween-themed movies for the October holiday at an overall production cost of about $300 million, industry leaders drew in enough money to buy a jumbo popcorn at the candy counter if the nice old man standing in line behind them gave them an extra nickel out of the goodness of his heart.
But while Hollywood zillionaires have been openly dripping scorn on the values, lifestyles, religion, and patriotism of the American public for the last 30 years, that doesn’t mean Americans are celebrating the industry’s hilariously humiliating fall down a bottomless well of hilarious humiliation. Sure, there have been one-or two-or five-hundred nationwide fortnight-long parties at which burning effigies of Bob Iger are hung from trees while adults and children alike dance in circles beneath them singing made-up lyrics that rhyme with, “Burn, you supercilious niece of split!” But that’s only because they wanted to melt chocolate and marshmallows for their s&#8217;mores, and a burning effigy of Bob Iger strung from a tree happened to be near at hand, as always.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, studio executives are trying to solve the mysteriously puzzling conundrum-like enigma of why their latest films are not causing what used to be the movie-going public to leave their homes, where they’re busy playing darts with the headshots of loudmouth actors.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974735 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
One studio executive, Chazer Shmendrik of Crapola Pictures, took time out to talk to a reporter while coming home to his third wife from his 14-year-old mistress’s house before stopping off at his dealer on his way to a fundraiser for the Shout Your Abortion Foundation. Shmendrik said, “I just can’t figure out why the folks aren’t showing up for our movies. We’ve given them homosexual propaganda for children, turned all their favorite franchises into socialist rants, denigrated masculinity, banned femininity, barred the depiction of white men as heroes, and cast the president of the United States as everything from a black lesbian to a saintly Islamist. We even made a movie about a 58-year-old girl-boss who laps milk out of a saucer in order to debase herself in front of a 25-year-old man. I mean, we’ve tried everything. What the hell else does this audience want anyway?”
Other executives said the poor Halloween box office was either due to competition from the World Series or the government shutdown, or the fact that Halloween fell on a Friday this year, or maybe just that Americans are sick of giving money to tawdry jerkwads who hate them. 
But even as Hollywood tried to determine where they might have gone wrong, the industry was rocked by another scandal when bombshell actress Lefty Vavoom showed up at an elite gala wearing a shocking full-sleeved blouse and ankle-length skirt that revealed every inch of her modesty and restrained sexual behavior. As paparazzi snaps of the starlet’s outfit appeared on front pages under red-ink shock headlines, feminist critics reacted in rage.
At the New York Times, a former newspaper, feminist columnist Banshee McScreamyface wrote, “At a time when women in the workplace are facing disrespect for simply exercising their right to descend to the lowest levels of self-hating sexual degradation, how can we proclaim our feminist principles if our Hollywood role models strut around in non-see-through blouses that don’t even expose their nipples? I don’t want to seem old-fashioned but we need a return to the good old days when Kanye West’s girlfriends came to parties wearing nothing but a dog collar, proudly proclaiming the legacy of feminism, namely obsessive self-abuse and soulless immiseration.”
Trembling before the feminist blast no one else read, Hollywood moguls immediately signed a pledge to cast more black actors in roles that make no earthly sense, and release another movie in which Nicole Kidman humiliates herself in the nude in time for her sixtieth birthday.
If that doesn’t win back the audience, nothing will. And let’s hope nothing will.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>
The views expressed in this satirical piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Friends watching scary movie at movie theater

Hollywood’s Halloween Horror: Woke Films So Bad They’re Scaring Audiences Away

Andrew Klavan

Horror Movies

Humor

Satire

The activist group GLAAD is sounding the alarm that LGBT character representation on television will drop by more than 40% next season.
The organization’s “Where We Are On TV” <a href="https://glaad.org/whereweareontv24/">report</a> showed that, despite the number of LGBT characters increasing last season to 489, 41% of those characters will not return due to series cancellations or endings, limited series appearances, or being killed off. 
“There is a definite concern that it’s not going to bounce back next year and see a growth just in terms of what’s been announced up to this moment,” GLAAD rep Megan Townsend <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/glaad-where-we-are-on-tv-2024-2025-report-findings/">told</a> TheWrap. “We have not had a ton of announcements or news about new series and returning series within the research period that would make up for some of these losses.”
Townsend also <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/glaad-study-gay-characters-on-television-where-we-are-on-tv-1236415828/">insisted</a> that “inclusive stories resonate with audiences and drive business success” and that “over 84 million American adults say they’re more likely to watch a TV show if it features at least one LGBTQ character.”
Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and President of GLAAD, was also unhappy with the findings.
“Nearly a third of non-LGBTQ+ Americans say that LGBTQ+-inclusive media has changed their perception of our community,” she said. 
“Today, we are at a critical juncture, with hateful rhetoric running unchecked from politicians and news media and given a falsely amplified platform, even as the majority of this country overwhelmingly supports the LGBTQ+ community. With so many diverse, entertaining and impactful series being canceled at an alarming rate, it is imperative that networks and streamers do not back down.”
While the activists panicked, many social media commenters agreed that the LGBT characters being written off was merely a reflection of what viewers wanted.
“Call me crazy but that&#8217;s the free market. If demand isn&#8217;t there, characters and shows will be canceled,” one X user <a href="https://x.com/adamtoo__/status/1986620655903625336">said</a>. 
“If you don’t make money, you get canned,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/knockhead/status/1986785036079661329">agreed</a>. “Not rocket science.”

Bella Ramsey

GLAAD Freaks Out As TV Gets Significantly Less Woke Next Season

GLAAD Panics That Almost Half Of LGBT Characters Won't Be On TV Next Season

GLAAD

LGBT

Television

The Left owns Hollywood lock, stock, and barrel. Or, to be more accurate, used to own.
New media rebels are finally giving the progressive monopoly some small but fiery competition. Think “The Joe Rogan Experience,” a contrarian podcast where alternative perspectives get millions of views across media platforms. Or a certain conservative outlet that produced the <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/amiracist/?gad_campaignid=21933436219&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAq7HIBhDoARIsAOATDxBm2hPQ6CcuV09hj6BwyoTy0cbj2esalZiZVU_F95kQ04U2iaLygZIaAsO6EALw_wcB&amp;utm_campaign=air&amp;utm_content=na_subscriptions&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch">most popular documentary of the last decade.</a>
Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter-turned-X struck another blow against the Left’s pop culture cartel. Still, the Left’s near stranglehold on the arts remains in place, leaving a David vs. Goliath battle in progress.
Enter David Ellison, a corporate titan with a small but mighty slingshot.
<div id="attachment_997647" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-997647" class="size-large wp-image-997647" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2239551629-866x576.jpg" alt="David Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Skydance Corp., during the Bloomberg Screentime event in Los Angeles, California, US, on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Screentime gathers the moguls, celebrities, and entrepreneurs defining the next phase of pop culture to discuss and debate the future of Hollywood studios, the boom in sports and live music and the impact of AI on the creative industries. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2239551629-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2239551629-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2239551629-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2239551629.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
The CEO of Skydance Media is now a major player in the entertainment space following his company’s acquisition of Paramount. And he could loom even larger should Skydance <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/david-ellisons-paramount-seen-front-runner-warner-bros-discovery-deal-2025-10-23/">add Warner Bros. Discovery</a> to its portfolio.
Ellison isn’t a number-crunching executive handing the creative side off to colleagues. His company’s biography says he “oversees the entire Skydance film slate.”
The son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison (one of the world’s richest men) is personally invested in entertainment, above and beyond his background with USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and memberships in the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy.
<div id="attachment_997643" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-997643" class="size-large wp-image-997643" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-450392142-866x576.jpg" alt="Larry Ellison, chief executive officer at Oracle Corp., speaks during an event at the company's headquarters in Redwood City, California, U.S., on Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Ellison announced today that Oracle Corp will be releasing a new in memory database system called 12c in July 2014. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-450392142-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-450392142-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-450392142-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-450392142.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images</div>
An <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/features/david-ellison-hollywood-takeover-paramount-warner-bros-1236569136/">expansive Variety profile</a> suggests he’s willing to shake up the status quo in order to stay profitable in an uncertain time for film and TV studios. The old ways no longer work, he believes, and there’s plenty of evidence to back him up, given Hollywood’s uncertain present.
The bigger issue, one that could turn the cultural tide? He’s MAGA=adjacent. President Donald Trump has referred to the Ellisons as “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/media/ellison-wbd-trump-warner-bros-discovery-bid">friends” and “big supporters.”</a> 
Exaggerations? Possibly. The younger Ellison has been coy about his ties to Trump, telling a press gaggle earlier this year that he <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/david-ellison-paramount-plans-politics?srsltid=AfmBOopmFhN2gwtpuslNfLqAi5xkwi8GFifA8TAs49IslmXixJozLRyB">wanted to avoid political conversations</a>.
“Half my family is Democrat, half my family is Republican … I don’t intend to put my finger on the scale.”
That’s both an improvement on the status quo and something that speaks to both the cultural moment and the sense that Hollywood, Inc. has spent years alienating a huge swath of the country at its peril.
Ellison could make a sizable play for said swath by playing it down the middle. And, on occasion, reaching out to the Right when it makes sense. 
He recently partnered with the Trump administration to bring a UFC extravaganza to the White House lawn next year. That’s part of the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/paramount-wins-exclusive-us-rights-ufc-77-billion-deal-2025-08-11/">company’s $7.7 billion (with a B) UFC deal</a>. That sport skews decidedly young and male, a far cry from the “toxic masculinity” cries circulating in some Hollywood projects.
<div id="attachment_997651" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-997651" class="size-large wp-image-997651" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2242789414-864x576.jpg" alt="ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 23: UFC President and CEO Dana White is seen on stage during the UFC 321 press conference at Etihad Arena on October 23, 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2242789414-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2242789414-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2242789414-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2242789414.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC</div>
Team UFC isn’t in lockstep with the Democrats like most sports, either. You won’t find an “End Racism” logo on any octagon. Some <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/29/mma-trump-election-433529">MMA stars are pro-Trump</a>, while key figures like Rogan and UFC CEO Dana White both endorsed the leader’s 2024 campaign.
Ellison recently acquired the center-driven Free Press news outlet and hired founder Bari Weiss to restore CBS News as a trustworthy platform.
Weiss, a center-Left lesbian with a passion for old-school journalism, is the kind of person few people of Ellison’s status would embrace. He chose her anyway, hoping she would restore the CBS brand to its former glory. She quickly axed departments tied to race and climate.
That Variety profile mentions upcoming Ellison projects, such as a “Top Gun” sequel, the Heartland hit that Hollywood has yet to Xerox in any meaningful fashion. The only recent film to capture “Top Gun: Maverick’s” spirit? “F1,” the Brad Pitt racing film from earlier this year. Both hit films were shot by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-all-american-director-you-dont-know-by-name">same director</a>, Joseph Kosinski.
<div id="attachment_997633" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-997633" class="size-large wp-image-997633" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-1395478401-864x576.jpg" alt="SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 04: (L-R) Brian Robbins, President &amp; CEO, Paramount Pictures, Bob Bakish, President and CEO, Paramount Global, David Ellison, Joseph Kosinski, Tom Cruise, Shari Redstone, Non-Executive Chairwoman, Paramount Global, Jerry Bruckheimer and Christopher McQuarrie attends the Global Premiere of &quot;Top Gun: Maverick&quot; on May 04, 2022 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-1395478401-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-1395478401-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-1395478401-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-1395478401.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures</div>
Other Ellison films include a “Call of Duty” video game adaptation from Trump-friendly director Peter Berg and a cowboy feature the liberal outlet dubbed a “Western version of ‘Taken.’”
For years, Hollywood seemed willing to lose money in order to push a progressive message. The best example? It kept late-night TV reflexively liberal, ignoring viewers who craved a second opinion. Fox News shamed the industry by giving right-leaning Greg Gutfeld a late-night showcase, and his ratings numbers now speak for themselves.
That’s called leaving money on the table. Would Team Ellison do that?
CBS famously put an end to Stephen Colbert’s reign on “The Late Show,” giving him until May of 2026 to peddle his nonstop Trump barbs. That move came a month before Skydance acquired Paramount, Colbert’s then-employer.
As Variety <a href="https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/skydance-colbert-late-show-anti-bribery-laws-paramount-senators-letter-1236476164/">reported</a>, “&#8230;Stephanie Kyoko McKinnon, Skydance’s general counsel and co-president of business operations, said in part … “Skydance was “not involved” in CBS’s decision to cancel “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert&#8230;”
None of this means Ellison plans to turn Skydance into a Fox News-like media empire. No channels dedicated to Dinesh D’Souza documentaries or Chuck Norris films. It’s far more significant than that, potentially.
Ellison’s mission could give half the nation a veritable safe space, a company that won’t insult them and, on occasion, deliver content that speaks to their values. Hollywood needs fresh thinking and a way to reach audiences who have been chased away by A-list talent for far too long.
A key reason why the Oscars, a once-beloved TV institution, is no longer a ratings juggernaut is that too many stars rage against the show’s audience. Viewers hate them back by turning the channel.
Megastars no longer move the political needle every four years, in part, due to that animosity.
An Ellison-ized Hollywood could tell stories that would never otherwise be told. Imagine features on how Venezuela’s socialism crashed a once-prosperous nation. Or heroic tales that speak to the best American values, not just Oscar-bait dramas reeking of greedy capitalists or cruel men of faith.
It’s the kind of industry shake-up Hollywood needs, and it may take a billionaire of Ellison’s status to make it happen. Or, as screenwriter William Goldman said about Hollywood, “nobody knows anything.”
But if Ellison bucks conventional wisdom, he actually could make Hollywood great again.
* * *
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.

Key Speakers At The Bloomberg Screentime Conference

Paramount’s New Boss Has One Mission: Make Hollywood Watchable Again

Bari Weiss

Billionaire

Dana White

Paramount

Silicon Valley

Tom Cruise

Video Games

White House

Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence recently realized that regular people generally do not care what celebrities say about politics and will not vote a certain way because someone famous urges them to.
The leftist actress said as much during an episode of “The Interview” podcast, when the host mentioned a 2016 op-ed she wrote criticizing Donald Trump after he was first elected, and asked whether she wanted to speak about the president’s current policies.
“I don’t really know if I should,” Lawrence replied. “The first Trump administration was so wild, and just how can we let this stand? I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.”
“But as we’ve learned, election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. So then what am I doing? I’m just sharing my opinion on something that’s going to add fuel to a fire that’s ripping the country apart. We are so divided,” she went on.
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The “Hunger Games” star went on to discuss more effective ways of advancing her political opinions.
“I think I’m in a complicated recalibration because I’m also an artist,” Lawrence continued. “With this temperature and the way things can turn out, I don’t want to start turning people off to films and to art that could change consciousness or change the world because they don’t like my political opinions. I want to protect my craft so that you can still get lost in what I’m doing. And if I can’t say something that’s going to speak to some kind of peace or lowering the temperature or some sort of solution, I don’t want to be a part of the problem.”
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“I try to express my politics through my work,” she explained. “A lot of movies coming out from my production company are expressions of the political landscape and that’s how I feel like I can be helpful.”
Lawrence has criticized Trump multiple times over the years and voiced support for the Women’s March, which was inspired by opposition to Trump.
Like most other major celebrities, Lawrence endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in 2024, <a href="https://people.com/jennifer-lawrence-endorses-kamala-harris-womens-rights-documentaries-exclusive-8717082">telling</a> People magazine at the time that she mostly made that choice because of “abortion being on the ballot.”
“That&#8217;s the most important thing, is to not let somebody into the White House who is going to ban abortion,” she said at the time.

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence Realizes No One Cares About Her Politics: ‘Celebrities Do Not Make A Difference’

Jennifer Lawrence Realizes No One Cares About Her Politics: 'Celebrities Do Not Make A Difference'

Endorsement

Politics

“Uncut Gems” actress Julia Fox is facing backlash for her controversial Halloween costume, which social media users are calling “<a href="https://x.com/BeeAwake2/status/1984291814686515274">sick and disgusting</a>.”
The 35-year-old celeb, who is an ex-girlfriend of rapper Kanye West, stepped out for a Halloween party in New York City on Thursday and donned an outfit meant to depict the aftermath of the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 
Fox was photographed wearing the recognizable pink suit and pillbox hat that JFK’s wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wore on that day. The outfit was splattered with blood meant to represent the assassination.
Reactions on social media were fiercely opposed.
“Julia Fox continues to be one of the most insufferable people imaginable,” one person <a href="https://x.com/Process718/status/1984280085982314831">replied</a>. 
“What a ghoul,” another person <a href="https://x.com/cactusncookies/status/1984321326220525986">echoed</a>.
“You will never be able to convince me that Hollywood is not a product of the devil,” <a href="https://x.com/adhdrunsme/status/1984287556406796756">said</a> another.
“Tasteless, narcissistic attention seeking,” another commenter <a href="https://x.com/GenXgal90/status/1984325643308581108">replied</a>.
As backlash mounted, Fox posted a statement on Instagram defending the outfit, insisting her morbid outfit choice was &#8220;not a costume&#8221; but &#8220;a statement.&#8221;
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“When her husband was assassinated, she refused to change out of her blood-stained clothes, saying, ‘I want them to see what they’ve done,&#8217;” the celeb wrote. 
“The image of the delicate pink suit splattered with blood is one of the most haunting juxtapositions in modern history. Beauty and horror. Poise and devastation. Her decision not to change clothes, even after being encouraged to, was an act of extraordinary bravery. It was performance, protest and mourning all at once. A woman weaponizing image and grace to expose brutality. It’s about trauma, power and how femininity itself is a form of resistance. Long live Jackie O.”
Fox is known for getting attention by wearing provocative outfits. In a New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/03/t-magazine/julia-fox-freak-guide.html">essay</a> published last year, the actress said she was sick of pretending to be normal and instead wanted to openly be a “freak.”
&#8220;I remember being in fifth grade [on New York’s Upper East Side] and being exhausted from trying to pretend to be normal all the time,” Fox wrote. “It’s not easier [to try] to be normal … eventually freaks are like, &#8216;I’m going to be myself and live my truth because I can’t pretend anymore.&#8217; Pretending is draining; it’s exhausting; it’s depression. Being a freak’s not an easy thing, but it can be a very beautiful thing.&#8221;

Julia Fox

Julia Fox Faces Backlash For ‘Sick’ Blood-Splattered Halloween Costume

Julia Fox Faces Backlash For 'Sick' Blood-Splattered Halloween Costume

assassination

Halloween

New York City

The stars are aligning against artificial intelligence.
It’s hard to blame them. One look at Tilly Norwood, the A.I. actress, as pretty as she is, forever young, and it’s clear why actors would be threatened by her digital existence.
That explains why so many are raging against A.I. in interview after interview. Except there’s a flaw in their arguments, one few stars are willing to admit. Nor will major studios, for that matter.
Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson excoriated the rise of A.I. during an appearance on the soon-to-be-extinct “Late Show” on CBS. 
She shared her “<a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/emma-thompson-ai-annoying-irritation-1236563757/">intense irritation</a>” with the technological movement.
<blockquote>“… when I’ve written something, I will put it into a Word document. And recently, the Word document is constantly saying, ‘Would you like me to rewrite that for you?’ And so I end up just saying, ’I don’t need you to rewrite what I’ve just written, will you f*** off?! Just f*** off!”</blockquote>
<div id="attachment_994579" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-994579" class="size-large wp-image-994579" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Colbert-ET-1024x517.jpg" alt="Screenshot: Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube.com" width="1024" height="517" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Colbert-ET-1024x517.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Colbert-ET-300x151.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Colbert-ET-768x388.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Colbert-ET.jpg 1157w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: Late Show with Stephen Colbert/YouTube.com</div>
“Parks &amp; Recreation” alum Nick Offerman sang from a <a href="https://www.thewrap.com/the-view-nick-offerman-slams-ai/">similar hymnal</a> during a recent “View” appearance.
<blockquote>“In this day and age where companies are taking over the curation of our lives, like, they want AI to think for us…I love my clumsy, stupid farmer voice, I would never want a robot to write my song for me, because my song is stupid in a wonderful, delicious way that’s all about my voice! I don’t want to give over my agency.”</blockquote>
One of Offerman’s compositions <a href="https://www.billboard.com/culture/politics/nick-offerman-slams-donald-trump-pro-kamala-song-parody-1235762250/">mocked President Donald Trump</a> during the 2024 campaign.
<blockquote>“I’m proud to be a Kamala man, who’s quit the GOP/ I just can’t stick with the man convicted of 34 felonies.”</blockquote>
It’s hard to imagine A.I. could belt out a tune quite that insightful.
Some artists are doing more than talking about artificial intelligence. Author George R.R. Martin is <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/george-rr-martin-openai-court-legal-1236413461/">suing OpenAI</a> for copyright infringement. And he may have plenty of company, especially since said suit, albeit slowly, is moving forward.
The collective fear is palpable, and not without reason. If a savvy 21-year-old can use A.I. to create a visually stunning film at the same price point as a studio’s catering budget, Hollywood could be on borrowed time.
There’s another reason for the industry to give A.I. a long, hard look. The computer revolution excels at absorbing content and spitting out new material based on that data. How different is it from Hollywood in 2025?
Yes, too many film and TV scripts feel like A.I. helped write them from start to finish. Hackneyed plots. Predictable story arcs. Canned dialogue lacking in wit and imagination. Here’s betting A.I. could create an annoying GirlBoss character as well as any woke scribe.
Or almost as well.
That’s part of the problem. What about the content itself? Hollywood recycling has reached a fever pitch, and it shows no signs of stopping.
Recent examples include a deal to turn the ‘80s cop show “Miami Vice” into a feature film, one potentially starring Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler. The original saga captured the Reagan era to a “T,” from its pastel-flavored suits to its synth-heavy soundtrack.
Except we’ve already seen a “Miami Vice” movie directed by a key player behind the original series, auteur Michael Mann. That 2006 film featuring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell made only a modest dent at the box office. Now, it’s time to try again? Why not feed the show’s original episodes into Grok and see what it churns out?
<div id="attachment_994551" style="width: 943px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-994551" class="size-large wp-image-994551" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2242151643-933x576.jpg" alt="ELIZABETH, NJ - OCTOBER 21: Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone is seen filming on the set of &quot;I Play Rocky&quot; on October 21, 2025 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)" width="933" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2242151643-933x576.jpg 933w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2242151643-300x185.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2242151643-768x474.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2242151643.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px" />Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</div>
Another upcoming project essentially reboots Sylvester Stallone’s early years. “I Play Rocky” recalls the actor’s battle to play the main character in his original, in-demand screenplay. Studio executives had little appetite for Stallone, then an unknown actor. They craved an established star to play the blue-collar boxer who dreams of greatness.
The film cast young actors who resemble both Stallone and “Rocky” favorite Carl Weathers, respectively, although A.I. could have de-aged both for a fraction of the price.
The problem isn’t relegated to the big screen. A new “Karate Kid” musical retells that now tired tale, one that inspired three sequels, a Jackie Chan-led reboot, a spinoff TV series (“Cobra Kai”), and last summer’s tepid “Karate Kid: Legends.”
Here’s betting A.I. could write a few wisecracks about Hollywood’s recycling obsession. Actually, here’s one from Grok:
<blockquote>Hollywood is so obsessed with sequels, prequels, and remakes that the next big blockbuster will be Spider-Man: The Origin of the Origin Story.</blockquote>
Hardly a howler, but it’s not as awful as your average Stephen Colbert monologue.
Now, imagine if today’s Hollywood threw off the shackles of its IP obsession and reclaimed the spirit of, say, ‘70s-era filmmaking. That decade delivered rich, complicated stories that brought out the best in Hollywood at all levels. Think “Three Days of the Condor,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network,” “Taxi Driver,” and “Chinatown.” Those are just a few of the iconic films that defined the ‘70s.
<div id="attachment_994583" style="width: 741px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-994583" class="size-large wp-image-994583" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-133286967-731x576.jpg" alt="Penny Allen (3rd from left) and others are held up by Al Pacino in a scene from the film 'Dog Day Afternoon', 1975. (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)" width="731" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-133286967-731x576.jpg 731w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-133286967-300x236.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-133286967-768x605.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-133286967.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px" />Photo by Warner Bros./Getty Images</div>
No A.I. bot could replicate those stories. Tilly Norwood would look foolish among the likes of Diane Keaton, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro.
Maybe Hollywood should view A.I. not as an existential threat but the ultimate challenge.
Hollywood delivered some of the best stories of the modern era thanks to the intense competition fostered by the rise of cable and streaming outlets in the 21st century. “The Sopranos.” “Breaking Bad.” “Game of Thrones.” “Mad Men.”
The industry should view the threat of A.I. as a chance to show those dumb robots what great storytelling is all about.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Stars Rage Against AI, But Hollywood’s Been Acting Like A Machine For Years

Artificial Intelligence

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