Category: 5. Entertainment

Before making his fourth feature film, the action revenge thriller One Spoon of Chocolate, legendary rapper and music producer RZA was still, he confesses, unsure of himself as a filmmaker, feeling that he hadn’t yet mastered the process, the “rhythms” as he calls it, of being a director, at least not to the same comfort level he had with music.

After scaling the heights of hip hop as the de facto head of the Wu-Tang Clan, arguably the most influential rap group in history, RZA has found increasing success in film and television, firstly as an actor — he has starred in films like American Gangster (2007), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) and Nobody (2021) and series like Californication — and more significantly with writing and directing. His directorial debut, 2012’s The Man With the Iron Fists, starred Oscar-winner Russell Crowe, Dave Bautista and Lucy Lu. RZA followed that with Love Beats Rhymes, a musical drama starring Azelia Banks, in 2017 and the heist film Cut Throat City in 2020.

RZA also served as an executive producer on Hulu’s biographical series Wu-Tang: An American Saga, which documented the rise of his Staton Island rap crew, that gave the world the singular talents of himself, Raekwon, Method Man, GZA, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Ghostface Killah, Masta Killah, U-God and Inspectah Deck.

Now comes RZA’s fourth film as a director, One Spoon of Chocolate, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, and will, according to the filmmaker, have a theatrical release at a still to be confirmed date.

One Spoon of Chocolate tells the story of Unique, a military veteran and former convict who is trying to get his life back together and travels to the small town of Karensville to live with his cousin Ramsey, only for both to be hounded by a gang of racists with connections to the town’s corrupt cops. After a fatal incident, Unique seeks out the gang to exact brutal justice.

The film stars Shameik Moore (Dope, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-verse) as Unique and RJ Cyler (The Book of Clarence, The Harder They Fall) as Ramsey. The cast also includes Paris Jackson, Harry Goodwins, Johnell Young, Michael Harney, Rockmond Dunbar, E’myri Crutchfield, Blair Underwood, Jason Isbell and Isaiah Hill.

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the RZA over Zoom recently to discuss the making of One Spoon of Chocolate, how writing scripts mirrors his method for writing lyrics, his growth as a filmmaker and his future plans.

Let’s start with the film’s title. Could you explain what One Spoon of Chocolate means? Is there a deeper significance?

With the title, there’s a deeper meaning in the sense of our character has to learn the way things need to be, the way things change. One spoon of chocolate can change a whole glass of milk, you know what I mean? That’s the idea. A character has to realize that, first of all, he represents change and he has to make a change within himself. There’s a scene in the film [where the character Unique is trying to make chocolate milk] and he’s complaining that it’s only one spoon of chocolate powder left. But an OG tells him ‘one spoon could change the whole glass.’

I know One Spoon of Chocolate is something you have been working on for a number of years, in terms of the story of the film, how did that come about? What inspired you to come up with the overarching themes?

It came to me like, man, over the years. I mean, it was 13 years of getting to a point of finally having a screenplay that we could film. To be quite frank with you, the movie is like 100 pages of a 200 page story, and it came to me almost like how my lyrics come, not forced out of me, just flowed out of me. It was something that [I needed time] for me as an artist to create. When I tried to create it before, I was getting stuck. I got inspired to make it, [but then got stuck again]. But then doing the New York State of Mind Tour, traveling on a tour bus and traveling through the country during the writer’s strike, I was like, ‘I’m gonna write something.’ I started writing something new and it just kept freezing and then I went back and started reading some of my old stuff and [One Spoon of Chocolate], I said, ‘wow, this was the one!’ I had about 40 pages. I said ‘this one was gonna be good.’ I had got to part in [Karensville, a fictional town in the film], basically, in the early draft, and then it just started flowing.

I read that originally you were going to do a period piece, that it was going to be set earlier, like in the 70s or around that period, but actually you moved it forward to, I guess, it’s the 90s, right?

Well, actually, I made the time ambiguous. It was always going to be ambiguous, but for the audience it was going feel like you were in the 90s or the 70s and all that. The whole Blaxploitation vibe, the whole genre mixing was what I was aiming at, but my goal and my intention was to remove the time aspect. This could be happening right now, even though Karensville is a fictional place, the idea of what our hero is going to go through, that could happen tomorrow, in all reality. When I started getting deeper into the draft, [when we were on tour] I was just conscious there are places that you [could be in], in our country, and you will definitely think you took a step backwards in time. That’s how when you’re on tour, you get a chance to see that. You end up stopping somewhere in a small town and you’ll go ‘wow, this place, they’re 20 years behind us, 30 years behind us.’

With the film, you’ve brought in these ideas that seem quite nostalgic, throwback even, but you’re saying that they’re actually quite real and relavent to America even now?

Oh yeah. You know, some of the things that take place in our film, there’s been articles [written on them]. There exists the idea of, let’s just call it the the white supremacist mind, that our hero has to fight the political context of. You know, there’s a gag in my film where the villains have on those white polo shirts and khaki trousers that we saw in Charlottesville [during the Unite the Right white supremacist rally in August 2017]. Art is always going to somehow imitate life and pull from reality even though it’s putting you into a fiction world. [The film is] fiction, but it’s inspired by true events, whether they be events that I personally experienced, like the corruption in the film. I’m a lyricist type of artist. You hear [Wu Tang] lyrics like: “I grew up on the crime side, The New York Times side, staying alive was no jive,” there’s a lot of content in it and taking life and putting it into a story. This is what’s happened in this film. Our hero, who is looking to just live a normal life and get on his feet, he’s in a place where things are not normal.

Actually, it’s interesting to me that you’re saying that it’s not normal, as there was a hyperreal sense to the film. Some of the fighting was quite amusing but also quite serious at the same time.

It’s a movie, like it has to entertain you. To be quite frank, the first goal of this movie is to entertain you and to make you feel something. I hope I’ve achieved this. You’re going to not want to turn your head away. You’re going to root for this guy. You will want to say, ‘Well, how is he going to make it fucking through this,’ you know what I mean? I make this joke about bats, our villains got all these fucking baseball bats, but I had them all lined up like a SWAT team would have their guns lined up. To me as an artist, you got to have fun, even though some of the things happening to our characters is no joking matter.

What made you decide to avoid having as many guns in the film, because it’s obvious that the action is steered to more physical things like knives and bats?

It’s a deliberate style choice. I’m a kung fu movie lover, and if somebody got a gun, there’s no need for a fist fight, right? But guns exist [in this world], so I was conscious to pace the usage of the guns, not overdo it.

This is your second time working with Shameik?

My second time in features, but my third project with him, he also played Raekwon in my TV show, Wu-Tang: An American Saga.

What is it about him that you like working with him? What are the qualities of him as an actor?

He’s what I like to call a sponge. He’s able to absorb the material with a free spirit. When we did our first movie we did together, Cut Throat City, he told me he never held a gun before, he grew up as an artist. He dances, he sings and acts. He’s not a street guy, and so he didn’t even know how to hold the gun. And I was like, ‘well, this is how you hold the gun. This is how you load it.’ And the next take he held it, loaded it. It looked real. He shot it, it looked real. He’s a sponge and for me as a director, and a writer, you wanna have an instrument that allows the music to flow through unintruded and uninterrupted, and he’s that kind of kid.

You also worked with Paris Jackson on this film. I’ve not seen her in many things before acting wise, was it interesting to work with her as an actor?

Yeah, very interesting. I got to give a shout out to my casting director, she was able to put some good people in front of me. In our film, somebody says, ‘oh, this is a racist town’ [about Karensville] But it’s not a racist town, it’s a town with racist people. And then Darla [Jackson’s character] will give you an example of that, she represents the new way that people will love our country to be. There’s a scene in the movie when they both touch hands and it’s like black and white coming together. She represents the new. Her best friend is Black, the young people they’re looking to move culture and move life forward without all the systemic stuff of the past.

You’re well known for your love of Hong Kong action films and action films generally, but you’re also blending in lots of other genres into One Spoon of Chocolate, such as the blaxploitation stuff. Was it a challenge for you as a director to pull that all together?

The challenge was cost and time, but creatively, no. I feel like as a filmmaker, this is my fourth film, I honestly feel like I have arrived. When I was making this one, I just felt my rhythm, my use of my days, there was not a lot of overtime days. My planning was better. Everything about me as a filmmaker, I think has evolved. The challenging parts that we faced [in the movie], there’s also a spoonful of horror in this movie [when you watch it]. You think about the horror genre, you think about Eli Roth, that shit popped up in this movie. You go back [and see it] and then you think about the classic, 70s movies like Walking Tall. Then you think about the blaxploitation. I was able to use cinema as cinema, and put a spoonful of ingredients from the things I love.

There’s a shot in this movie, when [Moore’s character] walks [Jackson’s character] home and they’re on the porch, that’s an 80s romantic comedy [vibe]. I wanted to shoot it like that… I was just being conscious of all the things that I loved as a film watcher, all the things I love from the people who inspired me to make films, of course. John Wu, Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino, I always mentioned those three men as my first teachers in this world. I just wanted to put a spoonful of all of that into my story, but not overdo it. It’s not gumbo, but it is a stew.

Were there any particular things that you felt were like a challenge in terms of the filmmaking process, something that’s stuck out for you?

We shot this movie in 29 days. I probably could have used 35, 36 days, that would have been more healthier for us. But I had a great crew, the Atlanta crews are well oiled. My stunt coordinator, Marrese Crump. [Actually Crump] worked as my stunt man on The Man With Iron Fists and then he became like a trainer for [Chadwick Boseman] for the Black Panther movies. He’s got a team of guys out there that does martial arts. [Crump] is a student of [Panna Rittikrai] who is in Tony Jaa’s camp, the guys that made [Ong-Bak and The Protector]. Marrese studied over there for 10 years and he was available, we brought him in and if you watch the action in this film, it doesn’t look like kung fu, it has a few of those moves, but it’s more visceral. It’s more like our hero, there is something natural about [his fighting style], and that’s what we wanted, and, [Marrese] was able help design those ideas for me.

The reason why I think I was able to pull the action scenes off, and I hope you like the end result, is because with the action I had a chance to start practicing early. That’s what saved us. I gave Marrese the script, I gave him the scenes, and that was like two months before we started shooting, before we started prepping. So he had time to help get the energy ready. I thought I was going to get lucky with [David Leitch’s company 87North Productions]. I sent the script to Marrese, but I also was wishing that 87North would come on board, but they had their hands full with The Fall Guy and Nobody. But they took a look at some of the previous stuff that Marrese had done and they said ‘you’re going to be in good hands, this guy is good.’

One Spoon of Chocolate premiered at Tribeca and it will get a theatrical release, right?

Yes, that’s the goal, you know, nothing is certain in our world, but the answer is yes.

Do you feel like you got robbed a little bit with COVID with your last film Cut Throat City not getting a much delayed theatrical release? [A hit with critics, Cut Throat City was released in theaters on Aug. 21, 2020, when cinema attendances were decimated by the pandemic].

Yeah, yeah I love Cutthroat City, but with this one, I got to honestly say, with this one I personally feel like I have arrived. Like I look at it myself and smile like. If this was a song, I would be saying I made a great song this time. This is a good song, not because I like it, because it actually has structure, it’s been structured to be a good song.

What was the reaction to the film like at Tribeca?

At the Tribeca Festival, bro, this shit played exactly how it should have played. People were laughing, we got some tears. We got a big fucking cheer at the end. People were yelling at the at the screen. A lot of films sometimes you’re not getting that visceral response. This film makes you react, and that’s what I think all of us as filmmakers, that’s a joy for us. That’s our task. How can we get a reaction out of this? It’s why the horror movies and the horror drama is so big now. They get reactions. We were able to do that with the action thriller.

Sorry, I’m running my mouth, but I showed the film to Quentin Tarantino, and that was like a kid showing his essay to the teacher. And I sat like three rows behind him while the film played, and he laughed every time he was supposed to, screamed at the [right] scenes, and at the end of it, he said, ‘man, great fucking job.’ He was asking me ‘how the fuck did you get a fucking car chase like that? How did you do that? How many fucking days for that car chase?’ He thought the car chase would have taken us five days, and I had to pull that shit off in two days. That’s great praise.

I was so happy Quentin and David Fincher were watching the film with me, it felt like I had arrived as a filmmaker. I feel like I’ve been through a great process. I had great chances. I’ve been lucky, of course. I had my first film, The Man with the Iron Fists, star Russell Crowe, Lucy Lu. I mean, how many people get that kind of luck and blessings? But I kept going, kept striving to develop myself as a serious filmmaker. I feel good now. I’m not nervous of it. It’s like, give me the mic, I’m gonna sing.

So the premier at Tribeca, where would you rank that in terms of your career achievements? Because you’ve done a lot of amazing things, had a lot of great success in music.

It’s different. As a hip hop artist, as a record producer it was almost destiny that I was going be there because I’ve been into hip hop since I was 7 years old. I wrote my first song at 9, so that seemed like, obvious in a way. If you knew me, [you would have said] yeah he’s gonna be a rapper. But a film director, nobody saw that, not even myself. And then when it started happening, it was a blessing, it was an epiphany that I can use my art and talent to be that too, to write it and direct it. We played One Spoon of Chocolate at Tribeca, in New York City, my hometown, at a full packed house of people yelling and screaming at the screen and covering their eyes and, and cheering at the end. I was like, OK, this is what I would call a a gravy moment in life. It was unpredicted moment, but so satisfying. I’ve got the bug, I want to make films, if I’m blessed, this is what I want to do. I want to finish this last Wu-Tang tour, and I want to dedicate my time to using my art and talent to tell stories through cinema and I want to do it better than AI!

From the freezing heart of Fargo country in snowy Minnesota comes a quite outrageously enjoyable suspense thriller starring Emma Thompson; I hadn’t realised what a treat it would be to see Thompson handle a pistol with a scope and also demonstrate where on the body you can get shot and still keep moving.

The Dead of Winter has an old-school barnstorming brashness, some edge-of-the-seat tension, a mile-wide streak of sentimentality, a dash of broad humour and a horrible flourish of the macabre. Brian Kirk directs from a script by screenwriters Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb, and Thompson turns up the accent dial to play a neighbourly and good-natured Minnesota widow. With her recently deceased husband, she ran a fishing supplies store and like him was keen on ice-fishing: venturing out on huge freezing lakes, drilling a hole in the ice, setting up a phone-box sized ice shelter for warmth and lowering the bait and lure. Her late husband sweetly took her on an ice-fishing trip on a certain remote lake for their first date – bittersweet flashbacks bring home the memory – and it is to this lake that she comes on a mission to scatter his ashes.

Having not quite arrived at this beautiful but subzero spot that she hasn’t visited for some years and got a bit lost, Thompson finds herself pulling in to a very strange property to ask directions; she hears disquieting sounds from the interior and sees a peculiar man (Marc Menchaca) chopping wood in front of a sickeningly vivid splash of blood on the snow. The man curtly explains, in response to her tactless inquiry, that this is due to “a deer” and tells her where to find her lake. But it is only on leaving him that Thompson is to discover the awful truth: this man is keeping a teenage girl (Laurel Marsden) prisoner and apparently intending to kill her. Thompson is also to come across the man’s even scarier wife, played by Judy Greer.

So has Thompson’s widow chanced upon the local equivalent of psycho hillbillies? Is this to be The Minnesota Chain Saw Massacre? Or perhaps The Minnesota Ice Drill Massacre? In fact, these people’s personalities and motivations are more complicated. Thompson’s character also has more to show us: she is a tough, resourceful woman used to the outdoors, used to the extreme cold, scared but not utterly discomposed at the sound of gunshots, and armed with a sense that, in an extreme situation, she might have less to lose than these people. And she also has a touch of ruthlessness: she knows how to trap people, how to use the lethal cold against them.

The story rattles along, entertaining and alarming, until it reaches its guignol horror on the ice. Thompson’s relatable presence and likability-aura make a very good solvent for the concentrated nastiness of Greer’s desperate villain and what she has in mind for her teen prisoner. There’s a distinct chill.

Imran Ashraf is a very famous actor and host from Pakistan. He is known for his great acting skills and his very humble attitude towards fans. He is approachable and his fans love that about him. The actor has gone places and he is all set to make a new jump in his career. He is going to star in an Indian Punjabi film and his fans are both waiting to watch him on silver screens.

Imran Ashraf will star in the upcoming film Enna Nu Rehna Sehna Ni Aaunda. He is all set to play the role of an illegal immigrant to Canada and the film looks like a blend of comedy, action and emotions. The film also stars Jessie Gill, the Indian Punjabi singer as his parallel lead.

Imran will be showing how great he is as he will showcase several emotions in this comedy film with a very real issue that many people face. This is another India-Pakistan Punjabi collaboration after Hania Aamir and Diljit Dosanjh starrer Sardaar Ji 3 released and became a big hit.

The trailer for Enna Nu Rehna Sehna Ni Aaunda is out now. Check out:

Fans are already loving the trailer and looking forward to this collaboration. One user said,”Best wishes to Imran Ashraf.” Another added, “Imran Ashraf rocked the scenes.” One said,” It is great to see Imran ashraf and Jessie Gill. Best wishes.”

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are said to be “utterly mortified” by lurid claims published in a new book about their father, the Duke of York.

For the past five days, revelations about Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have been serialised by the Daily Mail from a new book by historian Andrew Lownie called ‘Entitled: The Rise And Fall Of The House Of York’.

The book adds fresh insight into Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged dealings with foreign billionaires, alongside claims of “bullying” staff, a coarse sense of humour and details about his sex life.

It also includes allegations about Fergie’s extravagant spending on staff, parties and holidays, her debts, and her supposed pursuit of famous, powerful men including John F Kennedy Jnr and golfer Tiger Woods.

A source close to Beatrice, who turned 37 yesterday, and Eugenie, 35, said the sisters are keeping their distance from their father. “The extent to how much the relationship can recover will depend on what further revelations, if any, emerge,” they said.

Sarah Ferguson’s biographer Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, said the revelations will be especially hard for Beatrice, who is seen as a “daddy’s girl”. She said: “[Beatrice] has always been close to her father. They will both be finding this very difficult – it’s a horrid time. But I’m not surprised they haven’t come out and said anything in his defence. For his girls to show their solidarity publicly wouldn’t benefit them in any way.”

The two princesses and their mother have never commented publicly on Epstein since his links to Andrew emerged in 2015. Both are focused on their careers – Eugenie in art and Beatrice in tech – while raising young families.

Beatrice attended the Lionesses’ victory parade in London last week with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, stepson Wolfie, eight, and daughters Sienna, three, and Athena, seven months. Eugenie lives in Portugal with husband Jack Brooksbank and their children, August, four, and Ernest, two, and is known to host A-list friends such as Robbie Williams and Ayda Field at their villa.

According to one insider, the sisters are now “rare visitors” to Royal Lodge, where they grew up and where their parents still live on a royal lease. “They spend most of their time raising families, pursuing careers and trying to be normal,” the source said. “Andrew isn’t completely ostracised, but arrangements to see Sarah usually take place elsewhere, and the girls seem keener that the King and other senior royals are part of their lives.”

Eugenie’s Instagram, followed by 1.8 million people, last mentioned her father in June 2020, when she wished her “Papa” a happy Father’s Day. Her ‘family’ photo album includes just one image of Andrew from 2018, while her mother appears frequently on occasions such as Mother’s Day, International Women’s Day and her birthday.

Andrew has previously defended his daughters’ HRH titles and was reportedly furious when they lost palace protection in 2011. He is said to have lavished them with gifts, expensive schooling and luxury holidays. Beatrice is believed to have received an £18,000 diamond necklace for her 21st birthday from a Libyan businessman who allegedly boasted of being able to “influence” Andrew – then a trade envoy – to support certain projects.

In 2013, with that financial backing, the sisters attended trade events in Germany, but the trip drew ridicule after they accidentally drove through a red light, with a British embassy insider branding it “a laughing stock”.

Friends say they have since adapted to a more everyday life and moved away from their father’s “pompous approach to being royal”. University experiences – Beatrice at Goldsmiths, London, and Eugenie at Newcastle – are said to have made them more down to earth. “They’re remarkably well-adjusted,” one insider added. “They are far more courteous and respectful towards staff than their father has ever been.”

Posted in: Comics | Tagged: hulk, newlitg

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A New Hulk #1 was the most-read story on Bleeding Cool yesterday. Lying In The Gutters is the daily runaround for the most-read stories.

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A New Hulk #1 was the most-read story on Bleeding Cool yesterday. Lying In The Gutters is the daily runaround for the most-read stories the day before, as well as over the past six years. Founded sixteen years ago and steeped in a history of comic book industry gossip for a further eighteen years before that, Bleeding Cool has become one of the longest-standing and most well-known pop culture websites around. The Daily Lying In The Gutters remains a long-running run around the day before and possibly the day ahead. In summary, you can sign up to receive Lying In The Gutters as an email here. And maybe you just have.

A New Hulk #1 and the ten most popular stories yesterday

1. A New Hulk #1 From Marvel In November, Revealed By Street-Verse?
2. Marvel Omnibus Watch From February To July 2026
3. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in The Daily LITG, 7th of August, 2025
4. The First DC Comics Crossover With An Absolute Comic (Spoilers)
5. Is Magik The New Sorcerer Supreme To Replace Doctors Strange & Doom?
6. Just One Way That Matt Fraction’s Batman Will Look Like His Hawkeye
7. Was It Rob Liefeld Trying To Sell His Deadpool Cover For $7.5 Million?
8. DC/Absolute Crossover Spoilers in The Daily LITG, 8th of August, 2025
9. Jim Lee And Jeph Loeb’s Batman #162 Is Now Three Months Late
10. Marvel Confirms 1776 by J Michael Straczynski For USA’s 250th Birthday

And a few of my other stories from yesterday

LITG one year ago,

Marvel Comics and QR Codes top the ten most popular stories yesterday

1. Tom Brevoort On The Reaction To The X-Men QR Codes 
2. Absolute Superman’s Cape Is Made From The Dust Of Krypton 
3. Cartoon Network Website Now Sends Visitors to Max Sign-Up Page
4. The Uncanny X-Men Outliers From Gail Simone & David Marquez, Named 
5. Warden Ellis Comes To A Post-Krakoan Uncanny X-Men #1 (Spoilers)
6. Review: Borderlands & How Can Something So Thin Be Utterly Glorious? 
7. Marvel Futures & Endlings Teased For Avengers, X-Men, Venom (Spoilers)
8. Marvel’s Ike Perlmutter Persuaded Trump To Pardon Christopher Wade 
9. Olympics Pole Vault Result Shows Size REALLY Does Matter Sometimes
10. Tom Brevoort On What Went Wrong With X-Men And Krakoa

And a few other comic book stories you might enjoy.

LITG one year ago, Katy Perry Pokemon

1. Pokemon TCG Will Never Release Katy Perry, Post Malone Cards 
2. Rick and Morty Team Wouldn’t Let Justin Roiland “Drag Down” Hard Work 
3. Hasbro Announces New Transformers Stunticon Menasor Multipack 
4. Is A Big Lobo Event Coming To Superman In 2024? (Spoilers) 
5. Batman Gets No Respect From Grifter In WildCATS (Spoilers)
6. Marvel Teases Kaare Andrews’ Most Notorious Spider-Man Ever- Reign 2?
7. Funko Revisits Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Season 1 with New Pops
8. A Brand New Parasite For The DC Universe & Superman Annual Spoilers
9. Star Trek: Quinto and Peck’s Spock Meet-Up; Film Franchise’s Future
10. George Bernard Shaw Sent Lawyers After DC Comics About Superman
11. Matt Baker and the End of Cinderella Love, Up for Auction
12. Comic Creators Pull Lawsuit Against Action Lab, But Plan To Refile
13. How Spider-Woman Will Fight In The Upcoming Gang War
14. Amy’s Big Brother: Sibling Rivalry Prequel Manga Out In December
15. Transformers #1 San Diego Comic-Con Ashcan Is Already At $300
16. Oni’s Dwellings #1 On Sale Now Through Lunar But Delayed by Diamond
17. DC Comics Introduces TitansCon – Could They Do It For Real?
18. Has Harley Quinn Just Made Aquaman “Family Guy’s Meg” of DC Comics?
19. Perry White – Lex Luthor’s Greatest Ally? Superman Annual Spoilers
20. Authentic Police Cases: Matt Baker & Al Capone’s Influence on St. John
21. Gunn On Grant Gustin Gossip in the Daily LITG, 8th of August 2023

LITG two years ago, Christians Against Ms Marvel Changes To Christians Against She-Hulk

1. Christians Against She-Hulk in Daily LITG 6th August 2022
2. Doctor Who: Chris Chibnall Forgot He Should Be Writing for The Doctor
3. Christians Against Ms Marvel Changes To Christians Against She-Hulk
4. The Orville: New Horizons Tribute Video Honors Norm Macdonald
5. Surprise First Appearance Alert In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #100
6. DC Comics Pulped Almost All 25th Anniversary Vertigo Hardcover Copies
7. Constantine “On Solid Ground and Moving Along” at HBO Max: Report
8. Jaws Is being Released In IMAX For The First Time, Here’s A Trailer
9. The Sandman: Neil Gaiman Answers Alan Moore/Constantine Question
10. Comic Book Creators On The Sandman Comic React To… Sandman
11. Yen Press Announces Five New Manga and Novel Titles
12. Leslie Charteris and the Mystery of Avon’s The Saint #4, at Auction
13. Behold, Behemoth: New Horror from Tate Brombal, Nick Robles at BOOM
14. Nathan Hale’s The Mighty Bite for Fans of Dog Man & The InvestiGators
15. Did Mark Millar Do His Research For American Jesus Vol 3 On Facebook?
16. Patrick Kindlon & Paul Tucker Bring a Stringer to Image Comics
17. Mat Groom, David LaFuente, Danilo Beyruth Create Singularity at Image
18. James Tynion IV Is Only No 2 In Comics Substack, So He Tries Harder
19. The Question Returns In Charlton’s Mysterious Suspense #1, at Auction
20. Star Wars #1 Reprint CGC 9.0, Up for Auction
21. Longshot Makes His Debut, On Auction At Heritage Auctions
22. The Flag Takes Star Spangled Flight in Our Flag Comics, Up for Auction
23. Alleged CGC Thefts From Iron Lion Comics In Colorado Springs
24. A New Outsiders Comic With A New Name In 2023? (BatSpoilers)
25. Christians Against She-Hulk Troll Trap in Daily LITG 8th August 2022

LITG three years ago, The Punisher Skull

1. The Punisher Symbol, Jon Bernthal & Why Bad Decisions Matter: Opinion
2. Jeopardy!: LeVar Burton Deserved Better; Brent Spiner Has His Back
3. Kaleidoscope, The Suicide Squad Character Created By Two Fans In 1982
4. Marvel Printed 8 Million But Jim Lee’s X-Men #1 Sells For A Premium
5. Dance with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight in Batman 89 #1 [Preview]
6. The Sandman Casting Confirmed, Set Safety; American Gods Still Alive?
7. Supergirl: Jon Cryer & Jesse Rath Do Right By The CW Series’ Last Day
8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sequel Focus: Willow’s Slayer-Witch Daughter
9. Dave Bautista on Ron DeSantis: “This Hack is Not a Leader”
10. The Boys: Misha Collins Says Jensen Ackles Has Gotten Soft (& Gummy?)
11. Why Scott Snyder Went To ComiXology Originals For Eight New Comics
12. Director Bones Saving DC From Crossovers (Infinite Frontier Spoilers)
13. Uncle Sam as a Superhero in National Comics, Up for Auction
14. Upstaged, a Nonbinary Graphic Novel by My Little Pony’s Robin Easter
15. Rodney Barnes & Jason Shawn Alexander Adapt Blacula as Graphic Novel
16. The Wild Worlds of Chesler’s Punch Comics, Up for Auction
17. Sean Gordon Murphy Previews Unnamed Unannounced Batman Comic
18. What is DCDKOS? Tom Taylor Teases Secret Comic Book Dream Project
19. Surviving the Future in Crossed+100 1 Signed by Alan Moore, at Auction
20. Rachel Elliott Auctions Middle-Grade OGN The Real Riley Mayes
21. Corto Maltese is More Than DC’s Despotic South America Country
22. Naruto Forms Champion’s First Anime-Based Apparel Collection
23. Batman #111 Beats X-Men #2 To Top Bleeding Cool Bestseller List
24. LeVar Burton Deserved Better in The Daily LITG, 8th of August 2021

LITG four years ago, Pokemon, IDW, Walking Dead and Naughty Wolverine

That is not a good look, IDW… or for Wolverine, frankly.

1. Is The Making A Splash Ticket Worth Buying In Pokémon GO?
2. Report Claims IDW Has Fired New Publisher Jud Meyers
3. The Walking Dead Wins Trademark Battle Over The Toking Dead
4. Transformers Optimus Prime Gets New Figure from Hasbro/Threezero
5. Did Wolverine Just Use Magneto’s Helmet As A Urinal?
6. Christopher Priest’s Writers Commentary, Justifying Vampirella #10
7. Magikarp Community Day Guide: Don’t Miss Shiny Gyarados
8. Punchline Vs. Harley Quinn Round 2 in Batman #98…
9. Shiny Staryu Arrives in Pokémon GO for Ultra Unlock: Enigma Week
10. Yen Press Announces 10 New Manga and Light Novels for August
11. Will DIE-Namite Publish With Or Without Green Hornet?
12. Further Delays In Richard Meyer Vs Mark Waid Case
13. Looper Showed China Its Future to Get Time Travel Past Censors
14. Marvel, Titan, Dark Horse Release Free Comic Book Day 2020 Digitally
15. Red Dawn 2012 Remake Tainted Sony and MGM In China For Years
16. Best Laid Plans to Get World War Z Movie Into China – Despite Zombies

LITG five years ago,

Ah, when our biggest concern was working out the language in the House Of X comic books…

1. Iron Studios Reveals “I Am Iron Man” Statue That We Love 3000
2. Today, The Punisher is Destroyed by New Origin Twist in “Savage Avengers” #4 (SPOILERS)
3. “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” Receives A New Update With Added Content
4. “The Walking Dead”: Will “Hobbs & Shaw” Bring “The Rock” into TWDU?
5. All of DC Comics’ November 2019 Acetate Covers, Animated
6. Moira MacTaggert – an Omega Level Mutant? “House Of X” #2 Spoilers
7. “The Walking Dead”: Will “Hobbs & Shaw” Bring “The Rock” into TWDU?
8. Joe Manganiello Designs An Evil Tortle For “Dungeons & Dragons”
9. Dan Didio Calls Out Speculator Marketing Driving “Appearance of a Healthy Industry”
10. “Titans” Season 2: Anna Diop Previews Starfire’s New Look [VIDEO]
11. House of X #2 Plagued by Typos, Hickman Reveals [Spoilers]

Comic Book birthdays today.

Comics folk are still getting older and still celebrating that special date with sixteen years for us as well.

• Bob McLeod, co-creator of The New Mutants, creator of  Superhero ABC for HarperCollins,artist on Hulk, Action Comics, Star Wars, Spider-Man
• Rick Leonardi, co-creator of Spider-Man 2099, artist on Spider-Man, Nightwing.
• Jim Asmus, co-creator of Evolution, writer on Gambit, Generation Hope, Quantum & Woody.
•  Shon C Bury of Space Goat Productions
• Mark Braun, artist on Slimer.
• Lou Manna, artist on Champions, Icicle, Infinity Inc
• Steve Gallacci, creator of Albedo Anthropomorphics.
• Steve Moncuse, creator of Fish Police.

If you are in comics and have a birthday coming up – or you know someone who has – get in touch at richjohnston@bleedingcool.com.

Subscribe to our LitG Daily Mailing List.

Interested in more LITG discussion about what this all means? Subscribe to our LitG Daily Mailing List. And we’ll see you here tomorrow.

 

 

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A youth choir from Surrey is to take part in a sold-out performance at the Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms.

Farnham Youth Choir will perform with the National Youth Orchestra during a rendition of Neptune in Holst’s famous The Planets in London on Saturday.

A total of 30 singers, aged between 13 to 21-years-old, will be taking part in the concert.

Patrick Barrett, the group’s artistic director, said: “I’m incredibly proud of our young singers, whose hard work and dedication made this invitation possible.”

He added: “For our small-town choir to be invited to such a prestigious, globally recognised event is a tremendous honour.”

The performance follows the choir competing at the 2024 World Choir Games in New Zealand, where they won two gold medals.

Its three choirs rehearse with a dedicated team of professional musicians every Wednesday during term time in Farnham.

Tudor Lakatos challenges Roma discrimination through Elvis Presley’s musical legacy.

Sporting a rhinestone shirt, oversized sunglasses and a classic 1950s quiff, Lakatos captivates audiences across Romania with his distinctive renditions of songs like Blue Suede Shoes.

Rather than being an impersonator, Lakatos harnesses Elvis’s universal appeal to dismantle stereotypes about Roma people and inspire Roma youth.

“I never wanted to get on stage, I did not think about it,” Lakatos, 58, said after a recent gig at a restaurant in the capital, Bucharest. “I only wanted one thing – to make friends with Romanians, to stop being called a Gypsy,” he added, using an often derided term for people belonging to the Roma ethnic group.

The Roma, with South Asian origins, have endured centuries of persecution throughout Eastern Europe and continue to face poverty, unemployment and prejudice. In Romania, they represent approximately seven percent of the population, with one-fifth reporting discrimination experiences in the past year, according to European Union data.

Lakatos began his mission in the early 1980s as an art student during Nicolae Ceausescu’s communist regime. When anti-Roma sentiment was widespread, he discovered that Elvis’s music created connections with ethnic Romanian students while simultaneously symbolising resistance against government oppression.

Now, 40 years later, his audience has expanded. As a teacher for 25 years, Lakatos uses music to show his students they can aspire beyond the limited opportunities of their northwestern Romanian village.

“The adjective Gypsy is used everywhere as a substitute for insult,” Lakatos said. “We older people have gotten used to it, we can swallow it, we grew up with it. I have said many times, ‘Call us what you want, dinosaur and brontosaurus, but at least join hands with us to educate the next generation.’”

Despite his teaching career, Lakatos continues performing throughout Romania at various venues.

The eclectic mix of languages can sometimes lead to surprises because there is not always a literal translation for Elvis’s 1950s American English.

For example, “Don’t step on my blue suede shoes” does not make sense to many of the children he teaches because they are so poor, Lakatos said.

In his version, the lyric Elvis made famous becomes simply “Don’t step on my bare feet.”

It is a message that Elvis – born in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, during the Great Depression – probably would have understood.

Aamir Khan led Sitaare Zameen Par opened to positive reviews on June 20, 2025. It has wrapped up its box office run after almost 49 days. Although not a hit, the sports comedy drama is a success in India. Scroll below for the domestic, overseas as well as worldwide closing collection!

Sitaare Zameen Par Domestic Collection

In 7 weeks of its theatrical run, Sitaare Zameen Par accumulated 166.58 crore net in India. It is the fifth highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2025 at the domestic box office. That’s not it. RS Prasanna‘s directorial has also surpassed Thugs Of Hindostan (145.29 crores) to become Aamir Khan’s 5th highest-grossing film of all time.

Take a look at the week-wise box office breakdown (India net collection) below:

• Week 1 – 88.46 crores
• Week 2 – 46.45 crores
• Week 3 – 18.63 crores
• Week 4 – 8.64 crores
• Week 5 – 3.21 crores
• Week 6 – 1.07 crores
• Week 7 – 12 lakhs

Total – 166.58 crores

SZP was made on a reported budget of 90 crores. It raked in returns of 85% in its lifetime. While Aamir Khan’s film is a success and a profitable affair, it missed the hit tag as it could not earn double its investment.

Sitaare Zameen Par Overseas Earnings

Aamir Khan and Genelia Deshmukh starrer performed much better than its rivals, Raid 2 and Sikandar, among other Bollywood releases of 2025. Sitaare Zameen Par concluded its overseas run garnering 69.50 crore gross.

The sports comedy drama is the 4th highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2025 at the international box office after Saiyaara (143 crores), Chhaava (100.90 crores), and Housefull 5 (70 crores).

Sitaare Zameen Par Worldwide Total

Combining both the regions, the worldwide total concludes at 266.06 crore gross. Sitaare Zameen Par is also the #4 Bollywood grosser of 2025 at the global box office. It has wrapped up its lifetime as Aamir Khan’s 7th highest-grossing film in history.

Check out Aamir Khan’s top 10 grossers at the worldwide box office:

1. Dangal: 2059.04 crores
2. Secret Superstar: 902.92 crores
3. PK: 792 crores
4. Dhoom 3: 601 crores
5. 3 Idiots: 395 crores
6. Thugs Of Hindostan: 304.95 crores
7. Sitaare Zameen Par: 266.06 crores
8. Ghajini: 189.19 crores
9. Talaash: 180.83 crores
10. Fanaa: 102.84 crores

Sitaare Zameen Par Worldwide Box Office Summary (Closing Collection)

• Budget: 90 crores
• India net: 166.58 crores
• India gross: 196.56 crores
• Overseas gross: 69.50 crores
• Worldwide gross: 266.06 crores
• Profits: 85%
• Verdict: Plus

Stay tuned to Koimoi for more box office updates!

Must Read: Saiyaara Box Office Collection Day 22: Only 3.09 Crores Away From Axing Salman Khan’s 2015 Blockbuster!

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