Ariana Grande just made one fan’s day a bit brighter, with the pop star sending 9-year-old Brie — who is battling cancer — a care package full of Wicked merchandise and R.E.M. Beauty products.
The young listener shared the contents of the gift in a sweet video posted to Instagram on Wednesday (Aug. 6). In the clip, Brie starts off by saying, “Today’s package is the best one yet — it’s from my favorite person in the whole wide world, Ariana Grande.”
Brie goes on to show off the perfume, makeup products and Wicked plushies that the singer-actress wrapped up for her. “Thank you so, so much, Ariana Grande,” Brie says excitedly. “I love everything in the package, especially the Squishmallows!”
As it turns out, Grande’s favorite part of the gift was the same as Brie’s. “Hi, Brie! It’s Ariana,” she says in a clip she filmed just for the little girl, which plays at the end of Brie’s video. “A little birdie told me — your mom told me — that you are a fan of Wicked and of Glinda’s, so I was inspired to put together this little care package for you … My personal favorite part is the Squishmallows.”
“I hope it makes you smile,” the Grammy winner added. “I’ve seen your videos, and I think you are the most amazing and inspiring little light beam in this universe. You’re just so incredible, so thank you for being you. I’m sending you so much love and many, many virtual hugs.”
With help from her mom, Kendra, Brie — who has stage four neuroblastoma — has built a following sharing her journey with followers on social media. Just a few days prior to her post about Grande’s gift, Brie gushed about her love for the Wicked star in an Instagram video, with Kendra writing in the caption, “[Grande’s mom] @joangrande called me yesterday and said that Ariana has seen Brielle’s story, and has put together a package for her.”
“She has such a beautiful heart,” Kendra added of the vocalist at the time. “Brielle was is shock! @arianagrande, Brielle thinks you are SO pretty, and extremely talented. Thank you for taking the time to send her a package, she is absolutely thrilled.”
The sweet gesture comes just a few months ahead of the long-awaited premiere of Wicked: For Good, which hits theaters in November. It will arrive almost exactly one year after the first Wicked came out. The first film earned two Oscars, a No. 2 soundtrack album on the Billboard 200 and upwards of $755 million in worldwide grosses — more than any other film based on a Broadway musical has ever earned before.
Grande is also fresh off of the release of Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, the expanded version of her 2024 Billboard 200-topping LP Eternal Sunshine. All five of the added tracks on the deluxe charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
Chappell Roan has earned her second U.K. No. 1 hit with “The Subway,” which debuted atop the Official Singles Chart on Friday (Aug. 8).
First performed live back in June 2024, the song was officially released Aug. 1 alongside a music video that Billboard described as “grimy, gay and gorgeous.” The song gives Roan her second chart-topper in the U.K. after “Pink Pony Club” first achieved the feat in March.
Earlier this week at Øya Festival in Oslo, Norway, Roan performed the song live for the first time post-release, also admitting that returning to the stage had spooked her. “I’m really nervous,” she said. “I just haven’t done a show for a sec so I’m kinda nervous.”
Speaking in an interview with Vogue, Roan also indicated that “The Subway” wasn’t the start of a new LP rollout, and that she could be “five years” away from a sophomore record. “The second project doesn’t exist yet,” she added. “There is no album. There is no collection of songs.”
KPop Demon Hunters’ “Golden” — credited to HUNTR/X and sung by EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami — falls one place from the top spot after one week at the summit. The song from the Netflix animated musical was the first K-pop track to hit the No. 1 spot in 13 years, following “Gangnam Style” by PSY in 2012.
Two additional songs from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack have reached the top 10 for the first time. Saja Boys’ “Soda Pop” (6) and “Your Idol,” (No. 8) — performed by vocalists Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo and SamUIL Lee — continue to see rapid growth.
Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” retains a spot in the top five, closing the week at No. 3; the song hit the top spot in July for a weeklong reign. MK and Chrystal’s “Dior,” which ruled for two weeks at the summit earlier this summer, closes at No. 3.
Disco Lines and Tinashe’s “No Broke Boys” climbs three spots to break into the upper echelons of the charts for the first time (No. 5). The song first featured on Tinashe’s 2024 LP Quantum Baby before its remix by the rising EDM producer.
Reneé Rapp earned her first U.K. No. 1 LP with sophomore collection Bite Me on Friday (Aug. 8).
The pop star and Mean Girl actress first hit the Official Albums Chart in 2023 with Snow Angel, which peaked at No. 7.
Later this year, she’ll embark on the Bite Me Tour with a European leg slated for 2026. Rapp will arrive in the U.K. for a pair of shows in March, headlining Manchester’s AO Arena on March 18, and London’s OVO Arena Wembley the following night.
As Oasis’ Live ‘25 reunion tour rolls into Edinburgh, Scotland, on Friday evening, the band occupies two spots in the top five, and three overall in the top 10. 2010’s singles compilation Time Flies… 1994-2009 finishes at No. 2, 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? closes the week at No. 3 and 1994 debut Definitely Maybe lands at No. 6.
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The band will play three shows at the Scottish capital’s Murrayfield Stadium in the coming days (Aug. 8, 9, 12). Earlier this week the man who died at one of the Wembley Stadium concerts was named, with fans raising money for his family in a GoFundMe appeal. The Gallagher brothers said in a statement they were “shocked and saddened” by the news.
Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid stays strong as a non-mover at No. 4. The California-born singer-songwriter had a record-breaking streak at the summit of the Official Singles Chart earlier this year, as hit single “Ordinary” ruled for 13 weeks.
Fleetwood Mac’s 50 Years – Don’t Stop completes the top five (No. 5) and comes hot on the heels of the golden jubilee anniversary of the band’s 1975 self-titled LP, its first featuring vocalists Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
Stephen Colbert isn’t shying away from making jokes about CBS‘ recent cancellation of “The Late Show” — in fact, he’s looking for offers from other networks on air.
On Thursday, during his final “Late Show” taping before a summer hiatus, Colbert referenced a Daily Beast story about vice president JD Vance ordering that an Ohio river’s water level be raised for a boat trip he took for his birthday recently.
“This is such an insane, spoiled-baby emperor move that I have no choice but to break out my new character: Wittle Pwince Vance,” Colbert said, using a baby voice and taking out a mask of Vance’s face wearing a crown. “Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye! I want my wiver waised for my birthday! Also, I don’t like how bwue the sky is — paint it wed! Now, give me juice box.” When a staffer handed Colbert a juice box, he whined, “Not fwuit juice — apple! Kill him! Kill him!”
Then, Colbert took off the mask and said, “Netflix, call me. I’m available in June” — because “The Late Show” will air its final episodes in May 2026. After continuing to discuss the Vance story and pulling out the mask again, he added, “I will also entertain offers from Amazon.”
Earlier in his monologue, Colbert took on Donald Trump’s recent criticisms of him and his fellow late night hosts. News of the “Late Show” cancellation came shortly after Paramount, CBS’ paramount company, agreed to a $16 million settlement with the president following a legal dispute about “60 Minutes.” Though Paramount has said that the end of Colbert’s show was a financial decision unrelated to Colbert’s criticisms of Trump and the settlement, many have voiced concern that the cancellation could have been political in nature, leading to weeks of fiery comments from journalists, Hollywood labor unions and Trump himself.
On Thursday, Colbert showed a clip of Trump in the Oval Office saying, “Colbert has no talent. [Jimmy] Fallon has no talent. [Jimmy] Kimmel has no talent. They’re next. They’re gonna be going. I hear they’re going to be going. I don’t know, but I would imagine, because Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon, you know that?”
“I knew that, yeah, I knew that,” Colbert said as the live audience began to cheer his name. “But to be fair, I think we’re all equally untalented. Anyway, I just want to say thank you for watching, sir, and thank you for agreeing to be in our new promo.” He then rolled a clip of a fake “Late Show” ad that said, “Colbert is No. 1 in late night. Just ask our elderly viewers,” before returning to the Trump clip about ratings. The ad ended with a graphic of the show covered in a “Still Canceled!” stamp.
Michael Nyman had been to the mountaintop. After a long career in marketing, PR and communications, he was chairman and CEO of communciations and PR powerhouse PMK-BNC in 2018 when he decided to step down to start over.
On the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business,” Nyman explains the motivation and the vision behind Acceleration Community of Companies, which is the umbrella “architecture,” as he details, for a collection of firms with distinct and complementary specialties. Among his acquisitions over the past half-dozen years include experiential marketing firm MKG; Pink Sparrow, a design and fabrication studio; Event Marketer; New York PR powerhouse DKC and PR firm Trailblaze; influencer marketing agency Pixly; data and analytics firm Stripe Theory; and creative agency Hangar Four.
“I felt the virtues of being in a community or with a group of companies was a good thing, and I felt that for certain clients, there was some benefit if you could find a grouping of companies that could help you. But what I was trying to do was look at a different spin on it. What I was thinking was the future would be focused more on specialization,” Nyman says.
“That’s where we are in our society, and a lot of this is enabled through technology and this idea of instant gratification. So I thought, if I could go out and build a community and acquire, assemble, build a series of complementary agencies, each that had a superpower — one group focused on communications, one group focused on influencer, data and analytics, experiential — that when we put it together, it could be something really special,” Nyman says. “And with the complementary powers, these agencies would begin to really want to collaborate with one another, because they each did something different, and people get along really well when you can be complementary.”
Acceleration has invested significantly in research and analytics to help its firms, and by association clients, understand the depths of the disruption in traditional media and entertainment. The changing behaviors, norms and expectations for Gen Z and Gen Alpha will radically influence the evolution of entertainment in the coming years, Nyman predicts.
“Gen Z has a self awareness about putting the phone down. Gen Alpha — it is a little scary out there. Gen Alpha is a little challenging, because you’re talking about a society now where, at this young age and stage, these kids are getting in their hands answers to everything. Everything is unlocked, and they don’t have to go far, because they’re holding it in their palm of their hand,” Nyman observes. “The mix of entertainment in 10 to 15, years is going to be different. I think film will survive. I think the streaming as we know it survives, but I think we’re going to see a lot of new iterations or versions of these things. Maybe the theatrical experience will will be there, but who is starring and creating [content], I think it’s really going to be very different.”
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.
The prestigious Verbier Festival, held in July and August in the Swiss Alps southeast of Lausanne, has announced a surprise expansion to Shenzhen, China.
The inaugural ‘Verbier Festival in Shenzhen’ will run for ten days from January 2026, promising some of classical music’s biggest names: Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Mischa Maisky, Janine Jansen and Mikhail Pletnev, among others.
Founded in 1994, the festival has had an ongoing relationship with China since 2003. But this new expansion is significant, with Shenzhen becoming the first city to host the Verbier Festival outside of Switzerland.
Events are planned to be held in the new “high-tech art palace” Shenzhen Longgang International Arts Centre, an arts complex still under construction. The existing Shenzhen Concert Hall will also be used.
A relatively young city, Shenzhen is the third most populous in China. Primarily known as the centre of China’s tech industry, it hosts the headquarters of Huawei and Tencent, and is a major centre for finance and manufacturing. In 2024 the city became the largest manufacturer of cars in China. The port of Shenzhen is the fourth busiest in the world.
Shenzhen is also known for its Window on the World theme park, which includes replicas of famous landmarks from around the world.
“Since our first visit in 2003, we have established a presence in China through many orchestral tours,” said Martin Engstroem, the founder of Verbier Festival. “A whole generation of young Chinese musicians have been educated and performed at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.”
“Now is finally the moment to bring a full presentation of the Verbier Festival to Asia.”
Alongside numerous guest artists, Gábor Takács-Nagy will conduct the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in six concerts.
The venture marks a years-long collaboration between the festival and producer and Jiatong Wu, whose company Wu Promotion has organised tours of China since the 1990s. Orchestras promoted by the company include the Vienna Philharmonic, the West-Eastern Divan, Orchestre National de France, among others.
“Previous turning points have marked the 30-year history of Wu Promotion, like the residencies of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Lucerne Festival,” said Wu. “I am truly grateful now, hand in hand with Martin, to launch this extraordinary project.”
A press conference will be held in Shenzhen in autumn 2025 to announce the full programme.
At a time when most of their peers have retired, threatened to call it quits or died, the Beach Boys continue to perform 120 shows per year. Led by original singer Mike Love and longtime multi-instrumentalist Bruce Johnston, this version of the Beach Boys performs the sounds of Southern California to three generations of fans, something which isn’t lost on Love.
“The positivity that our music generates, and the good vibes and good feelings, is a wonderful thing to see,” Love says. “It’s an inspiration to me to see kids with their parents or their grandparents at our shows.”
On Sunday, the Beach Boys return to Long Beach to perform at the Terrace Theater for the first time in nearly 15 years to the day, when they performed at Harry Bridges Memorial Park. As Love recalls, the band played one of its first shows in the city at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium on New Year’s Eve 1961.
“That first concert we were paid for as the Beach Boys at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium for the Ritchie Valens Memorial Dance,” he recalls. “We played three songs and got $300, but also on that show was Ike Turner and Kings of Rhythm. We got to hear Tina Turner sing this song called ‘I’m Blue.’ It was primordial and blew my mind.”
Thousands of shows later, the Beach Boys continue to have a receptive audience who will gladly see them perform the hits of yesteryear. Love has no issue leaning into the band’s 1960s heyday. In fact, he sees it as his duty to spread “peace and love” through the Beach Boys’ concerts.
Chatting hours before he departed his Lake Tahoe, Calif., home to fly to Southern California for the band’s latest string of shows (including Friday night at Temecula’s Pachanga Resort Casino and Saturday at the Rady Shell in San Diego), Love reflected on nearly 65 years of the Beach Boys, feeling like he finally got his due by being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, why he’s looking forward to the decidedly un-Beach Boys crowd at Riot Fest, and honoring his late cousin Brian Wilson.
Mike Love
(Udo Spreitzenbarth)
How did it feel to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame?
Better late than never, but it was a great honor. It meant a lot because I wasn’t recognized for my contribution to so many of the Beach Boys’ hits over the years. So, the recognition is a good thing. There are various reasons I wasn’t recognized for it. My uncle [Beach Boys original manager] Murry [Wilson], didn’t put my contribution of the lyrics. “I Get Around,” “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Be True to Your School,” a lot of great songs that I wasn’t credited for. We fired my uncle as manager to get even for me, and he excluded me when he handled the publishing. We didn’t know what publishing was when we started in 1961. We were unsophisticated regarding the business end of it, and we just loved creating music. We loved harmonizing. That was a family tradition that morphed into a long-lasting profession because my cousin Brian and I got together and wrote some songs that people still love to this day.
What is it about the songs that continue to bring people together at a time when people can hardly agree on anything?
The harmonies and the positivity go a long way towards eliminating the negativity. In “Good Vibrations,” I wrote every word of it. I even came up with (sings) “I’m thinking of good vibrations / She gave me excitations” with the chorus melody as well as all the lyrics. But that was written in 1966. The Vietnam War was percolating, and there were student demonstrations. There were problems with integration, and stuff like that made the news. But I wanted to write “Good Vibrations.” I wanted to write this song. I wrote a poem about a girl who loved nature. She was only into the peace, love and flower power, which was also going on at that time. The juxtaposition of the negative and the positive is pretty amazing. It turns out there’s a psychologist in Sheffield, England, who wanted to find out which songs made people feel the best. And our song “Good Vibrations” came in at No. 1, which is unbelievable. In 1966, when it went to No. 1 in England, we were voted the No. 1 group in Great Britain, with No. 2 being the Beatles. Incredible. That was a pretty amazing achievement.
You’ve been joined on stage by the likes of Mark McGrath and Dexter Holland from the Offspring. What does that say to you about the longevity of what the songs have meant?
Dexter sounded amazing on it! He is a really good singer, obviously, but he wanted to do “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” and so we rehearsed backstage [at Oceans Calling Festival in Maryland last September], ran through it about once or twice, and came out on stage in front of 40,000 people, and it was pretty amazing! Mark McGrath is just the most positive and fun guy ever. We have the same birthday, so he’s a few years younger than I am (laughs).
And of course, John Stamos, who inducted you into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He’s been with us since he was Blackie on “General Hospital.” At this point, he is pretty much an honorary Beach Boy and family.
In the days after Brian’s death, the clip of the band appearing on “Full House” made the rounds on Instagram. What’s it like to remember that when both Brian and Carl were there and you appeared on that show?
John Stamos likes to say that we need this music more than ever now because of so much negativity in the world, and I agree. When I was writing, I accentuated the positive with the harmonies, giving that warm feeling, and the subject matter being fun at times. We’d maybe been a little introspective on “God Only Knows,” maybe “In My Room,” and “The Warmth of the Sun.” The upbeat songs are all fun, positive, and make people feel good. We were just in Spain, and we had standing ovations every night. It was amazing.
What’s wild is seeing the Beach Boys appear on the historically punk festival Riot Fest. Are you familiar with it?
Yeah! We were invited to do it a year ago, but we are doing it this year. Our songs go over well with every demographic and all kinds of people. It doesn’t matter what the format of this is. We’ve done very well with some country festivals, enormously well. It doesn’t matter what the genre of the festival appeals to. We played Stagecoach last year, and there were 70 or 80,000 people at our set. Singing along and dancing around, so we had a great time at that one.
Who are you looking forward to seeing at Riot Fest?
Who is on it other than us?
On your day, it is Weezer performing the Blue Album, Jack White, a reconfigured version of the Sex Pistols, Dropkick Murphys, All Time Low, James …
Weezer! They did “California Girls” on a tribute show that aired on Easter Sunday a few years ago. There’s a lot more guitar in that particular version (laughs). Maybe one of those guys will come and sing with us. What happens at those things is that you’re with a lot of people you don’t ordinarily see, and people like to do unique things.
Do you think the Beach Boys would be considered a punk band, if that was a term, in 1961?
If you listen to some of our songs, like “Surfin’ Safari,” “Catch a Wave” and “Hawaii,” there’s a lot of tempo there. I think those songs appeal to all kinds of genres.
Does returning to Long Beach, near where you all grew up, carry more weight with the loss of Brian?
Well, we have a tribute song called “Brian’s Back” that I wrote many, many years ago. So, back when that was released (in 1976 as part of “15 Big Ones”), we did a video tribute to Brian that we play every night at our concerts, which people love and appreciate. He may have passed on, but he’s always with us every night in the music.
Elton John said that the “Pet Sounds” album would be the one album that would be played forever, which is an amazing accolade,” Love said. “So those songs are pretty much immortal to some degree. So if somebody is capable of replicating them as closely as possible for the record, then great.”
(Udo Spreitzenbarth)
Do you see the Beach Boys continuing to tour in name after you and Bruce are done?
I’m not sure. We haven’t given that a whole lot of thought because we’re very active these days with this configuration. Elton John said that the “Pet Sounds” album would be the one album that would be played forever, which is an amazing accolade. So those songs are pretty much immortal to some degree. So if somebody is capable of replicating them as closely as possible for the record, then great.
But the problem is that mortality is an issue, of course. So, at some point in time, nature will take over and say, “OK, you’re out of here, huh?” But in the meantime, I think we’ve got a good several years to go.
What do people misunderstand about your and Brian’s relationship?
Well, there’s a lot of misinformation given out over this early part of our careers that says I didn’t like the “Pet Sounds” album, which is bull—, because I actually named it and Brian brought it to Capitol Records, who didn’t know what to do with it. If you listen to the tracks of “Pet Sounds,” you say, “How the heck did he ever do that with the greatest musicians in L.A., the Wrecking Crew?” My cousin Brian did some amazing stuff that’ll stand the test of time, if Elton John is right, forever. It’s a true blessing to be able to do what started as a family hobby and became a long-lasting profession.
Is “That’s Why God Made the Radio” the last Beach Boys album, or do you all have one more left in you?
Anything’s possible. We don’t have immediate plans, but I do think of that kind of thing from time to time.
“Weapons,” the buzzy new horror film from director Zach Cregger, made $5.7 million in Thursday night previews ahead of its opening Friday, a strong total surpassing the Thursday preview totals of this year’s highest-grossing horror movies, “Sinners” and “Final Destination Bloodlines.”
Zach Cregger, who previously directed “Barbarian,” wrote and directed “Weapons.” (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
“Weapons” grossed $5.7 million in its first day Thursday to best its box office rival, “Freakier Friday,” which also opens this weekend and grossed $3.1 million on Thursday, Deadline and Variety reported.
The strong opening for “Weapons” follows excellent reviews—for weeks, the film had a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, but it has since slipped slightly to 96% from 167 reviews—and a viral marketing campaign.
“Weapons” may be on track to become one of this year’s biggest horror hits, as its Thursday total was bigger than the $4.7 million earned by “Sinners” in its Thursday previews and the $5.5 million grossed by “Final Destination Bloodlines,” which are this year’s two highest-grossing horror movies.
The only horror movie to have surpassed “Weapons” in Thursday previews gross this year is “28 Years Later,” which barely edged it out with $5.8 million, but that movie fizzled quickly at the box office.
What To Watch For
Whether “Weapons” can fend off “Freakier Friday” to top this weekend’s box office. Though “Weapons” has the early edge based on Thursday previews, Deadline reported horror movies tend to be front-loaded at the box office. Both movies are expected to gross around $30 million this weekend, but Deadline reported “Weapons” is “pulling ahead with at least a low-to-mid $30M take or even more.”
Surprising Fact
Some theaters have scheduled screenings of “Weapons” for 2:17 p.m., a reference to the time in the film, 2:17 a.m., when a classroom full of children mysteriously disappear.
What Are This Year’s Biggest Horror Hits?
“Sinners” is the highest-grossing horror movie of 2025 so far, far surpassing expectations to gross $365 million worldwide. “Sinners,” a vampire film directed by Ryan Coogler from his original script, reportedly benefitted from a near-perfect 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes and word-of-mouth recommendations, which helped it nearly double box office projections for both its opening weekend and its second weekend. “Final Destination Bloodlines,” the sixth film in the “Final Destination” franchise, has grossed $285 million at the box office, likely helped by franchise name recognition and strong reviews, with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. “28 Years Later,” despite a strong opening, made $150 million worldwide at the box office after failing to sustain momentum, dropping almost 70% between its first and second weekends.
Key Background
“Weapons” went viral ahead of its release for its marketing campaign, which drew comparisons to horror hit “The Blair Witch Project” for using found footage and making the marketing materials—like faux news articles about the movie’s missing children—seem real. In April, Warner Bros. published a video of surveillance footage on YouTube, titled “2025_░_░_06:17AM.mov,” which portrays children running through town in the middle of the night. The studio also made a website, MaybrookMissing.com, resembling a real local news outlet covering the movie’s fictional town.
Further Reading
Horror Movie ‘Weapons’ Earns Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score After Viral Marketing Campaign (Forbes)
Josh Brolin admits he worked in ‘Weapons’ due to ‘selfishness’
Josh Brolin faced what he called an “absolute living nightmare” while filming Weapons.
While conversing with Yahoo about Weapons, the 57-year-old American actor, who has acted in a horror movie for the first time in 40 years, admitted the movie hits different.
Voicing his thoughts, Brolin said, “There’s nothing about me that wanted to do a film like this. Nothing … other than maybe the selfishness of working with a great director [Zach Cregger].”
The Deadpool star, who is the father of four children, went on to note that the story was almost too hard for him to handle because the film follows a scary mystery of 17, who are class fellows and disappear at sharp 2:17 a.m.
Brolin plays Archer Graff, the father of one of the missing kids and when he observes the police are not taking enough action, he jumps into the drama and takes control of the investigation in his hands.
“Things that have to do with kids getting hurt, kids being taken, kids getting lost, being neglected … all that kind of stuff is my absolute living nightmare,” he confessed.
“I like to think that I give [all of] myself on a very personal level when I work, and then you do something like this, and you realize maybe you haven’t as much as you could. Because this is so personal to me,” Brolin quipped.
Weapons hits theatres on Friday, August 8, 2025, under the banner of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Jesse Eisenberg on what fans expect from ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’
Jesse Eisenberg has recently shared rare details about Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.
In an interview with Collider, the Hollywood actor candidly discussed what fans can expect from the movie.
Sharing that the original cast is returning back to the third sequel, he began, “It kind of shows where we are in life since the last film. On a personal level, it feels like a treat to be able to come back with these people I love so much.”
“Every seven years, we are in a room that turns over and over and, in Abu Dhabi or Macau, or off the coast of Hong Kong, or New Orleans or Paris, whatever, you know, from all these movies,” The Real Pain actor added.
The original cast members returning for the movie include Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Morgan Freeman, while Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, and Dominic Sessa, will join the cast as new magicians.
Referring to his on-screen character, he told the outlet, “My character is lured out of retirement by these three younger magicians and is better for it.”
“There’s a kind of funny iteration of my character, Atlas, because in this movie I’m not only the same arrogant character, but I’m also leading these three young magicians, and I feel kind of condescending towards them.
“I’m both trying to teach them and shepherd them, but I’m also irritated that they sometimes don’t listen to me,” the Oscar nominated explained.
Before concluding, Jesse Eisenberg shared, “There’s a kind of interesting shade in this movie to my character, which is one of feeling both competitive with these young people, who I think don’t know anything, and then ultimately impressed by what they’re able to pull off.”
The Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is set to release on November 13, 2025.
