Steve Pond's Blog, page 42

Netflix to Release ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Sing-Along Version

A sing-along version of “KPop Demon Hunters” is officially coming to Netflix on Monday, Aug. 25.

The release of the “KPop Demon Hunters Sing-Along” on the streamer follows the Netflix-hosted “KPop Demon Hunters A Sing-Along Event,” a one-weekend-only, limited theatrical screening event in 2,180 theaters in the U.S., Canada, U.K./Ireland and Australia/New Zealand with over 1,300 sold-out screenings across the U.S. and Canada. At the NYC event, cast members Rei Ami and Kevin Woo popped up and led a sing-along to “How It’s Done,” the film’s intro song.

The animated movie grossed $18-20 million over the Aug. 22-24 weekend.

FOR THE FANS!

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS SING-ALONG is coming to Netflix TONIGHT at midnight PT. pic.twitter.com/Rr4QLj6DwC

— Netflix (@netflix) August 24, 2025

Along with “How It’s Done,” Woo also sang “Soda Pop” from the hit film. Other events that took place as part of the fan weekend included a sunrise lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building with stars Arden Cho, May Hong and Ami.

The film follows the adventures of the K-pop band HUNTR/X who use their hidden talents as demon hunters “to protect their fans from ever-present supernatural danger. Together, they must face their biggest threat — an irresistible rival boy band of demons in disguise,” per the show’s logline.

Chris Appelhans, the movie’s co-writer, told the New York Post at the Saturday ceremony, “Animation is a truly collaborative medium, and it’s their voices, literally, their voices, that have brought Rumi and Mira and Zoey to life and put these songs on top of the charts.”

“I’m so grateful for the fans and for these wonderful, talented women who made this movie such a beacon of connection and joy in the last few months,” he added. “I think it’s really awesome to have a symbol like the Empire State Building lit golden, just to kind of bring everybody in the city together and have a moment with music connecting us all, because it does do that. And really, really happy and proud that the movies sort of played on most of that.”

The movie has been compared to Disney’s “Frozen” in terms of unexpected success. It was the first Netflix original film to top its previous viewing peak in its sixth week and was in the top 10 of all countries. Since its June 20 debut, “KPop Demon Hunters” has gone between the top two spots on Netflix’s most-watched movies list, taking second place to “The Old Guard 2,” “Happy Gilmore 2” and, more recently, “My Oxford Year.”

“KPop Demon Hunters Sing-Along” drops on Netflix midnight PT on Aug. 25.

The post Netflix to Release ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Sing-Along Version appeared first on TheWrap.

Gavin Newsom Trolls Trump With ‘Patriot Shop’: ‘Greatest Merchandise Ever Made’

Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a new merch store called “The Patriot Shop” on his website Sunday, and made it clear how much he was trolling President Trump while doing so. Newsom took to X to launch an all caps message in the style of the president, and noted, “MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING THIS IS THE GREATEST MERCHANDISE EVER MADE.”

The shop features a red MAGA-style cap that reads “Newsom was right about everything!” as well as a tank top reading, “Trump is not hot” and a “Newsom 2026” cap.

SOON “MAGA” WILL HAVE A WHOLE NEW MEANING! COMING SOON FOR YOUR NEXT BOAT PARADE! YOU ARE VERY WELCOME, PATRIOTS! https://t.co/b1GeTGzLuy pic.twitter.com/cjGW5L5MXT

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 24, 2025

“SOON ‘MAGA’ WILL HAVE A WHOLE NEW MEANING! COMING SOON FOR YOUR NEXT BOAT PARADE! YOU ARE VERY WELCOME, PATRIOTS!” Newsom also wrote on X.

The relationship between Trump and Newsom can often be described as contentious at best. In July Newsom balked at Trump’s ICE deportations in California. “It didn’t need the National Guard to be called in,” he told podcaster and former U.S. Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan during and appearance on “The Shawn Ryan Show.”

Recently, Newsom has taken to mocking Trump via social media in his signature style, posting in all-capped X tirades just as the president is known to do on Truth Social. “I hope it’s a wakeup call. The President of the United States — I’m sort of following his example,” he said during a press conference and rally earlier this month for his Nov. 4 special election on redistricting the state. “And if you’ve got issues with what I’m putting out, you sure as hell should have concerns about what he’s putting out as president.”

“To the extent it’s gotten some attention, I’m pleased,” Newsom continued. “But I think the deeper question is: How have we allowed the normalization of his tweets, Truth Social posts over the course of the last many years to go without similar scrutiny and notice?”

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Sophie Turner Defends Harrowing ‘Game of Thrones’ Rape Scene for ‘Doing a Lot of Justice to Women’

Sophie Turner looked back on “Game of Thrones” as part of a lengthy interview with Flaunt Magazine — specifically on the scene in which her new husband Ramsay Bolton (played by Iwan Rheon) raped her character on their wedding night. The scene stirred up plenty of controversy, but Turner said she still believes the show was “actually doing a lot of justice to women.”

“I did feel—and still do—that ‘Game of Thrones’ shone a light on things that many people were like ‘Oh god, you can’t show that kind of thing’—and I understand it can be triggering—I totally understand that point of view,” Turner began.

“But I did feel we were actually doing a lot of justice to women and the fight women have had to fight for hundreds of thousands of years—the patriarchy, being treated as objects and being constantly sexually assaulted—I don’t think there’s one woman I know who hasn’t had a form of that.”

Rheon, for his part, previously described filming the tense scene as “the worst day of my career.”

“That was horrible. Nobody wanted to be there. Nobody wants to do that, but if it’s telling a story then you have to tell it truthfully,” he told Metro back in 2020. “They didn’t sensationalize it or anything. It was very, very hard watching. It’s a horrible thing that happens, unfortunately … It was the worst day of my career.”

“Chopping someone’s finger off you don’t really see it, and when you’re doing like a close up, it’s a piece of plastic. We’re just acting, it’s not real. Then something like that where you’re in the actual reality of the situation is very difficult to deal with,” he continued. “It was a horrible, horrible day. This is something that we shouldn’t even have to worry about, because it’s something that shouldn’t exist in this world but unfortunately it does.”

Turner also told Flaunt that when she shares her perspective with men about how prevalent sexual assault is, many of them don’t believe her.

“And that’s because we don’t [talk about] it enough—we shy away from it,” she said.

Turner added, “But I’m really proud to have been a part of ‘Game of Thrones’ where they didn’t shy away from showing atrocities that happened to women back then. I feel proud to have been part of the conversation.”

You can read the full interview with Flaunt here.

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Per Holst, Danish Film Producer, Dies at 86

Danish film producer Per Holst died Saturday, Aug. 23. He was 86.

Holst’s death was confirmed by his son, Anders Holst, who spoke to Danish TV 2.

Holst left behind a culturally significant body of work, including his breakthrough animation film “Benny’s Bathtub,” which was released in 1971. He also produced the 1987 Oscar-winning film “Pelle the Conqueror.” His other credits include “Zappa,” “The Element of Crime,” “Flaming Hearts,” “Hugo the Jungle Animal” and “Jingle Waltz.”

Holst got his start in the film world when he became a runner in Nordisk Film’s advertising department. He then worked in commercials before the release of “Benny’s badekar.” In a 2020 interview with Kosmorama, Holst admitted the film’s team was able to make it “really cheaply.” As he put it (via a translation of the original interview), “I think we agreed that everyone would get 300 kroner a day if they did something, and it went really well.”

Holst also admitted a career as a producer was not easy to maintain, especially since predicting the success of a project can be difficult. “On ‘The Farewell Hour’ we had a lab credit of a million, I think, at least 500,000, but we lost at least 500,000 on that film,” he said. “Not a soul came … 500,000 was a lot of money back then. That was a whole year’s profit that went into that film, and of course we were a little scared by that.”

Elsewhere, Holst also said he would have “preferred to be a director” but others were “more talented than me” so he landed in producing — a switch that ended up working well for him. As he put it, “The advantage of being a director or having trained as a director is that you can go into all the phases and get involved, and you can remember your miles of film and say that that clip is not good enough. These are some things that you know something about.”

Holst also acted as director of Nordisk Film from 1991 to 2002 and then also founded the production companies PH3 and Asta Film in 2002. He was chairman of the European Film Academy from 2000 to 2005.

Per Holst was born on March 28, 1939, in Denmark and is survived by his wife Kristina Møller and their children.

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Margaret Qualley Wants to Steer Clear of Big Movie Franchises: ‘I’m Scared’ | Video

Margaret Qualley has no interest in joining a movie franchise, a least not right now.

The “Honey Don’t!” actress sat down with host Perri Nemiroff on Collider’s “Ladies Night” for an interview, published Saturday, and talked about her career to date and her goals for the future.

“If you could join the film franchise of your choice, what franchise would you pick and what role would you play?” Nemiroff asked during the show’s “Dicey Questions” segment.

“I don’t think I want to commit to a franchise,” Qualley said with a laugh as she struggled to even pick a favorite franchise as a fan. “It seems like a lot of time. I’m a commitment-phobe maybe. But also, no one’s asking me to do anything.”

Nemiroff then addressed the rumors surrounding the X-Men and said that there was a large amount of fan enthusiasm for Qualley to join the MCU as Rogue. The actress was a bit shocked by the rumor and was quick to squash it. Qualley, who is the daughter of actress Andie MacDowell, got her start on HBO’s “The Leftovers” and has since scored two Emmy nominations for her roles in “Maid” and “Fosse/Verdon.” She’s also had a blossoming film career in movies like “The Nice Guys,” “Poor Things” and “The Substance.”

Qualley did admit she would never say never in regards to joining a major film franchise. When asked if there was anything that would get her to sign “a five film agreement” she said that the production team would play a big factor.

 “Probably just a director,” she concluded. “I think if you have an amazing director you feel safe and excited.”

You can watch Qualley’s full interview in the video above.

The post Margaret Qualley Wants to Steer Clear of Big Movie Franchises: ‘I’m Scared’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Chris Pratt Admits He Purposely Made Himself ‘Much Fatter’ on ‘Parks & Recreation’ | Video

Chris Pratt had goals for his “Parks & Recreation” role: he wanted to gain more weight to play Andy Dwyer to make the character funnier. Pratt made the admission on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast this week.

Pratt told Maher that he had all but stopped working out before he booked the role and had “never seen myself look so fat.” He noted that it was also the “funniest I think I’ve ever been.” So he decided to gain even more weight.

“I went to the showrunner, Mike Schur, and I said, ‘Two things. One, I’m getting fat. Two, I want to get much fatter,'” Pratt said. “And he goes, ‘Great.’ And so I just pushed it. I was like, ‘How fat can I get?’ It became like a challenge. I was, like, eating four burgers at mealtime. I was really impressing everybody and I was really diving into this super indulgent season in my life.”

Pratt has often changed his body for roles over the years, and notably lost a lot of weight during the sixth season of the series after he landed the part of Peter Quill/Star Lord in “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Now, he maintains his taut physique by eating “boring” things like vegetables, chicken and rice. He compared meals “stopping at the gas station” filling the take to the bare minimum. Pratt added he is happier not eating processed foods and refined sugars.

In the same interview Pratt admitted he and his in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr., don’t speak about politics. “I’ve spent a number of occasions hanging with him just in a strictly family dinner kind of vibe, and I really got along with him well,” he explained.

I think he’s great. I think he’s funny. He’s wonderful. I like him—yes, I love him,” he said.

He continued: “Politics is a nasty business. When you jump in, you inherit enemies. And I’ve seen—even though I’m not in politics, obviously—that Hollywood itself is political in its own way. I’ve seen how the person you are can be in stark contrast to the person people are told that you are. […] When you jump on the bandwagon with, you know, who’s the most divisive president ever, it makes sense that you’re going to be made to look terrible.”

You can watch Chris Pratt’s full “Club Random” interview in the video above.

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Jason Isaacs Jokes ‘Harry Potter’ Is More Historically Accurate Than ‘The Patriot’: ‘It’s Made Up’

The “Harry Potter” films are “slightly more historically accurate” than the 2000 film “The Patriot,” Jason Isaacs jokingly contended in an interview published Sunday, refuting the idea that the 2000 Mel Gibson-starring Revolutionary War film hews closely to American history.

“I must tell people that ‘Harry Potter’ is slightly more historically accurate than ‘The Patriot,'” he explained to EW. “And any history teacher who’s showing it to their kids, they better tell them how much bulls–t it is. It’s made up.”

Isaacs did note that he likes the film, which was directed by disaster epic extraordinaire Roland Emmerich. “It’s an amazing movie, and it moves a lot of people,” he said. “But no one should be thinking it’s history.”

Isaacs also starred in the movie alongside Mel Gibson and the late Heath Ledger as British officer Colonel William Tavington. It was a fair success, grossing $215 million worldwide but upon release was criticized by historians for its lack of accuracy in portraying the American Revolutionary War.

The actor, who played Lucius Malfoy in all eight “Harry Potter” films, recently defended the casting of Paapa Essiedu as Snape in HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” TV series. “Paapa Essiedu is one of the best actors I’ve ever seen in my life. I’ve seen some people online who are being rude about him,” Isaacs said in July. “What they’re being is racist.”

Isaacs also heaped plenty of praise on the entire cast. “All the cast of the new ‘Harry Potter’ TV series are amazing,” Isaacs remarked. “They will be swallowing their tongues, hopefully — you know, their digital tongues — when they see what [Paapa] does onscreen.”

The post Jason Isaacs Jokes ‘Harry Potter’ Is More Historically Accurate Than ‘The Patriot’: ‘It’s Made Up’ appeared first on TheWrap.

Marc Maron Explains ‘Annoying People Into Fascism’ Joke and Why the Dems Have a Serious Problem | Video

Marc Maron has spent plenty of time thinking about the Democratic party in the United States and the relationship between the ideological right and left. In the Sunday, Aug. 24 episode of “Pod Save America,” Maron elaborated on a joke from his new HBO special “Panicked” that the left has “annoyed people into fascism” — a claim that is funny, but also borders on ringing true.

“Well, one of the things you say in the special is that liberals annoyed average Americans into fascism and that we have a buzzkill problem,” host Jon Lovett asked on this week’s “Pod Save America” podcast. “Now, a lot of the buzzkills listening to this are going to take issue with that. But what is the buzzkill problem?”

“Annoyed the average American into fascism, that’s a joke. But it resonates for a reason because I’ve also lately been exploring the difference between anger and hate,” Maron explained. “Anger as a tone in all its spectrum is not always entertaining. And, you know, self-righteous anger is the most intolerable anger. And even if you believe what the person is saying, you want them to shut the f–k up.”

While Maron said the sentiment was largely a joke he said that he was being serious about Democrats having trouble connecting with people. “We do have a problem of being buzzkills, Americans do have a very dim view of Democrats. Americans do find Democrats annoying.” 

Maron said that he realized his audiences tended to be liberal so he “made a decision” to “speak directly” to people who are “sitting at home alone on the phone” because he’s feeling the same level of anger and hopelessness about the state of the world that many others are.

“We’re all in the same boat. We all have flaws. There’s funny things about us,” he explained. “I don’t have any answers for you. But I can give you that kind of relief of taking pokes at who we are.”

The comedian said that coming up with a solution to the political split between Americans will require “some sort of amazing vulnerability and empathy in the face of a completely unsympathetic and terrifying force to … make it not annoying,” he continued.

Democrats also need to contend with another problem in the party: “There is no unifying policy, there is no unifying community,” Maron said. “So when you have all that fragmentation, what becomes annoying is people’s commitment to their specific cause as righteous as it may be. It doesn’t fit into the umbrella of the community necessarily. It does not have that much significance on its own.”

Maron concluded his point by highlighting the powerful right-wing messaging the GOP has come to rely on, and why in that department, the Democrats have a whole other issue. “The left messaging is never going to be as efficient because we don’t have an army of frustrated teenage boys who have been taught over the last 20 years that this is all some sort of game and that trolling is a pastime,” he said. “They just are in it for the the game.”

Watch the “Pod Save America” interview in the video above.

The post Marc Maron Explains ‘Annoying People Into Fascism’ Joke and Why the Dems Have a Serious Problem | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

NBC’s Kristen Welker Asks JD Vance Point-Blank if the Russians Are Stringing Trump Along | Video

Russia is “not at all” stringing President Trump along, Vice President JD Vance insisted to NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” in an interview published Sunday.

Vance sat down with Welker for a lengthy interview and one of the first topics the NBC host tackled was ongoing war in Ukraine.

“I had the opportunity to speak with the Russian foreign minister,” Welker began. “He says as of right now there’s no meeting planned between President Putin and President Zelensky, and he added there needs to be an agenda first saying ‘This agenda is not ready at all.'”

At that Welker then asked Vance point-blank, “Are the Russians stringing President Trump along?”

“No. Not at all. I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict,” Vance said. “They’ve actually been willing to be flexible on some of their core demands. They’ve talked about what would be necessary to end the war.”

Though he admitted Russian officials “haven’t been completely there yet,” he said the U.S. is “engaging in this diplomatic process in good faith” and “trying to negotiate as much as we can with both the Russians and the Ukrainians to find a middle ground to stop the killing.”

Vance continued, “I think what the president has tried to do here is try to engage in very aggressive, very energetic diplomacy because this war is not in anyone’s interest. It’s not in Europe or the United States’s interest. We don’t think it’s in Russia or Ukraine’s interest to keep going. So we’re going to keep on pushing for a diplomatic solution.”

Despite Republican insistence to the contrary, the Aug. 16 meeting between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin has been largely seen as a failure for the United States. “It is painfully clear that Trump is doing this to boost his tough guy image with his base. But that is going to be a challenge,” John Oliver told “Last Week Tonight” viewers.

“Because it is a tough sell for the man who was friends with a child sex trafficker, brought about this mess” — an image of the Jan. 6 insurrection appeared onscreen at this moment — “and on Friday got steamrolled by a bloodthirsty warlord, to convince Americans that he is keeping them safe, when I would argue, if anyone is making things too dadgum dangerous in this country, it’s probably f–king him right now.”

As if his assessment of Russia’s intentions was not enough, Vance also offered a history lesson of sorts.

“If you look historically, whenever you have a complicated war with a lot of death and destruction, it kind of goes in fits and starts. There are hills and valleys to the negotiation,” Vance said.

“We sometimes feel like we’ve made great progress with the Russians, and sometimes, as the president has said, he’s been very frustrated with the Russians. And we’re going to keep on doing what we have to do to bring this thing to a close,” he added.

Vance notably admitted the goal may not be to stop “the killing” — but to make sure the two countries find “middle ground.”

Watch the full “Meet The Press” interview in the video above.

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Jerry Adler, ‘The Sopranos’ Actor, Dies at 96

Jerry Adler, who appeared on “The Sopranos” and “Rescue Me,” died Aug. 23 in New York. He was 96.

Adler’s family confirmed his death with a short message: “Jerry Adler passed away on August 23, 2025, at the age of 96. Born on February 4, 1929, Jerry was a resident of New York, New York.”

His friend Frank J. Reilly also confirmed Adler’s death on X, where he wrote, “The great actor, my friend Jerry Adler died today at the age of 96. You know him from one of his iconic roles and from many of his guest appearances. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start acting until he was 65.”

Adler played Hesh Rabkin, a Jewish friend of Tony Soprano, on the HBO series. Hesh was called upon when Tony needed advice and counsel. In a 2024 interview with WAMC, Adler admitted he saw the series as “an ordinary kind of cops and robbers show” while filming the pilot (at the time, he was also working as stage manager on the original production of “My Fair Lady”).

But the HBO show was a little different from traditional genre fare. “And the genius of it was the fact that Tony had a psychiatrist who he would go to solve his problems. But that’s the way it worked in show business.”

Working with the show’s star James Gandolfini was also a great experience, largely due to the man himself. “He had the most extraordinary eyes. You can look into this man’s intelligence and the beauty of this person,” Adler added. “He was one of the kindest, most generous guys you ever wanted to meet. It was a tragic loss when we lost this guy, he was great. He was number one.”

One of Adler’s earliest jobs was as an assistant stage manager on “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and he steadily built a career in theater afterward. He was drafted into the Korean War in 1952 but found a way to keep working creatively: he directed soldier shows while stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey.

Adler returned to New York after his time in the war concluded and worked as a stage manager on Broadway for years before moving to California in 1980, which provided a markedly different experience (of working on Broadway, he explained, “It’s a strange life, don’t forget. You only work at night. All day long you have a normal life up until dinnertime, and then you cook dinner with your family, and then you go to work. It’s a kind of a weird lifestyle, I think”).

His television work also included stints on soap operas, including “Santa Barbara.” The shift was dramatic, and the cast and crew often ran through 40 pages of script in a single day.

Though he enjoyed the work, Adler admitted to WAMC he didn’t always stay up to date with the many and varied plotlines. “I didn’t get into the comings and goings of the characters. Mine was much more technical, of getting the scenes taped. So I didn’t follow the extraordinary storylines that appeared in a soap opera. It was unbelievable,” he said.

Adler notably began acting in front of the camera more seriously in his 60s after a friend suggested him for a part — exactly the kind of upgrade so many soap opera stars pine for, he said.

“What was wonderful was I auditioned for this movie because a friend asked me, who was doing the casting, asked me to come because the director described me as one of the characters, and I finally got the job,” Adler explained. “And everybody in the soap world wants to graduate into features. That’s their main quest in life: be in a movie. And now here the stage manager of the show is making a movie and they’re stuck in the soap opera.”

Adler’s TV credits, along with “The Sopranos,” include “The Good Wife,” “Quantum Leap,” “Northern Exposure,” “Hudson Street,” “Raising Dad,” “The West Wing,” “Mad About You,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Transparent” and “Broad City.”

In film, Adler appeared in “The Public Eye,” “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “In Her Shoes,” “Find Me Guilty,” “A Most Violent Year” and “Driveways.”

Adler was born Feb. 4, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, the general manager of New York City’s prestigious Group Theatre, brought him into the industry in the 1950s.

Adler is survived by his wife Joan Laxman and his daughter Laura.

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