Category: 5. Entertainment

Mark Ruffalo is in talks to reprise his famed Marvel role of Incredible Hulk in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, sources confirm. Tom Holland is back, with Sadie Sink starring in a new secret role. Jon Bernthal is also reprising his Punisher role in the film.

Marvel and Sony had no comment.

Destin Daniel Cretton is directing, with Amy Pascal and Marvel president Kevin Feige producing. Plot details are being kept under wraps for the film that is set to bow July 31, 2026.

Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers are writing the script.

Ruffalo has appeared in a number of Marvel movies including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. He most recently was in the Disney+ TV series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and appeared in Cretton’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

FRIDAY PM UPDATE: A bit of a calm spell before the Freakier Friday-Weapons double bill happening next weekend, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps eyeing around $12 million today for a $40M-$45M second weekend, which gets it close to $200M+ (or $198M on the low end). On the low side, that’s a 66% decline in the vicinity of Captain America: Brave New World (-68%), but harder than Thunderbolts* (-56%) which indicates the front-loaded rush to Marvel’s first family. The pic is booked at 4,125 theaters.

DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys 2, playing at 3,852 sites, is doing slightly better than the 2022 original with a $9M first day (which includes previews) and an estimated three-day total of $22M.

Paramount’s The Naked Gun, knock on wood, is looking all right with $6M Friday and a $16M 3-day at 3,344. Excellent exits as we told you last night, and reviews, which are hard to come by with comedies. It needs the under-40 guy crowd to leg out. If the number holds, it will rep Liam Neeson’s biggest opening as leading star (not voice-over, cameo, narrator, supporting, etc) since 2014’s Taken 3 ($39.2M opening). If the numbers hold, it’s $1M higher than the opening of the Jennifer Lawrence R-rated comedy No Hard Feelings from 2023 — that was Sony’s attempt to revive the big-screen comedy.

Warner Bros/DC Studios’ fourth weekend of James Gunn’s Superman is $13.5M, -46%, for a running cume by Sunday of $315.8M. By that time pic should be pacing 5% behind the running total of Matt Reeves’ 2022 The Batman, which ended its stateside run at $369.3M.

Fifth is Universal’s Jurassic World Rebirth at 3,240 locations with a Friday of $2.3M and a fifth weekend of $8.1M, -39%, and a running total by Sunday EOD of $317M. That’ll be 10% behind the running total of the previous chapter Jurassic World: Dominion, which finaled at $376.8M.

Neon’s Together is sixth with $2.2M today, between $6M-$7M over three days and $10M-$11M over five days. On the high end, that’s about par with Midsommar‘s Wednesday-Sunday take of $10.9M.

FRIDAY AM: The first weekend of August begins with DreamWorks Animation/Universal’s The Bad Guys 2 stealing $2.25 million from showtimes that began at 2 p.m. Thursday, which is higher than the first Bad Guys‘ $1.15M Thursday in 2022, which turned into a near-$8M first day and $23.9M in a recovering post-Covid box office. The outlook on Bad Guys 2 in regards to tracking was $20M.

Production cost on Bad Guys 2 is $80M net, $10M higher than the first movie, which repped a rebound for the Covid box office, that pic ultimately minting $97.4M domestic and $252.4M worldwide. The sequel’s Rotten Tomatoes critics score is 85% fresh, which is 3 points under the 88% certified fresh of the first film.

Paramount, on the precipice of its merger with Skydance, is trying to bring the big-screen comedy back to life with its reboot of 1980s classic The Naked Gun, that Liam Neeson-Pamela Anderson movie doing $1.6M last night from shows that started at 7 p.m. Comedy comps are hard, but The Naked Gun isn’t that far from Sony’s R-rated Jennifer Lawrence movie No Hard Feelings, which did $2.15M on its Thursday (4 p.m. start-time) previews in 2023 and turned into a $6.3M Friday and $15M 3-day at 3,344 sites. That’s what hoped for here on this redo directed by Akiva Schaffer and produced by Seth MacFarlane. Net production cost is $42M.

The Naked Gun had a good night in PostTrak exits with 4½ stars and a 73% definite recommend. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film won over critics, a near-impossible feat when it comes to comedy, at 90% certified fresh with an 87% audience score.

Neon’s wide release of the Dave Franco-Alison Brie romantic horror movie Together grossed $1.35M in its second day at the box office for a running cume of $4M. The forecast is $8M-$10M over five days for the movie, which Neon snapped up for $16M out of Sundance. The last five-day genre movie that comes to mind is A24’s Midsommar, and Together, which has higher Rotten Tomatoes critics and audience scores (91% critics/79% audience to Midsommar‘s 83% critics/63% audience) is currently $300K behind that 2019 Ari Aster film. As we told you Thursday, Together gets a C+ CinemaScore, same grade as Midsommar.

It’s all about the second weekend of Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which ends the week with $158.3M after an estimated $7.4M Thursday, -14% from Wednesday. The second-frame outlook is $45M-$47M for the net $200M-budgeted movie, which is around a 61% decline. The Matt Shakman-directed reboot keeps all the premium screens.

Gowtam Tinnanuri’s Kingdom opened Thursday, making $1.1M at 360 locations. The pic follows an undercover cop who is plunged into Sri Lanka on a covert mission to dismantle a powerful syndicate. He learns the mastermind is his estranged brother, forcing him to confront family loyalty, and the moral cost of duty.

Here’s the top 5:

1.) The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Dis) 4,125 theaters, Thu $7.4M (-14% from Wed), Week $158.3M/Wk 1

2.) Superman (WB) 3,930 theaters, Thu $2.66M (-10%), Wk $37.7M (-57%), Total $302.3M/Wk 3

3.) Jurassic World Rebirth (Uni) 3,550 theaters, Thu $1.54M (-7%), Wk $20.3M (-43%), Total $308.9M/Wk 4
Let the record show that 2025 now has four movies that grossed north of $300M at the domestic B.O., also inclusive of Superman, Lilo & Stitch and A Minecraft Movie.

4.) F1 (Apple/WB) 2,615 theaters, Thu $750K (-13%), Wk $9.8M (-36%), Total $169.1M/Wk 5

5.) Smurfs (Par) 3,504 theaters, Thu $715K (-28%), Week $9.3M (-15%), Total $26.7M/Wk 2

ITV/Shutterstock/Netflix

A dramatic end to a drama-filled Love Island

ITV/Shutterstock

Wednesday is out, on Wednesday

Parenthood with Sir David (not Steve Martin)

Netflix

MasterChef is back

Freakier Friday hits cinemas

Getty Images

Other highlights this week

John Cena and Cody Rhodes will size each other up one last time before WWE SummerSlam. On Sunday, Rhodes and Cena will write a street fight sequel to their WrestleMania 41 main event. They share their final statements tonight on SmackDown.

Cena has been the undisputed WWE champion since beating Rhodes at WrestleMania. Rhodes earned a rematch by winning the King of the Ring tournament, guaranteeing him a world title match at SummerSlam. Cena tried to talk his way out of the match, but Rhodes forced him to sign with an added street fight stipulation. The rivals have one last chance to speak with each other before the weekend’s big match.

Three matches are set for the night before SummerSlam. Damian Priest and Aleister Black collide after growing tension, Jimmy Uso wrestles Talla Tonga — Solo Sikoa’s new insurance policy — and Zelina Vega tries to win back the women’s United States title from Giulia. 

CBS Sports is with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

WWE SmackDown preview

• John Cena, Cody Rhodes go face to face
• Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black
• Women’s United States Championship — Giulia (c) vs. Zelina Vega
• Jimmy Uso vs. Talla Tonga

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix is not proceeding with a third season of Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s spy action series Fubar. The decision comes about a month and a half after Season 2 launched on the platform on June 12.

It follows a surprisingly soft return for the series, which, likely fueled by Schwarzenegger’s global star power, had a strong debut in May 2023 and also stars Monica Barbaro who became an Oscar nominee between Seasons 1 and 2 for A Complete Unknown.

With Season 2 released more than two years after Season 1 dropped, Fubar barely made Netflix’s Top 10 for English-language series in its first week, landing in the last spot with 2.2M views from Thursday through Sunday, down from about 11M views for the show’s Season 1 premiere weekend. Season 2 peaked at #7 in its first full week with 3.3M views and logged one more #10 finish in Week 3 with 1.8M views before dropping out of the Top 10.

This still is a rare Netflix cancellation of 2025, joining another sophomore action drama, The Recruit, and freshmen Pulse and The Residence. The streamer has renewed close to 20 scripted shows since the start of the year, most recently limited series Untamed for Season 2, Shane Gillis’ comedy Tires for Season 3 and romantic dramas Ransom Canyon for Season 2 and Virgin River for Season 8.

Fubar centers on a CIA operative (Schwarzenegger) on the verge of retirement who discovers a family secret and is forced to go back into the field for one last job. Carrie-Anne Moss joined the cast in Season 2 as Greta Nelso, a former East German spy who has a passionate history with Luke Brunner (Schwarzenegger).

Season 2 also stars Milan Carter, Fortune Feimster, Travis Van Winkle, Fabiana Udenio, Aparna Brielle, Guy Burnet, Andy Buckley, Jay Baruchel, Barbara Eve Harris and Scott Thompson.

Nick Santora serves as showrunner and executive produces with Schwarzenegger. Additional executive producers are Adam Higgs, Scott Sullivan, Phil Abraham, Amy Pocha, Seth Cohen and Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Matt Thunell.

After more than a week of near-nonstop scrutiny on social media, in the mainstream media and among consumers, American Eagle Outfitters has addressed the controversy facing its new ad campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney.

The sportswear and denim company posted on its Instagram Friday afternoon, saying: “’Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans‘ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”

In one of the campaign’s promotional videos, the 27-year-old “White Lotus” and “Euphoria” actress is seen lying on the floor zipping up her jeans, as she says, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color.” The camera then focuses on her face, when she says, “My jeans are blue.” The narrator then says the campaign’s tag line: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”

Some questioned the narrative and the use of “genes,” seeing a sign of eugenics.

Executives at American Eagle were not available Friday afternoon to comment further, according to Rebekah Margulis, associate vice president of fashion and retail at Shadow, the outside public relations firm that American Eagle works with.

Sweeney has not commented publicly about the controversy, nor has the stylist Molly Dickson, who worked on the campaign. Sweeney’s most recent post to her 25 million Instagram followers reads, “I have great jeans…now you can too.” That included a short video from the campaign of her closing the trunk of a car and then wiping her hands on her backside as she walked away.

American Eagle’s response post had racked up more than 36,600 likes and 5,483 comments. Some offered such remarks as, “I can’t believe this is all real.” And “It’s really clear who you’re all aligning yourselves with and the world’s watching and acting (shopping) accordingly.” Others offered “Liberal meltdown incoming.” And “Your intern really cooked with this one.”

Asked about AEO’s response Friday, Sacred Heart University professor David Loranger said its approach is “counter to everything that is a branding standard and what business schools teach about crisis management. Perhaps American Eagle was surprised by the reaction to this ad, but if they had taken the time to beta test it in the first place, they wouldn’t be in this mess.”

From Loranger’s viewpoint, “to get such a vehement reaction from [some] consumers and to double down is sort of unheard of, and in my opinion, ignores their target market.” He compared the campaign to one that might have been done by American Apparel’s founder Dov Charney or Abercrombie & Fitch’s former chief executive officer Mike Jeffries in their heydays.

Loranger said, “To disregard market reaction is not only arrogant but shows complete indifference to consumers. The market determines what’s acceptable and not acceptable, not the brand. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Who knows? It may become an advertising business case where we will teach what not to do. In any event, they should fire their copywriter.”

Former Levi’s brand president Jennifer Sey, who is CEO of XX-XY Athletics, offered a different take. “There is no reason for American Eagle Outfitters to apologize or backtrack because some women on TikTok, who probably never bought the brand anyway, don’t like it,” she said.

Sey said she has been pitched “this exact campaign many times” over the years. She added, “It’s an obvious one. A play on words. Nothing more. A beautiful woman, looking great in her jeans, [who is] at the top of her career and celebrity, and in on the joke? Sweeney’s self-awareness and humor are what make the ad unique and fun.”

Sey offered, “If I were advising American Eagle Outfitters, I’d tell them to ignore the haters. Stand strong. Don’t cower to the bullies who want to make everything a tale of oppression — even a fun ad campaign for jeans. The cancelers can’t cancel anymore. They’ve lost their power. They just haven’t realized it yet.”

Sew Branded’s founder Scott Woodward said Friday that the jeans-genes “clever word play” in the campaign “just feels off” given the current cultural zeitgeist and that “struck a nerve with loyal Gen Z consumers and advertising media types, too.” 

Digging in and not acknowledging how it made consumers feel might exacerbate the situation, according to Woodward. 

“Confidence in and celebrating everyone is a definitely good message for them, as they’ve owned that successfully and beautifully for a long time,” he said.

Noting how the AEO brand case study on how to know your consumer is one that he has shared while teaching students at Parsons School of Design, Woodward said he was “rooting” for AEO, as Sweeney was another wonderful, culturally relevant partner with whom to collaborate on their storied jeans brand.” 

However, Loranger speculated about how Sweeney’s personal brand may be impacted by the backlash. “Here, it may be the sponsor brand that drags down the celebrity, rather than the reverse, as in the Travis Scott-Dior fiasco. Her people are probably in damage control mode.”

A few years ago Dior postponed the release of its menswear collaboration with the musician after 10 people were killed in a stampede at his Astroworld music festival in Houston in 2021.

Prior to the launch in an interview with WWD, American Eagle’s chief marketing officer Craig Brommers described the campaign as “potentially one of the biggest gets in American Eagle history.” He said, “Sydney Sweeney is the ‘It’ girl of the moment, and she is helping us create the ‘It’ jeans campaign of the season. Sydney really encapsulates American Eagle. She is the girl who can play the red carpet but she’s also the girl next door, and that duality really defines Gen Z and Millennials.”

The Sweeney campaign’s July 23 launch reportedly helped to increase the market value of AEO by $400 million.

AEO’s stock closed Friday down less than 1 percent at $10.74.

Orlando Bloom is off the hook. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor will not be required to testify at an upcoming trial involving the $15 million California mansion that plunged his former fiancée Katy Perry into a headline-grabbing real estate war with 85-year-old Texas millionaire Carl Westcott.

At a hearing on Friday, Los Angeles County Judge Joseph Lipner ruled that Bloom’s proposed testimony, sought by Westcott, appeared duplicative and would only serve to waste time. The bench trial, set to begin Aug. 21, is due to determine the damages Westcott owes Perry after she prevailed at a prior trial on the issue of liability. Westcott’s lawyer previously argued Bloom is key to the case because he’s the one who showed up for inspections at the home in April 2024 and stated he would be handling repairs on behalf of Perry. Westcott wanted to question Bloom about how much the repairs ended up costing.

“Why do you need Mr. Bloom to do that, other than to make it a celebrity circus?” Judge Lipner asked before making his ruling. “Why don’t you just talk to the construction person who actually did it?” (In a prior filing opposing Bloom’s testimony, lawyers representing Perry’s business manager said the subpoena for Bloom’s testimony was meant “to harass Mr. Bloom so as to further sensationalize and turn the narrow scope of this remedies phase of the trial into a media circus.”)

The battle over the Montecito mansion started soon after Westcott signed the the sales contract with Perry in July 2020. Almost immediately, the businessman sought to undo the deal. He, his family, and his lawyers would go on to claim he was suffering from a degenerative brain disease, symptoms of dementia, post-operative delirium, and the effects of heavy painkillers following a lengthy back surgery when he finalized the contract. At the liability trial in 2023, Perry and her lawyers brought in text messages, emails, and witness testimony showing Westcott was alert and cognizant during his sale of the luxury estate. They showed Westcott was so engaged, he even courted a rival bid from yet another high-profile interested buyer, Maria Shriver, before going with Perry.

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Though Perry initially faced public backlash over allegations she tried to push an elderly, ailing veteran out of his home against his wishes, the trial revealed that Westcott purchased the coastal estate on May 29, 2020, just six weeks before signing his deal with Perry’s representative, Bernie Gudvi. Lawyers for Gudvi argued that Westcott badgered his broker about when Perry’s initial offer was expected to land, rejected her initial $13.5 million bid, signed a counteroffer for $15 million on July 15, 2020, actively organized Perry’s tour of his property on July 17, 2020, agreed to extend the deadline on his counteroffer when the initial deadline lapsed, and criticized his agent for requesting a five percent commission.

In his 2023 ruling siding with Perry and ratifying the deal, the judge noted that Westcott’s own medical expert failed to “offer a cogent explanation” that would allow the court to find Westcott “lacked competence” to sign the sales contract.

After Perry prevailed at the initial trial, she placed $9 million in escrow and took control of the property in April 2024, leaving the remaining $6 million of the purchase price unpaid pending the outcome of the damages phase. She now alleges the four years she had to wait to take control of the property caused her to lose more than $3 million in fair-market rental income. She also alleges Westcott’s “lack of maintenance” while the litigation was pending caused $2.29 million in necessary repairs to get the property back up to the condition it was in when she purchased the luxury property. (The estate includes a main house, a three-bedroom guest house, a one-bedroom pool house, a gym building, a pool, and an equipment building.)

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In court filings, Perry and her reps allege the house suffered “pervasive flood damage” in early 2024 and had a large tree fall on a structure, cracking its foundation. Westcott claims Perry has only produced estimates for the repair work, not final contracts or receipts.

At the hearing Friday, Westcott’s lawyer, Andrew J. Thomas, argued his client was entitled to information on what the repairs ended up costing. He said the house has since been rented to actor Chris Pratt and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, Shriver’s daughter, so he was confident the work was completed.

Perry’s lawyer said Westcott knew the work started last year and failed to seek information before the discovery deadline. He also said Perry isn’t seeking “reimbursement” for her completed work because she wasn’t obligated to restore the house and ultimately made some changes. He claimed the onus was on Westcott to hand over the house in its purchase agreement condition, and for that reason, the estimates Perry submitted reflected what it would have cost to get the property back to the original condition.

Though Bloom is now off-limits, Perry, 40, is expected to testify at the damages trial, likely by video, considering she’s now on a world tour. The judge said he planned to limit her time under oath to one hour.

Westcott’s lawyer said he wanted assurances Perry would be focused during that time. “She should not schedule herself with other people, nor should she have assistants bringing her coffee and chocolate-covered coffee beans, or whatever it was she was doing at her deposition,” Thomas said. “If she’s going to be here [in person], that’s one thing. But if she’s gonna be on video, we need to know who’s around her.”

Alex Linhardt, a lawyer for Perry’s camp, made a point of disputing “the characterization” of Perry’s deposition. “She was very professional,” he said in court.

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“I’m not going to restrict her from getting coffee or snacks,” the judge said from the bench. “But we should know, if she’s on video, who’s in the room.”

Perry has been in the news repeatedly this year. She took an 11-minute trip to sub-orbital space aboard one of billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rockets in April, shortly before news of her split from Bloom surfaced in June. This week, she was spotted dining out with Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada. He later popped up at her concert.

Jennifer Garner gave fans a rare look into her family life after she shared a touching photo with her younger sister Susannah Kay Garner and their mother Patricia Garner on social media.

The picture showed the three women, who hail from West Virginia, holding hands while taking a walk through the woods. 

Jennifer kept her outfit casual in a white t-shirt, tailored black shorts, navy sneakers, black glasses and a simple ponytail. 

Whereas, Susannah wore a red t-shirt with white stripes, denim shorts and sneakers, while Patricia opted for a white and blue bohemian t-shirt, black sweatpants and sneakers. 

The Family Switch actress captioned the post, “July, I barely knew you,” adding a heart emoji.

Ben Affleck’s ex-wife is the middle child of three sisters, with Melissa Lynn Garner being the oldest and Susannah the youngest. The sisters chose very different career paths.

One earned an MBA, one became a CPA and Jennifer built her career as an actress. Their mother Patricia explained to Southern Living that she always encouraged them to find their own way, saying, “We let the girls do their own thing. I have one daughter who has an MBA, one who is a CPA and one who is an actress.”

Patricia also taught her daughters the importance of working hard and being independent. She recalled her own early jobs, saying, “I always had a job in high school. I worked at a men’s clothing shop and babysat. In college, I worked at a summer stock theater for free, building sets and cleaning toilets.”

She also stressed values of kindness and community, which became central to her daughters’ lives. Jennifer once reflected on her upbringing.

She said, “I feel so fortunate to have grown up in a place where people look out for each other. Community is the one thing people crave most, and it’s hard to come by. I grew up with such an excess of it that now wherever I go, the first thing I do is build my group.”

However, Jennifer said that being the middle sibling is one of the most defining parts of her identity,

Jelly Roll is learning firsthand just how physically challenging it can be to prepare for a WWE match.

The country music hitmaker has been training in preparation for the WWE SummerSlam for the past few months, and in a recent ESPN interview, he shared that he was injured the very first week of training.

Jelly Roll and his tag team partner, WWE superstar Randy Orton, appeared on a recent episode of ESPN’s Get Up. During the chat, Jelly Roll said, “I broke my pinky week one of training by accident…it’s a constant collision.”

Gesturing to Orton, Jelly Roll added, “Look at this mountain of a man. I walked in and I looked small compared to the guy I’m wrestling.”

Orton replied, “Well, that’s because you lost 200 freakin’ pounds,” referring to Jelly Roll’s much-publicized, successful journey toward getting healthier.

“Yeah, baby!” Jelly Roll said with his signature enthusiasm.

Earlier in the interview, Jelly Roll offered up praise and admiration for the professional wrestlers of WWE.

“I gave it everything I had for a couple of months, I dedicated my life to it, and I still can’t crack half of the code, a quarter of the code, that actually is this thing. But it’s been awesome. It taught me a lot about myself,” he said.

He also added that the challenges of training were intense. “Listen, man, that ‘Wrestlin’s fake’ stuff has to go out the door. There’s no fake way to land on a piece of plywood in front of 60,000 people. There’s no fake way to go over a cable rope in front of 65,000 people.”

The WWE SummerSlam takes place Saturday (Aug. 2) and Sunday (Aug. 3). Orton and Jelly Roll will take on Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul.

Watch the interview below: