Movies

Since the release of “Wicked” in 2024, shattering box office records, the tale of Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship has been resonating worldwide with its themes of self-expression, standing up for oneself, and avoiding judgement based on appearances. Interestingly, the film’s leading actresses, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, have faced numerous critical comments despite this. Recently, when a journalist asked Grande about managing societal expectations for women to maintain an ideal appearance, she responded forcefully. This wasn’t the first time she had addressed such issues.

Actor Liam Neeson, who will be seen alongside Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones in the highly praised film “The Brutalist,” has been reminiscing about one of his most desired yet unrealized projects. In an interview with Variety, Neeson shared that a sequel to the 1997 neo-noir crime thriller was initially planned, but unfortunately never materialized…for valid reasons.

The Sony-produced adaptation of the “Uncharted” video game series didn’t meet all the high hopes surrounding such a legendary franchise, but still generated enough buzz for a follow-up. Since the initial movie was launched in 2022, news about “Uncharted 2” has been sparse at best. With Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg as main actors, “Uncharted” is slated to come back to theaters eventually; however, its release may take longer than expected.

The author Philippa Boyens hints at a grand future for the franchise of “The Hobbit”, which includes another live-action trilogy. In an interview with The Playlist about the upcoming big screen anime adaptation set in Middle-earth, Boyens disclosed that the creative team is brainstorming numerous ideas, such as standalone films, sequels to “The War of the Rohirrim”, and another, larger, more epic trilogy in the style of the acclaimed and beloved “Lord of the Rings” series.

2024’s Thanksgiving box office saw a scorching success, surpassing predictions as Hollywood’s culinary creations catered to diverse tastes. Topping the charts were Walt Disney Animation’s family favorite, Moana 2, Universal’s musical rendition of Wicked, and Paramount’s sequel, Gladiator II. The domestic earnings for the extended five-day holiday weekend reached an unprecedented peak of $425 million, shattering the previous record of $316 million set in 2018.