Tag: Disney

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Behemoth Review: Pedro Pascal Shines in Tony Gilroy Drama

Fourteen years is a long time to wait. Tony Gilroy, the writer-director behind Michael Clayton and the creative force that elevated Andor into prestige television, has not directed a feature since 2012’s The Bourne Legacy. His return, Behemoth!, premiered October 2 as the centerpiece of the 64th New York Film Festival, and it was worth every year of the wait.

Searchlight Pictures opens the film theatrically on December 4, right in the heart of awards season. After watching the first reactions roll in from the NYFF premiere, that placement makes perfect sense. This is a film built for the season: a grown-up drama about music, family, and the people who make the movies sing.

A cellist’s homecoming

Pedro Pascal stars as Alex Serian, a renowned cellist and third-generation Hollywood studio musician who returns to Los Angeles to compose film scores and celebrate the artists who create them. Set against the world of music and movies, the story follows Alex as he confronts a fractured family history, a possible daughter he never knew, and the question of where he truly belongs.

Pascal stepped into the role after Oscar Isaac exited due to scheduling, and by all accounts, he made it his own. He described the script as a puzzle and threw himself into preparation with characteristic intensity. “The cello was the main character of my life for several weeks leading up to shooting,” he said. “I took it with me everywhere.” That commitment shows. The first reactions out of NYFF single out his performance as mesmerizing, the kind of lived-in, fully embodied work that reminds you why he became one of the most in-demand actors on the planet.

The ensemble around him is superb. Olivia Wilde plays Carol, a wealthy patron from Alex’s past. Eva Victor is Nadia, his old flame and fellow cellist. Will Arnett plays Alex’s brother Andy, in scenes reshot after David Harbour departed the project. Hank Azaria is Alex’s father Peter, JoBeth Williams his mother Ginnie, with Alexa Swinton as the 15-year-old pop prodigy who may be Alex’s daughter. It is a deep bench, and Gilroy gives everyone a moment to shine.

The music is the movie

Here is the boldest thing about Behemoth!: the score was written by nine of the most celebrated film composers alive. The Behemoth! Collective includes Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, Brandon Roberts, and Alan Silvestri. They wrote the scores for the fictional films Alex works on within the story. Then 303 AFM musicians in Los Angeles performed the on-screen musical sequences.

Read that again. Nine Oscar-caliber composers. Three hundred musicians. For a drama about a cellist.

It pays off enormously. Every review out of the festival, even the mixed ones, agrees the music is outstanding. The film is structured like a piece of music itself, intercutting present-day scoring sessions with flashbacks across Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. Some critics found the time-jumping fussy. But when the music swells and Pascal is lost in a performance, the structure stops mattering. You feel it instead of following it.

Gilroy’s patient craft

What is most striking about Behemoth! is how unhurried it feels. At 124 minutes, Gilroy lets scenes breathe. He trusts his actors’ faces. He trusts the music. This is the work of a filmmaker who spent a decade and a half writing some of the most precise dialogue in television and came back to cinema with something to say about the people behind the curtain.

At the film’s press conference, Gilroy said he had “never wrote a character quite like this before.” You can feel that discovery in every scene. Alex Serian is not a hero or an antihero. He is a working musician, gifted and flawed, trying to make peace with his past while the orchestra tunes up around him. It is the kind of character the movies do not make enough of anymore.

The film also serves as a love letter to an invisible workforce. Session musicians are the unsung heroes of Hollywood, playing on scores heard by billions without ever being seen. Behemoth! puts them center stage, and the tribute lands because it comes from a filmmaker who clearly reveres the craft.

The verdict

Behemoth! is a warm, beautifully acted, musically glorious return for one of Hollywood’s finest filmmakers. Pascal delivers one of the best performances of his career, the score is a once-in-a-generation achievement, and Gilroy directs with the confidence of a man who waited until he had something worth saying.

Could the structure be tighter? Perhaps. But films this humane, this well-crafted, and this full of love for their subject do not come along often. When it opens December 4, go hear it in a theater with good sound. Your ears will thank you.

For more on this year’s prestige slate, read our take on Sorkin’s awards-season drama The Social Reckoning and Michelle Yeoh’s TIFF triumph in The Surgeon. And for a very different kind of December release, Johnny Depp’s haunted Ebenezer arrives just in time for the holidays.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Avengers Doomsday: Marvel’s Biggest Gamble Yet Explained

December cannot come fast enough. Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel Studios’ next team-up epic, has already crossed $40 million in domestic advance ticket sales, shattering presale records nearly three months before release. For a franchise some pundits spent the last two years eulogizing, that is quite the answer.

The film reunites the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Their return alone would be news. What they are building, though, is bigger than a reunion. It is a full-scale reimagining of what an Avengers movie can be.

Doctor Doom steps out of the shadows

The headline casting remains the boldest move Marvel has made in years. Robert Downey Jr., the man who built the MCU as Tony Stark, returns as Victor von Doom. The Russos have spoken about the emotional resonance of the choice: the most beloved hero in franchise history now wearing the mask of its most feared villain.

Recent comments from the directors have only deepened the intrigue. They hinted that Doom’s interest extends beyond Bruce Banner, lending weight to fan theories about the villain collecting MCU heroes, with Spider-Man’s name surfacing in speculation. Whether or not those theories pan out, Marvel is clearly playing a longer, stranger game than usual.

The studio has also been tidying up loose ends in public. When online speculation swirled about the roles of Captain Marvel and Thor, insiders moved quickly to address it. Marvel wants the conversation focused on Doom, and honestly, Doom is big enough to carry it.

The Encore strategy

One of the smartest things Marvel did this fall had nothing to do with Doomsday directly. The studio put Avengers: Endgame back in theaters as the Encore Edition, complete with new scenes, and it worked spectacularly. The re-release topped the domestic box office in late September, edging out Sony’s Resident Evil in its second weekend.

Those new scenes were not filler. Leaks and reports indicate they contain direct connective tissue to Doomsday, essentially turning a re-release into a stealth prequel. It is a clever piece of franchise management: remind audiences why they loved these characters, then hand them a reason to come back in December.

The Encore’s success also says something about theatrical appetite. A seven-year-old movie, even with new footage, does not top the box office unless audiences are genuinely hungry for the big-screen experience. Marvel read that hunger correctly.

A production like no other

The road to Doomsday has been anything but conventional. The Russos have been open about beginning production without a completed screenplay, a decision that raised eyebrows across the industry. It is a gamble, but it is worth remembering who is taking it: the directors of Winter Soldier, Civil War, Infinity War, and Endgame have earned the benefit of the doubt.

There are also reports that audiences may get to see the film two days before its official wide release, a sign of the confidence rippling through Disney’s distribution team. When a studio starts talking about early access for a December tentpole, it believes it has something special.

What it all means

Doomsday arrives at a fascinating moment for the genre. Marvel spent the last few years rebuilding, experimenting, and occasionally stumbling. Sony’s Spider-Man universe keeps expanding on its own track, as our coverage of Alan Ritchson’s Helldivers casting shows. DC is betting big on horror-tinged comic book films. The superhero landscape is crowded again, which makes Marvel’s return to its flagship team-up feel like a statement.

The $40 million presale figure is the number that matters most. Advance sales that strong, that early, do not happen for movies audiences feel lukewarm about. They happen for events. Doomsday is being treated as an event, and Marvel has spent the entire fall making sure it earns the title.

The verdict

Everything about Avengers: Doomsday suggests Marvel understands the assignment. Bring back the directors who defined the franchise’s peak. Cast the most shocking villain choice imaginable. Prime the audience with a record-breaking re-release. Then let December do the rest.

It is the biggest gamble the studio has taken since the original Avengers, and if the presales are any indication, it is about to pay off enormously. The MCU’s next chapter starts in weeks. We will be there opening night.

For more on the year’s biggest franchise plays, see our breakdown of Takashi Yamazaki’s giant-robot epic Grandgear and Sorkin’s Facebook sequel. Hollywood’s heavy hitters are all swinging for the fences this season.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Star Wars Episode X: Jon Watts to Direct Skywalker Return

Star Wars is going home again. After years of streaming series, spin-offs, and start-stop feature plans, Lucasfilm is returning to the numbered chapters that built the franchise, and it has tapped one of the most reliable blockbuster hands in the business to lead the charge.

According to reporting first broken by Knight Edge Media on September 27 and confirmed by both The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline, Jon Watts is attached to direct the first installment of a new Star Wars trilogy written by Simon Kinberg. The film is expected to continue the Skywalker saga beyond 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, making it, in effect, Episode X. It would be the tenth chapter of a story that began with a farm boy staring at twin suns in 1977.

That is a big swing by any measure. The sequel trilogy ended seven years ago and the conversation around it has never fully cooled. Choosing to pick the numbering back up instead of starting fresh tells you everything about Lucasfilm’s confidence right now: this isn’t a side quest, it’s the main event.

Why Jon Watts makes sense

Watts arrives with credentials few directors can match. His Spider-Man trilogy for Marvel Studios grossed more than $3.9 billion worldwide between 2017 and 2021, and No Way Home remains one of the most beloved franchise films of the modern era. He knows how to balance fan expectation with genuine surprise, and he does it without losing the human story underneath the spectacle.

He’s also a known quantity inside Lucasfilm. Watts co-created Skeleton Crew, the Disney+ series that followed four kids through the New Republic era with the warmth of an Amblin adventure. The show drew a small audience but glowing reviews, and it proved Watts can speak fluent Star Wars.

The industry has noticed the pattern. Watts walked away from the Marvel machine, and this Star Wars assignment explains why. Filmmakers of his caliber don’t leave the biggest franchise on the planet unless the next offer is bigger.

The Kinberg plan and Rey’s return

Simon Kinberg has been quietly writing this trilogy since late 2024. He co-created Star Wars Rebels and wrote X-Men: Days of Future Past, so he understands both galaxy-sized mythology and the character work that makes it land. Per THR, the trilogy is being developed as the next chapter of the Skywalker saga itself, continuing the story of the family that has anchored all nine episodic films.

Daisy Ridley is expected to return as Rey in some capacity, though the size of her role is still unclear. Knight Edge Media reports that Lucasfilm is looking at relatively unknown actors for the male and female leads, with Rey potentially starting in a smaller role that grows across the three films. It’s a smart structure if true: pass the torch on screen the way the franchise once passed it from Luke to Rey.

That approach also appears to resolve the long, winding road of the standalone Rey film. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy was announced as director at Star Wars Celebration 2023, and the script passed through several writers before the project stalled. Several outlets now report that film is on hold so Episode X can move first. One door closes, a much bigger one opens.

What comes next

Let’s keep expectations honest, because the trade reports are careful on this point: Disney has not greenlit the film yet. THR describes the project as still in development, though further along than any Lucasfilm feature other than Starfighter, the Ryan Gosling-led film arriving May 28, 2027. There is no release date and no official title, and Lucasfilm declined to comment.

Still, this is the most concrete the theatrical future of Star Wars has looked in years. Filming could begin as early as next year, according to early reports. And the timing couldn’t be better. The franchise spent the last half-decade rebuilding its television wing; now the big screen gets its turn, with the kind of marquee numbering that turns opening weekends into cultural events.

It mirrors what we’re seeing across the industry. Universal is moving fast on its next Jurassic World chapter, Paramount keeps doubling down on franchise revivals like Miami Vice, and legacy IP is the surest bet in town. Star Wars isn’t following that trend. It started it.

What this trilogy has to get right

The lesson of the last decade is that Star Wars works best when it trusts new voices inside a familiar frame. Skeleton Crew did it on a small canvas. Episode X has to do it at the largest possible scale: honor the Skywalker name without being trapped by it.

Watts has a real gift for that balance. His Spider-Man films kept Peter Parker grounded while the multiverse cracked open around him. If he brings that same instinct to Rey and a new generation of Jedi, the saga’s next act could feel less like a victory lap and more like a genuine new beginning.

There is also a practical reason for optimism. Kinberg has had nearly two years on these scripts. That is not the rushed timeline that burned the franchise before. It is the kind of runway that lets a trilogy actually be planned as a trilogy.

The verdict

This is the announcement Star Wars fans have been waiting for since the sequel trilogy wrapped. A director with a $3.9 billion track record, a writer who knows the lore cold, and a genuine continuation of the Skywalker story. There are still miles to go before cameras roll, but the galaxy finally has a direction again. And for the first time in a long time, that direction feels exactly right.

For a reminder of how the franchise machine keeps evolving, our look at Sam Raimi’s Every House is Haunted landing at a new studio shows just how competitive the IP landscape has become. Star Wars, though, remains the one that started it all.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Sam Raimi’s Every House is Haunted Gets a New Studio

A Horror Project Finds Its Home

Some movies spend years wandering the development wilderness before finding the right studio. Every House is Haunted has been one of those projects — until this week. Deadline reported that 20th Century Studios has acquired the supernatural thriller from Netflix, ending roughly five years in development limbo at the streamer. Netflix picked up the original script back in 2021, and the film has been waiting for its moment ever since.

Now it has one. And the talent lining up behind it suggests this could be worth the wait.

The Raimi Factor

Producing is Sam Raimi, via Raimi Productions alongside Zainab Azizi. Raimi's name on a horror project still carries genuine weight — the man practically invented the modern horror playbook, and his instincts for supernatural material are unmatched. This move comes on the heels of his team's 20th Century Studios hit Send Help, so the studio-producer relationship is already proven.

Joining the producing ranks: Roy Lee, the veteran horror producer behind Weapons, and Andrew Childs (The Long Walk) for Vertigo Entertainment. Ian Rogers, the author of the source material, executive produces alongside Starlight Media. That's a production bench with serious genre credibility on every chair.

The Source Material Is a Gem

The film is based on Ian Rogers' acclaimed short story "The House on Ashley Avenue," from his Every House is Haunted collection. The premise, per Deadline: an insurance investigator tries to debunk claims that a couple's death was caused by a haunted house — until a psychic and the mysterious occurrences he witnesses with his own eyes challenge his skepticism.

That's a beautiful setup. The skeptic-protagonist is horror's most reliable engine, because the audience gets to be converted along with the character. An insurance investigator — a professional debunker, a man whose entire job is finding the mundane explanation — forced to confront the unexplainable is the kind of premise that writes its own tension. And grounding it in a single house, the Ashley Avenue house, gives it the contained, escalating dread that the best haunted-house films share.

New Directors, New Energy

Directing are Adam Schindler and Brian Netto, the duo behind Netflix's 2024 hit Don't Move — a film that topped the streamer's movie charts for two weeks. They replace previously attached director Corin Hardy and will revise the screenplay (the original script was by Jason Pagan and Andrew Deutschman).

This is a smart handoff. Schindler and Netto proved with Don't Move that they can build sustained, suffocating tension from a simple premise. A haunted-house thriller is exactly the kind of assignment that plays to their strengths: atmosphere, escalation, and the kind of scares that come from what you don't see.

Why the Studio Move Matters

Netflix's loss is theaters' gain

The project languished at Netflix for five years. At 20th Century Studios, it's a theatrical horror film — and theatrical horror is having a moment. Genre fans turn out for well-made supernatural thrillers on the big screen, and the studio clearly sees this as a theatrical play. That ambition alone changes the project's trajectory.

The horror ecosystem is thriving

October is proving it right now. Clayface arrives as DC's horror-tinged offering, and the seasonal appetite for scares extends well beyond Halloween — haunted-house attractions like Bayville Scream Park, returning with five haunted houses, show how deep the cultural hunger for a good fright runs. A well-crafted haunted-house movie with Raimi producing slots directly into that appetite.

Every House is Haunted has franchise bones

The title isn't just a film title — it's a short-story collection, a whole universe of haunted houses. If the first film lands, the material is sitting right there. Studios think in universes now, and Rogers' collection is a ready-made one.

What's Still to Come

Let's be honest about where things stand: no cast has been announced, no release date is set, and the project is in active development with a new studio — not yet in production. Industry talk will now turn to casting, and with Raimi's name attached, expect the announcement to draw real names. The film is officially on the move, and in this business, that's the hardest part.

Five years in limbo would have killed a lesser project. Every House is Haunted survived — and it survived by landing with better backers, sharper directors, and one of horror's defining producers. The release date is still TBA, but the haunting has officially begun. Keep the lights on.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Toy Story 5 Review: Pixar’s Billion-Dollar Return

Thirty-one years after a cowboy doll and a space ranger changed animation forever, they’re still the most reliable friends in movies. Toy Story 5 — released June 19 and now streaming on Disney+ — isn’t just another sequel. It’s Pixar’s biggest film ever: over $1.13 billion worldwide, the largest opening in studio history ($160 million domestic, $310.2 million global), Certified Fresh at 93% critics and 94% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, and an A CinemaScore. Numbers like that don’t happen by accident. They happen when a studio remembers exactly what it’s for.

Toys Meet Tech

The premise is almost suspiciously perfect. Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the gang face their most insidious villain yet — and it isn’t a person. It’s the Lilypad, a tablet device that’s quietly eating Bonnie’s playtime as her world goes digital.

Every parent reading this just felt something. That’s the genius of it. Pixar took the central anxiety of modern family life — the screen versus the toy box — and turned it into a Toy Story movie. Not a lecture, not a scolding, but a story. What happens to toys when the kid stops playing? What happens to play itself? The film asks these questions through adventure and comedy rather than speeches, which is why they land. It’s the rare family film that gives adults and kids the same story at different depths, and both depths work — a kind of storytelling craft at its most generous.

Director Andrew Stanton — an Academy Award winner and one of Pixar’s founding voices — co-directs with Kenna Harris from a story by Stanton, and you can feel the veteran hand. This is a filmmaker who understands that the toys were never really the subject. The subject was always time: how it moves, what it takes, what it leaves behind.

The Gang’s All Here

Tom Hanks returns as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, Joan Cusack as Jessie, Tony Hale as Forky — the voices are as warm and lived-in as your favorite sweater. Hanks in particular does some of his finest work in the series here. Woody has been through a lot across five films, and Hanks plays every year of it: the loyalty, the doubt, the fear of becoming irrelevant. There’s a quiet scene between Woody and Jessie about what they’re actually for that might be the emotional high point of the whole franchise. No spoilers, but keep a tissue handy.

Newcomer Scarlett Spears voices Bonnie, and the film also features an original song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” written and produced by Taylor Swift with Jack Antonoff. Yes, that Taylor Swift. The song fits the film like it was always there — wistful, warm, and just the right side of bittersweet. It’s already doing serious business on the charts, because of course it is.

Why It Earned Every Dollar

Let’s put the numbers in perspective, because they’re genuinely historic. Toy Story 5 is the highest-grossing film in franchise history and the third-highest-grossing film of 2026, behind only Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey. Its opening weekend set a Pixar record that may stand for years. And the Disney+ debut pulled 20 million-plus views in its first five days — one of the biggest streaming launches Disney has ever had, feeding a franchise with over 2 billion hours streamed.

But here’s what matters more than the grosses: the reason for them. Deadline’s Damon Wise called it “a fun, thoughtful, multi-generational family film,” and that nails it. This is a movie grandparents, parents, and kids can watch together and each get something real. In an era of fractured attention — when even fashion’s biggest nights compete with a thousand glowing rectangles — a film about choosing play over pixels feels almost radical. Pixar didn’t just make a sequel. It made an argument for its own existence, and for the kind of childhood wonder that no device can replace.

The Stanton Touch

It’s worth saying plainly: Andrew Stanton is one of the great directors working in any medium. The man made a movie about a trash-compacting robot that barely speaks for its first forty minutes and turned it into a masterpiece. In Toy Story 5, his touch is everywhere — in the clockwork set pieces, in the jokes that work on three levels, in the patience to let a quiet moment breathe.

The animation itself is gorgeous, obviously — it’s Pixar — but what stands out is the tactility. The toys look touchable. The bedroom light looks like late afternoon in a real house. When the Lilypad glows, it glows with that specific cold blue of a screen in a dark room, and the contrast with the warm practical world of the toys tells half the story visually. This is craft in service of feeling, which has always been Pixar’s whole deal.

The Verdict

Toy Story 5 had every reason to be a victory lap and chose to be something better: a real movie, with real stakes and real heart, that happens to continue the most beloved animated franchise ever made. It’s funny, it’s moving, it looks beautiful, and it understands exactly why these characters matter to people. The billion dollars is nice. The feeling is nicer.

If you missed it in theaters, it’s waiting on Disney+ right now. Watch it with the people you love. Watch it with your phone in another room. Woody would insist.

Verdict: a classic. Pixar’s biggest hit is also one of its best — a worthy new chapter that earns its place beside the originals. To infinity, and thank goodness, beyond.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Ice Age: Boiling Point — The Herd’s Joyful Return This February

Some franchises run on spectacle. The Ice Age herd runs on something better. On February 5, 2027, Disney and 20th Century Animation bring the mammoths, sloths, and saber-tooths back to theaters with Ice Age: Boiling Point, and the news lands like a warm blanket on a cold night. When so much animation keeps getting louder, the return of cinema’s coziest found family feels like an act of generosity.

Two Decades of Showing Up

Quick appreciation, because the numbers deserve it. Since 2002, these films have earned billions worldwide and raised roughly two generations of kids. Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, and the possum brothers aren’t characters at this point. They’re old friends. And the series has always understood the thing that actually matters: family isn’t species or blood or competence. It’s showing up when the ice cracks under someone you love.

This will be the first theatrical Ice Age made without Blue Sky Studios, the beloved animation house that closed its doors in 2021. The torch passes to 20th Century Animation, with longtime series producer Lori Forte joined by Patrick Worlock. There’s real tenderness in that handoff. This crew grew up inside these movies, and the mandate is clearly continuity of spirit, not reinvention.

The Voices Are the Franchise

The cast list is a comfort in itself. Ray Romano’s big-hearted Manny. John Leguizamo’s gloriously unhinged Sid. Queen Latifah’s warm, wise Ellie. Denis Leary’s gruffly lovable Diego. Simon Pegg’s swashbuckling Buck. Try imagining anyone else in those roles. You can’t. Two decades of chemistry will do that.

The reunion started as a whisper. Back in September 2024, Leguizamo let it slip on the Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! podcast: “We’re about to do Ice Age 6!” That November, Disney made it official, confirming all five leads were returning. These performances never feel like voice acting. They feel like friends talking, and hearing them riff again is going to be pure comfort. It’s a strong season for beloved returns, with Star Wars: Starfighter and The Hunt for Gollum also on the way, and the herd is happy to lead the parade.

Scrat’s Back, and He Brought Backup

And then there’s Scrat. The saber-toothed squirrel and his eternal, doomed pursuit of the acorn. Wordless, timeless, funny in every language on the planet. One of the great running gags in film history.

At CinemaCon this past April, Disney showed the film’s opening scene: Scrat and Baby Scrat, escaping a volcanic eruption together. Read that again. Baby Scrat. The little guy who debuted in Scrat Tales now gets the big screen, and a new generation of acorn-chasing chaos. We’re already laughing.

Sincerity Is the Superpower

Here’s the larger story, and it’s worth telling. Modern animation keeps sprinting toward two extremes: photorealistic spectacle or meta-comedy winking at the grown-ups. Ice Age never played either game. Its charm is old-fashioned in the best way. Expressive animation, sincere feeling, jokes built on timing instead of references. In 2026, that sincerity reads as quietly radical. Kids deserve stories that believe in friendship without footnotes. Parents deserve movies they can enjoy without decoding three layers of irony.

The series is also a stealth argument for an unfashionable idea: franchises can age gracefully. More than twenty years in, the herd hasn’t been rebooted, deconstructed, or grimly reimagined. It’s just continued, kinder if anything than before. There’s a lesson there for an industry addicted to reinvention. Sometimes the bravest move is to keep being yourself, only better.

One scheduling note, for the planners: Boiling Point was originally set for this December 18, but shifted to February 5, 2027, after Avengers: Doomsday claimed the holiday slot. The upside? A February family event all to itself, no competition, the whole month to belong to the herd. John C. Donkin, a longtime Ice Age producer, steps up to direct, and the first teaser this past June showed Crash and Eddie back in the mix alongside the whole gang.

Verdict

Ice Age: Boiling Point arrives this February as the ideal winter gift: familiar, funny, full of feeling. Gather the family, grab the popcorn, and let the mammoths remind you what the movies are for. More than two decades on, the ice has never felt warmer.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Star Wars: Starfighter — Gosling’s Dazzling New Frontier

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… the future finally looks like fun again. Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy and headlined by Ryan Gosling, hits theaters May 28, 2027, and each new detail lands like a small gift. This might be the bold, joyful reset the franchise has been circling for years.

Five Years After the Skywalkers

The premise is the whole pitch. Roughly five years after The Rise of Skywalker, in a corner of the timeline nobody’s mapped, with a cast of brand-new characters. No Skywalkers. No homework. Just new heroes, new worlds, and the wide-open wonder that made the 1977 original a cultural earthquake.

Gosling leads as a new protagonist, a protector to a young charge, and look at the company he’s keeping: Flynn Gray, Matt Smith, Mia Goth, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, Amy Adams. Range, charisma, dramatic chops. The exact toolkit a franchise rebirth requires.

The Gosling of It All

Let’s be blunt: casting Ryan Gosling as the face of Star Wars‘ next era is inspired. He’s that rare movie star both critics and crowds claim as their own. Soulful in La La Land, hilarious in Barbie, sometimes within the same scene. He brings instant credibility and genuine movie-star voltage, the kind of casting that announces an event rather than a content drop. Watching him take the controls of a starfighter is already one of the decade’s great popcorn images, and we haven’t seen a frame.

This Time the Cameras Actually Rolled

Star Wars fans have learned to treat announcements with caution. So here’s the good news: this one’s real. Production began in the UK in August 2025, with the full ensemble announced on day one of shooting. The cameras later moved to Sardinia, Italy, and filming wrapped that December. Lucasfilm released an official first image of Gosling alongside young co-star Flynn Gray, perched on a landspeeder, and it radiated exactly the mentor-and-kid warmth the story seems built around. Shawn Levy and Kathleen Kennedy are producing, which means the full creative weight of Lucasfilm sits behind it.

And that date, May 28, 2027, plants its flag in the Memorial Day corridor: the franchise’s ancestral home, the traditional launchpad of summer. Lucasfilm isn’t sneaking this out. It’s throwing a parade.

The months around it are stacked, with Ice Age: Boiling Point arriving in February and Aegon’s Conquest and Dune: Part Three looming after. But Starfighter has something none of them can claim: a galaxy the audience hasn’t already memorized.

Why New Blood Was the Only Move

Star Wars‘ recent troubles were rarely about quality. They were about weight. Every Skywalker-adjacent story shows up carrying forty years of expectation, and the fandom’s relationship with its own mythology has gotten complicated. A clean break isn’t just refreshing. It’s strategy.

New characters mean new stakes. When nobody’s protected by plot armor, every dogfight matters. When the timeline is unmapped, the galaxy gets its vastness back, that original-film feeling that wonders are hiding past the next star system. Levy gets this in his bones. His best work runs on the belief that blockbusters should feel like play. Star Wars was never homework. It was a Saturday matinee that sent you home building lightsabers out of flashlights. Returning to that spirit, with Gosling as the audience’s charismatic surrogate, might be exactly the reset the galaxy ordered.

Don’t sleep on Jonathan Tropper’s screenplay credit, either. The novelist behind This Is Where I Leave You and The Adam Project writes found families and reluctant heroes with rare warmth, precisely the emotional register Star Wars needs between space battles. The Levy-Tropper combo already proved it can mix spectacle with sincerity. Hand them starfighters and a sky full of new faces, and the ingredients are all there.

Behind the camera, the pedigree holds. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda and composer Thomas Newman bring heavyweight craft to the cockpit, and Gosling has spoken about this one like a fan who won the lottery: a lifelong love of Star Wars turned into the chance to lead its newest chapter. That kind of genuine enthusiasm reads on screen. You can’t fake the joy of a kid who grew up with the galaxy finally getting to fly in it.

Verdict

Star Wars: Starfighter is everything the franchise’s future should be: new heroes, new horizons, filmmakers who remember that wonder is the entire point. Levy’s crowd-pleasing instincts, Gosling’s star power, a galaxy of fresh faces. May 2027 can’t come soon enough. Punch it.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Disney’s Moana 2 is the Movie We Need For Christmas Dreaming!

The crowd at D23 Expo went wild. Not the polite applause that usually followed a Disney announcement, but a full-blown eruption of cheers, gasps, and even a few tears. On stage, Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, beamed. He’d just dropped a bombshell: Moana was coming back to the big screen in 2024.

The energy in the room was electric. Fans had been clamoring for a sequel to the 2016 hit, and the news, delivered with a flourish and a teaser trailer, sent social media into a frenzy. #Moana2 trended worldwide within minutes, with fan art, theories, and excited pronouncements flooding every platform.

The trailer itself was a masterpiece of anticipation. It opened with the familiar turquoise waves of Moana’s island home, Motunui, but quickly hinted at a journey beyond the reef. A glimpse of Moana, older and wiser, but with the same spark of adventure in her eyes. Maui, the demigod, grumbling but undeniably back for more. And a final shot, a breathtaking vista of uncharted islands, hinting at a whole new world to explore.

But the excitement wasn’t confined to the fans. Auli’i Cravalho, the voice of Moana, took to Instagram to express her joy, posting a heartfelt message about returning to the role that launched her career. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the voice of Maui, chimed in with his signature enthusiasm, promising a “tidal wave of awesome” in the sequel.

The news outlets, of course, went into overdrive. Articles dissected every frame of the trailer, speculating on the plot, the new characters, and the music. Experts weighed in on the cultural impact of Moana and the significance of a Polynesian princess returning to the forefront of Disney animation.

And amidst all the hype, a quiet sense of pride rippled through the Pacific Islander community. Moana, with its authentic representation and celebration of Polynesian culture, had resonated deeply. The sequel was seen as a chance to further amplify those voices and stories, to inspire a new generation of wayfinders and dreamers.

The announcement of Moana 2 was more than just a marketing strategy; it was a cultural moment. It was a testament to the power of storytelling, the enduring appeal of strong female characters, and the magic that happens when Disney sets its sights on the horizon. The world, it seemed, was ready to set sail with Moana once again.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Disney World New Premier Pass – Skip all Lines

Disney World has recently introduced a new way to skip the lines at their parks called the Lightning Lane Premier Pass. This is a significant upgrade from the existing Lightning Lane system and offers guests a whole new level of convenience and flexibility.

Here’s a breakdown of the key features of the Lightning Lane Premier Pass:

  • Skip every Lightning Lane: With this pass, you can bypass the standby lines at every ride that offers a Lightning Lane, essentially giving you expedited access to all the most popular attractions.
  • No need to book in advance: Unlike the regular Lightning Lane passes, where you have to select specific ride times in advance, the Premier Pass allows you to simply walk up to the Lightning Lane entrance at any time and enter. This offers greater spontaneity and flexibility in planning your day.
  • One-time access to each ride: You can use the Premier Pass to skip the line once per ride per day.
  • Limited availability: Disney is intentionally limiting the number of Premier Passes sold each day to avoid overcrowding the Lightning Lanes and maintain a smooth experience for everyone.
  • High price point: This premium service comes at a premium cost. Prices vary by park and date, ranging from $149 to $449 per pass, in addition to the regular park admission ticket.

How to purchase:

Starting October 30, 2024, guests staying at Disney Deluxe or Deluxe Villa resorts can purchase the Lightning Lane Premier Pass up to seven days in advance of their visit through the My Disney Experience app.

Is it worth it?

The value of the Premier Pass depends on your priorities and budget. If you’re looking to maximize your time in the parks and experience as many attractions as possible without waiting in long lines, and are willing to pay a significant amount for that convenience, then the Premier Pass might be a good option for you. However, if you’re on a tight budget or are comfortable with some level of waiting, then the regular Lightning Lane passes or Genie+ service might be a more cost-effective choice.

The Lightning Lane Premier Pass is currently a pilot program, and its availability and features may be subject to change. It’s always recommended to check the official Disney World website or app for the latest information and pricing.

Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: Disney’s 60 Billion USD Plan

Disney has unveiled an exciting slate of future theme park and cruise projects, generating immense enthusiasm among fans and underscoring the company’s commitment to innovation and guest delight. At the recent #D23 convention,attendees were treated to a captivating presentation that offered a glimpse into the remarkable experiences that will come to life in the coming years.

The highly anticipated announcements include the development of a villains-themed land, an immersive “Encanto” ride,an exhilarating opportunity for guests to take flight like Iron Man, and a groundbreaking advancement in audio-animatronic technology that will bring Walt Disney himself to life in front of awe-struck visitors.

These revelations have ignited a sense of excitement and anticipation among fans, who have been eagerly awaiting concrete details of these ambitious projects for several years. In the past, previous announcements had generated some discontent, as they presented only nebulous concepts and lacked definitive timelines. However, the recent presentation at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, proved to be a watershed moment, as 12,000 enthusiastic fans witnessed firsthand how Disney’s substantial $60 billion investment in parks and cruises will unfold over the next decade.

In an exclusive interview, Josh D’Amaro, Chairperson of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, elaborated on the company’s strategic approach to creating these extraordinary guest experiences. “We’re harnessing the power of technology more aggressively than ever before,” D’Amaro declared, “not merely for the sake of innovation, but to cultivate unparalleled guest delight.” This commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to elevate the visitor experience was evident throughout the presentation, highlighting Disney’s dedication to pushing boundaries and setting new industry standards.

The upcoming projects announced at #D23 represent a harmonious blend of beloved stories, thrilling adventures, and technological wizardry. The villains-themed land will offer guests a unique opportunity to step into the world of their favorite Disney antagonists, while the “Encanto” ride will immerse them in the vibrant magic of the beloved film. The chance to experience the sensation of soaring through the air like Iron Man will undoubtedly captivate thrill-seekers, and the groundbreaking audio-animatronics that will reanimate Walt Disney promise to evoke a sense of awe and wonder among generations of fans.

The substantial financial investment earmarked for these projects demonstrates Disney’s unwavering belief in the transformative power of their parks and cruises. As the company continues to evolve and adapt to meet the changing expectations of its audience, it remains steadfast in its pursuit of innovation, creativity, and exceptional storytelling.

The future of Disney’s theme park and cruise experiences is brighter than ever before. The recent announcements have set the stage for a remarkable era of immersive storytelling, technological marvels, and unforgettable guest experiences. As Disney embarks on this ambitious journey, it is clear that the company’s commitment to innovation and guest delight is stronger than ever.