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In a 1992 comedy flick, a carefree cheerleader learns about her destiny to hunt down and kill vampires. Although this teenage girl is initially flippant about her burgeoning abilities, a series of events forces her to take vampire-hunting seriously. Amid a botched prom and an antagonistic showdown in the school basement, the girl and her allies emerge victorious, having put an end to the tyranny of vampires hounding Hemery High School. Mostly unserious and wholly slapstick, this Fran Rubel Kuzui-helmed film received a negative to lukewarm reception on release. This comedy was none other than "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

But this isn't the version of Buffy that entered the global pop culture DNA. After all, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the television series we know and love, is remembered through its enduring imagery: Black leather jackets, occult/religious iconography, passionate romance, and gothic architecture, to name just a few. At its...

Actor Derek Yates recently joined the cast of Days of Our Lives. Since then, the actor has talked about his role and other projects he’s involved with. While his part originally seemed brief, he has also recently hinted his days in Salem might not be over for now.

Derek Yates Initially Returned To Days Of Our Lives With The New Year

Yates joined the cast of Days of Our Lives back in mid-2024, playing the character of Kerry Youmans. The role was one of Yates’ bigger roles in the world of soaps, with him previously appearing in a 2021 episode of General Hospital.

As Kerry Youmans, Yates has the chance to play a more villainous character. Notably, the character is also caught up in a love triangle with Leo Stark and Javi Hernandez.

Derek Yates – Instagram

Finishing up his original run in 2024, the character also briefly returned during the start of the new year.

Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg’s “Flight Risk” is facing no traffic on the runway, lifting off to an easy No. 1 opening in what is turning out to be another sleepy weekend at the January box office. The Lionsgate thriller carried on $4.4 million from 3,161 locations across Friday and preview screenings.

Even at that modest gross, it’ll be Lionsgate’s second No. 1 debut of the year after “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.” A three-day opening north of $11 million is now projected, though there’s potential turbulence ahead. NFL conference championships could keep a significant fraction of viewers out of theaters on Sunday, but the warning signs aren’t just outside multiplexes. Lionsgate held the review embargo for “Flight Risk” until preview screenings for a reason — critics have largely torn apart the movie, which marks Gibson’s directorial follow-up to his Oscar-nominated 2016 war drama “Hacksaw Ridge.”

Audiences aren’t on board either,...

If recent reports are to be believed, Marvel Studios and Marvel Television are moving full steam ahead with a Nova TV series. The current expectation is that we'll see Richard Rider lead a team of heroes to do battle with Annihilus after he unleashes his Annihilation Wave.

Rumour has it Kevin Feige is open to casting an actor of any ethnicity as the fan-favourite cosmic hero, while we've heard nothing about Nova's likely age. That means he could be an experienced space-farer or a rookie embarking on his first mission.

In this feature, we take a look at some of what we believe are the most exciting casting possibilities for the McU's Nova. From veteran Hollywood actors to rising stars and some names you may not expect to see here, we're sure you'll have something to say. 

Check out our selections for Nova by clicking on the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer gained its following with its wide variety of supernatural storylines that didn't limit themselves to the show's titular monsters, but one episode from December 1997 is a strong example of a notable misstep. Sarah Michelle Gellar led the Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast throughout the show's run, taking the audience on a thrill ride of horror hallmarks and unexpected plot twists. However, not every sharp left turn was particularly well executed, nor were they always faithful to the show's vibe.

Buffy and its Angel spinoff went on to combine to create a sprawling saga, telling countless stories that allowed crossovers and Easter Eggs to feature in each show. Buffy the Vampire Slayer's best episodes tended to revisit the original threat to Geller's character and her allies - supernatural forces. That being said, the franchise quite often took artful diversions from its relative predictability to subvert expectations.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Charisma Carpenter rejects a revived fan theory, asking for an explanation. Though she'll be known to generations of fans for Cordelia's growth and evolution on the spinoff Angel, it is less appreciated that Cordelia was a part of what's often thought of as Buffy's best era. It's in those first three seasons, those high school years, that Cordelia is positioned alternatively as the frenemy and shadow self of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy Summers.

While responding to comments on TikTok, Carpenter sounded doubtful about a fan's idea that Cordy was a better friend to Buffy than her Scooby Gang, likely meaning Willow, Xander, and Giles. In the quote below, Carpenter refers to the idea as an “unpopular take” and asks commenters to provide evidence of Cordy being a good friend to Buffy. The quote is below:

Oh, this is such an unpopular take. This is gonna cause some controversy.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer guest star Kal Penn reflects on filming one of the worst episodes of the show. Before breaking out in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Penn appeared in his first speaking role in season 4, episode 5 "Beer Bad." Penn is one of many Hollywood stars who guest-starred on Buffy the Vampire Slayer prior to becoming a household name. Despite having a positive experience, Penn acknowledges that the episode he appears in is considered a low point in the series.

Appearing on an episode of Pod Meets World, Penn recalls filming his guest role. The actor is quick to acknowledge that the episode has been poorly received since it aired over two decades ago in 1999 and is often on lists as the worst or one of the worst episodes of the show. However, despite the "kitschy" nature of the episode, Penn reflects warmly on the filming experience, which...

The Disney Plus first look into Daredevil: Born Again has been seven years in the making. It's here and so worth the wait. Largely because (pun kinda intended) we've moved past Kingpin's reign in Hell's Kitchen and gone straight into the Mayor Wilson Fisk administration.

We already spelled out the many compelling aspects of the first trailer. With Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk playing mental chess over coffee and Frank Castle destroying a wall, there were a few more Easter Eggs in there, such as:

MuseWhite Tiger Foggy and KarenBullseyeSome fun time in the shower for Matt that wasn't with Karen or Elektra

However, Mayor Wilson Fisk is the most compelling Cadbury Easter Egg of the entire trailer for comic book fans. We are five years in the future, and for hardcore Daredevil fans, Kingpin's entry into politics carries some serious appeal into what this Disney+ series could become.

The 1970s saw a variety of musical movies, of which many have now become classics, among them Grease, which has two very dark Elvis Presley coincidences, one of them the result of a tragedy. It’s not unusual for stage musicals to be adapted into movies, and in 1978, it was Grease’s turn. The musical, by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, made its debut in the early 1970s to great success, and just a couple of years later, it was brought to the big screen by director Randal Kleiser.

Grease takes the audience back to 1958 to meet the T-Birds’ greaser leader Danny Zuko (John Travolta) and Australian new girl Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John). Danny and Sandy meet at the beach over the summer and fall in love, and to his surprise, when he returns to school, Sandy is the new girl. Danny and Sandy’s romance goes through many ups...

Long before Denzel Washington played the quietly lethal Robert McCall in the "Equalizer" movies, Edward Woodward portrayed the character on the original CBS TV series. "The Equalizer" aired on the network from 1985 to 1989 and starred Woodward as the retired intelligence agent who uses his skills to help bring justice to those who have been wronged in their day to day lives.

It's a remarkably durable formula that has not only birthed three Denzel-led movies (with fourth and fifth "Equalizer" movies already confirmed), but also a reboot series that stars Queen Latifah and which has run for five full seasons already. Each iteration of this franchise has brought something new to the table, but none of them could have existed without the original series from co-creators Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim.

There was lots to love about the '80s show, which took a simple premise and, with the help...

Welcome to our weekly rundown of the best new music — featuring big singles, key tracks from our favorite albums, and more. This week, Bad Bunny makes a stunning return to his Puerto Rican roots, Japanese Breakfast previews her forthcoming album with a beautiful new song, and Ethel Cain self-releases a dark, slowcore project. Plus, new music from Lil Baby, Teddy Swims, Giveon, and Ringo Starr.

Bad Bunny, “Dtmf” (YouTube)

Bad Bunny, “Baile Inolvidable” (YouTube)

Japanese Breakfast, “Orlando in Love” (YouTube)

Ethel Cain, “Vacillator” (YouTube)

Lil Baby, Future, “99” (YouTube)

Teddy Swims,...

After nearly ten months, the third installment of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita manga series has returned, seemingly ushering in the final phase of this iteration of the cyberpunk classic. While the return of the manga series is undoubtedly good news for all fans of the story, it may be particularly beneficial for fans of the 2019 live-action adaptation who are still hoping for a sequel.

As reported by Anime News Network, in a post to @Anime, their official X account, January 8, 2025, marks the long-awaited return of Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle to regular serialization with the release of Chapter #52 on Kodansha’s Comic Days app. This is the first new content since March 2024, giving fans plenty to celebrate. Furthermore, the series is set to continue with uninterrupted publication through Chapter #56. According to Anime News Network, creator Yukito Kishiro has previously stated that Chapter #56 will serve as the final installment...

Although the duo don't appear onscreen together in the movie, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly star Clint Eastwood brought back one of that classic Western’s biggest stars for a later hit. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly might be one of star Clint Eastwood’s best Western movies, but the classic wouldn’t work if it weren’t for all three title characters. As The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’s ending proves, Tuco, Angel Eyes, and Blondie all play pivotal roles in the labyrinthine plot’s tangled web of double-crosses and betrayals. Notably, Eli Wallach’s Tuco provides consistent comedic relief.

Related Every Actor Who Appears In More Than One Of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name Movies (& Who They Play)

Loosely linked, The Dollars Trilogy liked to use some of the same actors, with a few appearing in all three films as different characters.

Drew Goddard didn’t have any designs on returning to broadcast. But then ABC asked him to take a look at the French-Belgian series “Haut Potentiel Intellectuel (Hpi)” — and it immediately inspired to turn it into the Alphabet primetime procedural “High Potential.”

“The last thing I wanted to do at that time was go back to network television,” Goddard says. “Not because I have any disdain for network television. It’s just, I know what a grind and how hard network television is. And yet when I saw the show, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s pretty special. That approach feels very unique.’ Putting the single mom in the center of the police procedural felt necessary to right now, and more importantly, I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

And it’s a good thing he followed that gut instinct. “High Potential,” which stars Kaitlin Olson as a single mom...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a monster-hunting fantasy series that ran from 1997-2003; it's been over a for a long time now, but in an age of constant reboots and revivals, it's surprising that it's never come back in one form or another. "Into every generation a slayer is born," we're told in the intro. It's been over 20 years. Where's the next one?

Well, there actually was a reboot in development at one time, executive produced by original Buffy creator Joss Whedon with Monica Owusu-Breen serving as showrunner. But so far as we can tell, it's dead. Why? Well, it might have something to do with Whedon being excommunicated from Hollywood after allegations of his toxic workplace behavior surfaced, with multiple stars on his shows and movies — among them Justice League star Ray Fisher and Angel star Charisma Carpenter — coming forward. Sarah Michelle Gellar, the original star on Buffy the Vampire Slayer,...

Not every character from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe has the luxury of being as adored as its title character. Xander Harris has been largely considered the worst, while some fans hated Dawn just as much. However, few Buffyverse characters drew as much ire as Angel's Connor, the son of the spinoff's lead.

The comic book continuation of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, particularly the Angel series from Idw Publishing, was a saving grace for Connor. Played by Vincent Kartheiser during the show's last three seasons, the half-demon son of vampires Angel and Darla constantly fought an internal (and external) battle with a father he was trained to hate in a hell dimension.

While Connor's story could've been a compelling arc, it largely amounted to some icky storytelling that even Cordelia's Charisma Carpenter calls problematic. The show never had the opportunity to truly expand on Connor's redemption story,...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer gets reimagined with the meta-intro from Into the Spider-Verse. Talk of a Buffy revival has spiked recently, with lead star Sarah Michelle Gellar expressing more willingness to revisit her iconic role than she has in the past. Although no follow-up project has been announced, the possibility has sparked a divided response from fans of the original, with those in favor of a direct continuation and others who would rather see the focus turn to a new group of characters.

A video from Trevor Carlee imagines what it would be like if the seminal 1990s series got the Into the Spider-Verse treatment, threading the line between something entirely new that nonetheless acknowledges the past. As in the animated Spider-Man movie, Buffy Summers narrates some of her standout moments from the show. That includes sending her boyfriend to Hell or fighting her way out of a hellish dimension herself.

Angel Beats premiered in 2010 and quickly became renowned among anime fans, who fell in love with the story, characters, and beautiful animation. The narrative was deeply emotional and memorable, and paired with snarky comedy, the anime solidified its place as a modern classic. Yet, the series creator, Jun Maeda, recently admitted that he still doesn’t understand how the anime became such a hit.

As Angel Beats approaches its 15th anniversary, the series is stepping back into the spotlight once again, but with a surprising twist. As Maeda introduces Angel Beats to a whole new audience, longtime fans get the chance to see their favorite beloved characters again in a different medium. The cast's return is thrilling, and fans are raving over the opportunity to revisit them.

Angel Beats Became a Massive Hit That Shocked Jun Maeda Fans Have Been Drawn to Angel Beats for Its Heartfelt Narrative and Memorable...

New Year’s Day 2025 rang in an estimated $42.9M for all movies, the best result for the holiday post Covid, ahead of New Year’s Day 2022 which grossed $40.2M, led by Spider-Man: No Way Home ($23.1M).

New Year’s Day yesterday was +33% over the first day of 2024 — a great new beginning to a box office year which is expected to clear $9 billion. New Year’s Day 2025 was also up +38% over New Year’s Eve’s business.

Another day, another day that Mufasa beat Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for No. 1, $10.3M to $8.95M. While the Paramount Sega feature won the last two weekends, the Disney prequel has won six days at the daily box office since Christmas.

Lily-Rose Depp in Nosferatu, Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown

While Thanksgiving holdovers, Moana 2 and Wicked continue to play solid, respectively with $5.1M and $4.6M, the other big headlines this season is the resurgence of auteur-driven adult fare,...

Angel and Spike of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame has unexpectedly been canonized as a romance. Angel and Spike both pined for the affections of Buffy Summers, proving to be one of many reasons why one hated the other. They constantly fought over women and who was the better vampire. However, that hatred didn't stop the wishful thinking of fans who wanted to see the two vampires with souls together.

Such a romance was once implied in the actual show, but outright confirmed in Joss Whedon's canonical comic book continuations of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which were released after Buffy's seventh season and Angel's fifth season. In Angel #26 by Brian Lynch, Stephen Mooney, Tom Smith, Scorpion Studios, and Robbie Robbins, the official Buffyverse canon finally legitimizes a love affair between Angel and Spike, albeit in a Hollywood movie with Nicolas Cage in the title role.

Outside an unexpected big-screen lip-lock,...

Years after Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of Sarah Michelle Gellar's new roles just made a shared universe theory a lot harder to explain. There are plenty of shared cinematic universes in the modern day. From Quentin Tarantino's shared universe to more explicit crossovers like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it's incredibly common for new films and shows to be connected to a larger franchise. Back in 2003, when Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended, however, it wasn't nearly as commonplace. That's why one shared universe theory for the show was so surprising, and why it's a big deal that it's harder to justify now.

Recently, Sarah Michelle Gellar joined the cast of Dexter: Original Sin as Tanya Martin, a forensic analyst at Miami Metro and Dexter's boss and mentor. Original Sin puts Gellar in a very different role from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but both of her characters are "tiny but mighty,...

Now that David Boreanaz has wrapped seven seasons of Seal Team, what’s next for him? He’s gone from one long-running show to another (and another), with Buffy the Vampire Slayer into Angel, then Bones, then the Paramount+ military drama that aired its series finale in October 2024. “I don’t sit down and go, ‘That’s going to be the next thing,'” Boreanaz tells TV Insider while discussing how he feels about the end of Seal Team. “I have some really great fruits of labor that are paying off right now that are going to bring some really nice opportunities for me come the new year. And I don’t sit back and say, ‘Well, this is the next series I’m going to do.'” What he looks at is “it makes sense for me and also the character and what I would like to do.” He continues,...

As a character, Buffy the Vampire Slayer had few adversaries more complicated than fellow vampire slayer, Faith. When she joined the show's third season, Faith changed Buffy's story forever. Positioned as Buffy's evil-natured antithesis, Faith opposed Buffy during Seasons 3 and 4 and then, after a guest spot on Angel, was ready to turn over a new leaf, atoning for her sins.

In the comic book series Buffy and Faith Season 10, Faith attempts to atone for sins she committed in Buffy the Vampire Slayer's fourth season episode, "Who Are You?" In this episode, Buffy and Faith swap bodies, and in an oft-forgotten moment, Faith sleeps with Buffy's boyfriend, Riley Finn, with the special ops specialist completely unaware of Faith's deception.

The television show never quite delves into that moment, but in the Angel and Faith Season 10 comics, the Vampire Slayer is finally redeemed in ways that the show couldn't do for her.

An early story on Supernatural for Sam Winchester (Jared Padalecki) shared many aspects with another storyline within the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spinoff Angel. Many of Supernatural's best episodes focused on the fantastic monsters, lore, and action as well as the unbreakable bond between the Winchester brothers, weaving the two together often to increase the series' emotional and even physical tension. However, the Winchester's individual stories also helped amplify that tension, with Sam's ever-shifting arc shaping many of the early events of the series.

Sam's story in Supernatural often seemed to mirror Dean's (Jensen Ackles), especially as the two brothers were used by Heaven in Hell in the first few seasons of the show. Sam's associations with Hell not only complicated his arc but also allowed the series to naturally increase the stakes as both angelic and demonic forces closed in on the brothers. One particular aspect of that storyline was Sam's prophetic visions,...

“Mufasa: The Lion King” (Disney) held the #1 position for both Christmas Day and December 26. Its two-day gross of $26.7 million edged out #2 “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount) by over $4 million. However, because “Sonic” last weekend was $28 million ahead of “Mufasa,” who comes out ahead for the full Christmas season remains unclear, though ultimately “Mufasa” could have the edge for total domestic gross.

At this point, 2024 will have an adequate Christmas compared to recent years. Grosses for December 25 and 26 are about $5 million ahead of 2023. But the $116 million two-day total was dramatically lower than the years before Covid struck. From 2016-2019, the two days grossed between $138 million and $177 million. At 2024 prices, that would be as much as $235 million, meaning attendance is down as much as half from those years.

Reporting Christmas Day grosses is always exciting, but for the industry, the results for December 26, particularly when it is a weekday, are a far...

Sarah Michelle Gellar has her Buffy the Vampire Slayer family in mind.

The 47-year-old actress called Julie Benz, who starred in the original Dexter series for five seasons, about taking on a role in Dexter: Original Sin.

During a conversation with People, Sarah, who plays Tanya Martin in the prequel series, talked about calling up her co-star, who played Darla in Buffy.

Keep reading to find out more…

“We talked about it a lot,” she said. “She was Dexter’s girlfriend. She was Rita and she was the mother of Harrison – Dexter’s child.”

Keep reading to find out more…

“She’s very excited about it,” Sarah continued.

Julie played Darla on Buffy in the first, second and fifth seasons, and also starred in its spin-off, Angel, until 2004, before being cast on Dexter two years later.

As for the future of Buffy, Sarah recently suggested that she might be open to doing something.

Worldwide box office December 20-22 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) $122.2m $122.2m $87.2m $87.2m 53 2. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) $62m $62m 12 3. Moana 2 (Disney) $45.9m $790.1m $32.8m $431.1m 53 4. Wicked (Universal) $26.1m $571.3m $12.6m $187.3m 82 5. Gladiator II (Paramount) $9.8m $416.2m $5.4m $262.3m 66 6. Kraven The Hunter (Sony) $8.9m $42.8m $5.8m $25.4m 63 7. The Prosecutor (various) $7.1m $17.8m $7.1m $17.8m 5 8. Homestead (Angel) $6m $6m 1 9. Jason Zhang Brilliance Tour (various) $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m 1 10. The Last Dance (various) $5.2m $40m $5.2m $5.2m 8

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International numbers save day...

Worldwide box office December 20-22 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) $122.2m $122.2m $87.2m $87.2m 53 2. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (Paramount) $62m $62m 12 3. Moana 2 (Disney) $45.9m $790.1m $32.8m $431.1m 53 4. Wicked (Universal) $26.1m $571.3m $12.6m $187.3m 82 5. Gladiator II (Paramount) $9.8m $416.2m $5.4m $262.3m 66 6. Kraven The Hunter (Sony) $8.9m $42.8m $5.8m $25.4m 63 7. The Prosecutor (various) $7.1m $17.8m $7.1m $17.8m 5 8. Homestead (Angel) $6m $6m 1 9. Jason Zhang Brilliance Tour (various) $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m $5.5m 1 10. The Last Dance (various) $5.2m $40m $5.2m $5.2m 8

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International numbers save day...

Few weekends annually are less certain indices of future grosses than the one before Christmas. That said, a combined $97 million for the openings of two new family-oriented titles set theaters up for a healthy holiday season.

“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount) was the clear winner with $62 million, with “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Disney) second with $35 million. This is the first time two films on this pre-holiday date have debuted at $35 million or more, and with higher ticket prices today a factor, the best overall since 2011.

The weekend also saw the start of New York/Los Angeles platform runs of two significant awards contenders. New York Film Critics’ Best Film winner “The Brutalist” (A24) despite an over three and a half hour running time averaged nearly $67,000 in four theaters, while Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film “The Room Next Door” (Sony Pictures Classics) started with $107,000 in six.

Pre-Christmas weekends more often...

Beyond the Gates spoilers reveal that the upcoming American soap opera was created by Michele Val Jean and debuts on CBS in February 2025.

The series is the second daytime soap to feature an African-American cast (Generations was the first in 1989) and the first soap to debut on a major broadcast network since Passions did so in 1999.

Both of those shows are off the air, and hopes are high that Btg will succeed where they failed. Here’s what to know about the exciting new show as we await its debut.

The Gates spoilers – Btg Was Created by Michele Val Jean

Soap vet Daphnée Duplaix plays Dr. Nicole Dupree Richardson after playing Valerie Davis on NBC’s Passions and Rachel Gannon on ABC’s One Life to Live.

Her credits include multiple films and TV shows including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Wayans Bros., Half & Half, City Guys, and Joss Whedon’s vampire spinoff Angel.

The box office battle between Disney’s Mufasa – the Lion King prequel – and Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 seems to be over before it even began. According to Deadline, Sonic 3 more than doubled Mufasa’s grosses, with a $70.5 million opening (which is right in line with what we predicted). However, Mufasa is under-performing badly, with it on track for an opening weekend in the $36-8 million range. When you consider that the 2019 Lion King opened with $191 million, that’s a truly abysmal number, although, with the Christmas season in full swing, it should still have no trouble topping at least $100 million domestically. It did manage an A-minus CinemaScore rating, so word-of-mouth should be decent and give it legs into 2025.

Meanwhile, Moana 2 and Wicked are neck-in-neck, with each expecting to pull in around $14 million for the weekend. However, the movie in 5th place is a pretty big shock, with...

A Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot isn't an idea I would be on board with, but if this director’s idea for a reboot happens, I think it would work pretty well. Reboots have been one of the biggest trends in both film and TV in recent years, and they can happen in different ways – either with sequels, ignoring sequels or seasons, or just one season to catch up with the characters. Like everything, not all reboots have succeeded, and the truth is that not every movie and TV show needs a reboot.

It seems like every popular TV or movie franchise has to at least be considered for a reboot at some point. However, in most cases, it’s just speculation and nothing really comes out of it, but there are some, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that quickly spark conversation about the potential of a reboot. Although a...

A clunky fusion of sci-fi fiction and political documentary, Asif Kapadia’s 2073 shakes us into submission via a series of cursory rundowns of crumbling democracies, the weaponization of social media, rising xenophobia, and more. In summarily covering so many global crises, Kapadia’s film plays less like a galvanizing call to action than a shapeless and hollow piece of agitprop that inspires only the same paralyzing sense of fear and hopelessness that it accuses demagogues around the world of provoking in people.

Kapadia and editor Chris King have detailed the biographies of famous figures in compelling, well-structured documentaries—Dominic Senna in 2010’s Senna and Amy Winehouse in 2015’s Amy. By contrast, 2073, whose only coherent thesis is the belief that the world is going to shit, is dubious and throws structure to the wind. It tries to cover so much material that even the most abhorrent of tragedies are somewhat...

Audiences can be very quick to judge TV characters, to the point that their first impression can often turn out to be entirely wrong, with the realization that they were great all along. This can easily happen to characters who oppose the protagonist in some way, as viewers naturally root for the lead and see anyone who is blocking their goals as a threat. However, as the characters' motivations become clearer, everyone soon comes to the realization that they harshly and unfairly judged them.

Many of the best TV characters ever started off unpopular yet managed to redeem themselves throughout the series. In some cases, annoying TV characters managed to become fan favorites as viewers got to know and understand their backstories, motivations, and likable characteristics. The long-form nature of television has allowed for more nuanced portrayals of complex characters whose likable nature and positive traits only reveal themselves over...

A Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival has been teased several times over the years, and thanks to ongoing comic books and Buffyverse audio adventures, the demand for a reboot has never waned. The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. The show spawned one major spinoff, Angel, which ran for five seasons of its own. The franchise has remained immensely popular, leading to the announcement of a new TV series in 2018. While this never materialized, the speculation around a revival of Buffy the Vampire Slayer lives on.

The rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer were acquired by Disney in 2019 with their takeover of Fox. Thanks to streaming platform Hulu, the highly bingeable seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer found a new audience too. With the rise of Buffy cast members like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alyson Hannigan, followup comics and audiobooks, and widely publicized stalled reboot attempts,...

January 2025 could mark a bleak month for very specific reasons, but in that month one can watch a nicely curated collection of David Bowie’s best performances. Nearly a decade since he passed, the iconic actor (who had some other trades) is celebrated with The Man Who Fell to Earth, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Linguini Incident, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and Basquiat. (Note: watch The Missing Pieces under Fire Walk with Me‘s Criterion edition for about three times as much Phillip Jeffries.) It’s a retrospective-heavy month: Nicole Kidman, Cameron Crowe, Ethan Hawke, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Paolo Sorrentino, and Sean Baker are given spotlights; the first and last bring with them To Die For and Take Out‘s Criterion Editions, joining Still Walking, Hunger, and A Face in the Crowd.

“Surveillance Cinema” brings Thx 1138, Body Double, Minority Report, and others, while “Love in Disguise” offers films by Lubitsch,...

Christmas has long been a favorite setting for action movie directors, as there’s something about the juxtaposition of holiday cheer against the hardcore violence of an R-rated action movie that makes the whole thing too tempting an opportunity to pass up. Indeed, there have been some Christmas action movie classics (many of which are written by Shane Black), which we dug into here, but now the time has come for you folks to have your say. What’s the greatest Christmas action movie? Is it a heavyweight like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon, or something more off the beaten path?

In making these lists, I was surprised at just how many action flicks take place around the holiday season. Granted, some of them are more obvious than others. I never realized First Blood was set at Christmas until watching it in 4K, where you can see how the police...

In 2025, actress Daphnée Duplaix returns to daytime in the much-anticipated CBS drama Beyond the Gates. The soap alum first starred as Valerie Davis on NBC’s Passions and Rachel Gannon on ABC’s One Life to Live. Over the years, Duplaix has starred in numerous movies and TV shows.

The Early Days

Duplaix was born in New York City and is of Haitian (she even has a Haitian flag in her Instagram bio), French, and Italian descent. Many actors begin their careers in soaps. However, she racked up experience modeling and doing commercials. She was also a co-host of a music and pop culture series called One World Music Beat. It aired in syndication, and one of her fellow co-hosts was Kimora Lee Simmons.

Her early TV credits include forensic drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the sitcoms The Wayans Bros. and Half & Half, the primetime soap Malibu, CA, the...

The Angel spin-off featured several characters who first appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where their potential was often wasted. Both the Buffy and Angel shows had large casts with memorable characters, and the running themes in both series had attractive young women chasing the monsters rather than vice versa. This new take was extremely popular with audiences then, and Angel took these themes to a darker setting, expanding on the Buffyverse while being a very different show. This tone change gave the characters in Angel the chance to shine in a more serious show.

Buffy was often more comedic than Angel, which was popular among its audience but occasionally led to problems with its character development. When somebody became a "comic relief" character in Buffy, it was difficult for them to break away from that role. While Xander has regularly been referenced as the best example of a character stagnating,...

Here’s how we know December is likely to gross over $1 billion: in its first eight days through the upcoming weekend, “Moana 2” (Disney), “Wicked” (Universal), and “Gladiator II” (Paramount) will likely combine to take in around $225 million in U.S./Canada box office.

That’s a full weekend plus Sunday through Thursday after Thanksgiving. The three films through Sunday will have grossed over $700 million — all told through then, most of it for “Moana 2” and “Wicked,” both over $300 million by next Sunday.

Those two are certain to hold most of their theaters through Christmas, where their family appeal should rebound. Ridley Scott’s film will still have some juice left. It’s reasonable that combined all three will gross over $500 million during December.

If they do, it should help push the month over $1 billion. And that would happen even though none of the new Christmas titles is expected to...

Some TV shows have had a lasting legacy, creating characters or worlds so popular that they simply must be explored. A reboot, a spinoff, or a prequel could allow writers to show how a character came to be, explain what happened after the final scene, or explore more of the universe that had been created in the original show. Certain stars are happy to return for more adventures, some smaller parts get expanded, and abandoned storylines can be revisited.

Over a few seasons, quite a lot is bound to happen. Some viewers might cling to a mystery that had been introduced but never explained, while some subjects might get addressed that no one ever thought would see the light of day. Then, there are continuity errors that get a clean slate when given the chance to explain. It's interesting to see how different shows have tackled some burning questions that...

Plot: When a terrorist group led by the villainous Jacob Pearce attacks a high-profile embassy reception, with the French Minister of Defence as their target, protection officer Vincent finds himself working with street-smart MI6 operative Zara to save the day. But when events take an increasingly dark turn, Vincent and Zara soon realize that the plan extends far beyond just one politician. With suspicions that one of their colleagues in the security services is feeding information to Pearce, Vincent and Zara soon come to rely on each other more than either would have ever imagined. Increasingly isolated and with Pearce always one step ahead, can this unlikely pair stop Paris from falling to a man hell-bent on vengeance?

Review: I’m not sure who asked for it, but the Gerard Butler Has Fallen film series has become the Has Fallen cinematic universe. After three movies, the same fictional world where...

Scott L. Schwartz, the wrestler-turned-actor best known for playing Bruiser in the Ocean‘s Eleven film franchise, has died. He was 65.

Schwartz died of congestive heart failure on Nov. 26 at his home in Covington, Louisiana, his wife Misty told The Hollywood Reporter.

Schwartz originated Bruiser in the first Ocean’s Eleven film in 2001; the character pretended to beat up George Clooney’s Dany Ocean behind closed doors. Schwartz reprised the role in 2004’s Ocean’s 12 and 2007’s Ocean’s 13.

“I’m sorry to hear that Scott is gone,” George Clooney said in a statement. “We did three films together and I’ve never been so gently punched. He was a gentle soul and he will be dearly missed.”

Schwartz’s television credits included Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Martial Law, Angel, Nash Bridges, Castle, The Mentalist, The Young and the Restless and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also held roles in films Fun with Dick and Jane,...

Scott L. Schwartz, the actor-cum-professional wrestler best know for playing Bruiser in the Oceans franchise, died November 26 at his home in Covington, LA.

Schwartz made his Oceans debut in the first, 2011 installment by pretending to pommel George Clooney behind closed doors. He would go on to reprise his role in Oceans 12 and 13.

Born in Philadelphia, Pa, Schwartz started out as a pro wrestler under the ring names of The Israeli Commando and Giant David before trying out his moves in Hollywood as both a stunt man and a baddo for hire.

His TV credits include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Martial Law, Angel, Nash Bridges, Castle, The Mentalist, The Young and the Restless and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Besides Oceans, he also appeared in the films Fun with Dick and Jane, Starsky & Hutch and The Scorpion King.

Schwartz was described by those close to him as a “jolly person,...

Certain television shows have seen characters come and go throughout their series runs. Some had left in order to make way for fresh stories and new blood, others had left a big hole in the cast that was unable to be filled. The reasoning behind actors' departures can be very varied. For some, it's moving on to another project, or the prospect of a glittering movie career, like George Clooney in E.R. Some get their spin-off shows, and are part of expanding the universe and telling more stories, like David Boreanaz in Angel. Others have to leave due to scandals.

Whatever the reason may be for an actor departing a successful TV show, the viewers are always the ones to feel the brunt of it. For better or worse, audiences are the ones left to pick up the pieces after the character is gone. This could result in an exciting renaissance for the show,...

Kayla Nicole, a fitness influencer and Travis Kelce's ex, is starring in Season 3 of the grueling reality TV competition series Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.

And in a recent Special Forces trailer, Kayla alludes to not only her famous ex, but also their "overwhelming" breakup.

Although it feels like Travis has been dating pop icon Taylor Swift for eons, the couple actually became an item in September 2023 — well after Kayla and Travis called it quits in 2022.

It is surely impossible for most people to quantify or imagine what it must be like to exist as the ex-girlfriend of the now-boyfriend of someone as high-profile as Taylor, and it honestly sounds like a waking nightmare.

In October, Kayla discussed her split from Travis on an episode of the podcast Unapologetically Angel, addressing a long-circulating internet rumor that they broke up because the NFL star was "cheap" — both she and Travis...

Directed with precision and flair by Edward Berger (All Quiet On The Western Front) and adapted from Robert Harris’s gripping 2016 novel by Peter Straughan, Conclave is a masterful blend of mystery, political intrigue, and character drama. Anchored by a tour-de-force performance from the always brilliant Ralph Fiennes, the film takes us deep into the corridors of the Vatican, where faith and ambition collide in the wake of a papal death.

The plot centres on Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes), a dutiful, introspective leader tasked with overseeing the election of the next pope after the sudden death of the Holy pontiff. What begins as a solemn ritual soon spirals into a taut thriller as Cardinal Lawrence uncovers secrets and scandals surrounding some of the candidates. The arrival of the enigmatic Archbishop Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz), who claims to have been made a cardinal of Kabul in secret, adds another layer of...

Buffy The Vampire Slayer left one major plot hole unsolved for the tortured anti-hero Spike (James Marsters) it was unclear who his vampire sire was, and whether it was Angel (David Boreanz) or Drusilla (Juliet Landau). The conflicting information made the Angel reveal fall flat, and seemed to be a simple attempt at patching up a plot hole. In the show, Angel is born as Liam in 18th-century Ireland, and is revealed to have been turned by his former lover Darla (Julie Benz). He took on the name Angelus, and became the most ruthless vampire in European history.

As viewers learn, he is later cursed with a human soul as karma, and he has to live with all the atrocities he has committed. When Angel loses his humanity in Buffy, his evil knows no bounds. After Spike showcasing his own villainy all season, it seems only natural that Angel would...

“Wicked” is pocketing lots of green, with the Universal release coming in on the upper side of projections to head toward the third-biggest domestic opening of the year. Now forecasting a $117 million sum for the weekend, that’d only be behind “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($211 million) and “Inside Out 2” ($151 million) among 2024 releases. And Paramount’s “Gladiator II” is no slouch either, landing in second place with a projected opening weekend of $60 million. Theaters should be aglow about the two debuts, after being starved of a superlative hit through the fall. The last film to open with nine-digits (or even above $60 million) was “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” nearly three months ago.

“Wicked” earned $46.7 million from 3,888 theaters across Friday and preview screenings, a good chunk of which were held earlier in the week than Thursday, which is the traditional kick-off for a new release. Although the big-screen adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical landed...

Fans of science fiction will likely know who Sam Witwer is. If something exists that has had a science fiction tinge to it over the last 25 years, he's likely been involved in it to some degree. He was on shows like Dark Angel and Angel before landing his first recurring role on SyFy's Battlestar Galactica reboot. He appeared as Crashdown, one of the more interesting characters on the show.

He would later pop up on Smallville as the human form of Doomsday, before appearing in the pilot episode of The Walking Dead as the tank walker that tries to eat Rick Grimes. After 2008, however, his career would take off.

He'd start starring in various Star Wars properties, mostly as the character Starkiller in the two Forcec Unleashed video games. He'd then go on to voice Darth Maul in various projects for the franchise as well, while also serving as...