ENTERTAINMENT

The original 1996 Space Jam movie is known for two things: for being a seminal part of any ’90s kid’s childhood and for its timeless masterpiece of a theme song. To mark the 25th anniversary of the film, Quad City DJs — the musicians behind the high-energy jam — are releasing several NFTs in celebration, giving nostalgic fans a chance to own a piece of pop culture history. The offering marks the first NFT of a major motion picture theme song. Each NFT purchase comes with an RIAA certified 8x Platinum award from the 1996 Space Jam soundtrack, with the winner’s name engraved on a physical plaque. The highest bidder of all of the NFTs will win “naming rights” as “Executive Producer” for the upcoming 25th anniversary remix of the multi-platinum selling “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train).”...

Wes Anderson‘s American comedy-drama film The French Dispatch premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday evening and received one of the longest rounds of applause at the event’s 74th edition. According to Variety, Anderson earned a standing ovation that continued for nine consecutive minutes alongside his cast in attendance, which included Timothée Chalamet, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Stephen Park and Benicio Del Toro. One actress, Lea Seydoux, was unable to attend the premiere, as she is quarantining in Paris after testing positive for COVID-19. In lieu of a standard black car, the cast (and composer Alexandre Desplat) arrived to the red carpet in a massive gold party bus, escorted safely by French police on motorcycles. After assembling fo...

The 73rd Emmy Awards nominees were unveiled on Tuesday via the Television Academy’s YouTube livestream, hosted by Emmy-winning father-and-daughter actors Ron Cephas Jones and Jasmine Cephas Jones in New York City. “It has been an extraordinary year in which television brought multigenerational families together in a shared love of their favorite programs,” said Frank Scherma, TV Academy Chairman and CEO, in a statement. “So it seems fitting that these two accomplished performers announce this year’s Emmy nominees as we acknowledge and celebrate the exceptional programs and talent that are elevating and redefining television.” Among this year’s selections, The Crown and The Mandalorian tied for the most nominations with 24 each, followed by WandaVision (23), Th...

In celebration of its 24th anniversary, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda will be collaborating with Where’s Wally for a special crossover bringing together two of the very best IPs from the manga and cartoon worlds. Coming in the form of a special visual spread in Shueisha‘s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, the crossover will feature beloved characters from both franchises in Where’s Wally‘s iconic art style thrust upon a no-doubt incredibly confusing and busy but excitingly interesting background set in Onigashima. The artist also offered fans a preview of how the two iconic characters will look together through a tweet along with the release date of July 19 for the special issue. For fans of One Piece and Where’s Wally, definitely be on the lookout for when the&nb...

Just in time for the release of Black Widow, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige joined Rotten Tomatoes for an interviewing shedding more light on phase four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After discussing Black Widow itself, Feige dived into the rest of what’s coming for phase four, starting with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. While he acknowledged fans’ disappointment regarding the Mandarin fakeout back in Iron Man 3, Feige confirmed that the villain in Shang-Chi is indeed the real Mandarin; “Just because that version wasn’t real didn’t mean there’s not a leader of the Ten Rings organization and that is who we meet for the first time in Shang-Chi,” he explains before revealing his delight to work with Tony Leung, a Hong Kong actor best known for his wo...

Pablo Larraín’s forthcoming drama Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart, is set to premiere at Venice Film Festival this September, Variety reports. The long-awaited drama follows the life of the late Princess Diana one weekend after she separated from Prince Charles amid affair rumors.  Set at the Sandringham House, Stewart will depict the strained relationship between Diana and Charles, in addition to her devotion to  her two sons. Written by Steven Knight, the movie’s title comes from Diana’s maiden name, showcasing her commitment to always being herself despite an affiliation with the Royal family. The film also stars Jack Farthing, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris and Sally Hawkins. Following the world premiere at Venice Film Festival, Spencer is slated to arrive next year.  In r...

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has taken to Instagram to share a new behind-the-scenes image of himself on set on Black Adam. The photo also gave fans a teaser of the actor in costume, revealing a part of the DC Comics antihero’s suit. The actor shared the post alongside a caption that said, “This image of Black Adam from behind gives you a tactile sense of the absolute massive scale and size of our movie. You also see a little of the intricate and beautiful textured detail of Black Adam’s body suit. (this is not your typical DC or Marvel padded muscle suit)” He continued, “And finally you get a glimpse of the enormous and appropriate destruction. As we all know, superheroes have a code of justice and don’t kill the bad guys. But, Black Adam does. The hierarchy of power in the DC UNIVERSE is ch...

Taika Waititi has officially called his upcoming Marvel film, Thor: Love And Thunder the “craziest” film he has ever made. In a recent interview, the director spoke about the film, teasing audiences of what they can expect. He shared, “Well, just between (me and) you and the readers, I’ve done some crazy shit in my life. I’ve lived, like, 10 lifetimes. But it’s the craziest film I’ve ever done.” He adds, “If you wrote down all the elements of this film, it shouldn’t make sense. It’s almost like it shouldn’t be made. If you walked into a room and said, ‘I want this and this and this.’ Who’s in it? ‘These people.’ What are you going to call it? ‘Love And Thunder.’ I mean, you’d never work again. Maybe I won’t after this.” Waititi did drop a hint that the new film is expected to be more emoti...

Netflix has unveiled the first official trailer for The Witcher season 2, following its announcement that the show will return to the streaming platform on December 17, during its inaugural WitcherCon event. In June, Netflix shared a short, 10-second clip introducing the upcoming season, though details on what to expect from the upcoming installment were sparse. Now, this latest trailer provides a substantial look at the plot’s continuation on the fantasy drama series, focusing primarily on Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) and the exiled Princess Cirilla’s long-awaited union and their fearful quest for safety at Kaer Morhen, the stronghold of the Witchers. “At the end of Season 1, we have what I think is one of the sort of most emotional scenes that we’ve done, which is Geralt and Ciri ...

Comic books aren’t the only form of print increasing in value. A new listing on Heritage Auctions, with four days left, sees the first issue of Playboy from 1953 with white pages and signed by Hugh Hefner himself gaining traction. It’s rated at 9.4 by CGC and features Marilyn Monroe on the cover along with a poster of her inside as the “Sweetheart of the Month.” CGC has only certified roughly 300 of these issues with only five copies scoring the same or higher in rating — but none have had the white pages along with Hugh Hefner’s autograph. Currently reaching $39,000 USD over HA, it will be interesting to see what the final price lands on when the action ends. In other collectible news, a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 has just sold for $1.56 million USD. Read Full Article

Disneyland has officially announced the reopening of its updated Jungle Cruise ride after removing racially offensive portrayals of Indigenous people. The ride was initially opened in 1955 and has since received a long list of criticism for its culturally insensitive depictions of Indigenous communities as tourist attractions. In a recent statement from Walt Disney Imagineering’s Chris Beatty, he said, “We’re excited to be building on the story of the Jungle Cruise to include new adventures that stay true to the experience we know and love, while adding more humor, more wildlife, and an interconnected story. As part of creative development, we’ve also introduced characters from around the world and took a thoughtful approach to ensure accurate representation of cultures in our story.” The ...

Robert Downey Jr. has just taken to Instagram to pay tribute to his late father Robert Downey Sr. Passing away in his sleep at the age of 85, Robert Downey Sr. spent years battling Parkinson’s disease. The actor/filmmaker was known for the works he created in his early years which required little budget and pushed countercultural and anti-establishment themes. Some notable titles he was involved with include To Live And Die in L.A, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia. Robert Downey Jr., who appeared in two of his father’s films, Pound and Too Much Sun, paid tribute to his father with, “RIP Bob D. Sr. 1936-2021…Last night, dad passed peacefully in his sleep after years of enduring the ravages of Parkinson’s ..he was a true maverick filmmaker, and remained remarkably optimistic throughout. According...