Steve Pond's Blog, page 67

Ali Velshi Says Trump Sees Base as ‘Marks’ but His ‘MAGA Machine Is Glitching’ Over Epstein | Video

Donald Trump has never seen this MAGA supporters as “partners in a cause” but “marks” who could be easily manipulated, said MSNBC’s Ali Velshi Saturday. ” And, Velshi aregued, his “once invincible MAGA machine is glitching” due to lingering questions and growing conspiracies surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Many of Trump’s staunchest supporters are believers in baseless conspiracy theories, such as “Pizzagate”. And Trump himself is a longtime fan of firing off conspiracy theories on various social media platforms.

Trump was also an early backer of Epstein-related conspiracy theories — at least until he his name was reportedly found in the billionaire sex criminal’s files. “But now he’s president again, and those same conspiracists are becoming a big headache for him,” Velshi said. “They’re out of control, and he’s poised to toss [MAGA] aside.”

Watch the entire segment from Velshi’s MSNBC show in the clip below.

The president is “lashing out at some of his most loyal supporters, calling them stupid, foolish weaklings,” he continued. “All because they are pressing him on one issue, the Epstein files.”

The Trump administration has attempted to tamp down interest in Epstein, with little success. “This moment marks a significant rupture. For all his authoritarian instincts, Trump has always relied on one illusion, that he was one of them,” Velshi explained. “A truth teller. A rebel. A man fighting the man.”

“But that was always a con. Trump never saw the base as partners in a cause. He saw them as marks. A means to an end. A block of loyal, gullible voters he could exploit to win power that he couldn’t and wouldn’t have won without them. Now that his own base is turning the lens back on him, what they’re seeing is just another rich, powerful man protecting himself.”

The post Ali Velshi Says Trump Sees Base as ‘Marks’ but His ‘MAGA Machine Is Glitching’ Over Epstein | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Flaco Jiménez, Grammy Winning Legend of Tejano and Conjunto, Dies at 86

Leonardo ‘Flaco’ Jiménez, legendary Mexican American accordion player and singer-songwriter who expanded the reach and popularity of conjunto and tejano music and was also known for his contributions to norteño, died Thursday, July 31, his family announced. He was 86.

“It is with great sadness that we share tonight the loss of our father, Flaco Jimenez. He was surrounded by his loved ones and will be missed immensely,” on his family wrote on Facebook.

“Thank you to all of his fans and friends—those who cherished his music. And a big thank you for all of the memories. His legacy will live on through his music and all of his fans. The family requests privacy during this time of sadness and grievance.”

Jiménez learned to play accordion from his father, Santiago Jiménez Sr., NPR reported. “He (my dad) liked it that much that he got hold of a one-row accordion somehow and started learning how to copy the German polkas,” he told the news service in 2003. “Then he started playing around the neighborhood where he lived, just local house dances.”

In another interview with NPR years later, Jiménez said he picked up the instrument that would come to define his life’s work without his father’s approval. “I wanted to grab the accordion because dad is still at work. He came home early. All of a sudden he just opens the door and I said, ‘Oh man, I’m going to get it,'” he explained.

But it turned out his dad couldn’t have been happier. “The first thing he did, he went straight to me, he gave me a big, big hug and then started crying. See, he was so proud of my self-taught playing.”

That self-motivation propelled Jiménez to cities and stages around the world. He won five competitive Grammys and was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.

Known affectionately as Flaco (which means “skinny” in Spanish), the performer once told Chris Strachwitz he gained the nickname in his early teens. “When I was a young kid, thirteen, fourteen years old I used to be real, real skinny, real thin,” he explained in a 1973 interview.

“Here in a TV show, this radio announcer, he was Master of Ceremonies though, he used to play with me all the time. Flaco, and Flaco here, and Flaco there, so when I started recording when I was 16, the name Flaco now. It wasn’t Leonardo Jimenez which is my name.”

His most popular songs include “Ay Te Dejo en San Antonio” (“Ay, I Leave You in San Antonio”), “El Mojado Sin Licencia” (“The Wetback Without a License”) and “En el Cielo no Hay Cerveza” (“There’s No Beer in Heaven”).

“People used to regard my music as cantina music, just no respect,” Jiménez said in an interview with the Library of Congress in 2021 after he was added to the National Recording Registry. “The accordion was considered something like a party joke…I really give respect to everyone who helped me out on this record and I’m flattered by this recognition.”

Leonardo ‘Flaco’ Jiménez was born on March 11, 1939, in San Antonio, Texas. He put together his first band, Los Caporales, when he was 15 and went on to collaborate with Ry Cooder, Les Blank, Dwight Yoakam, Buck Owens, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and more.

He is survived by his wife Adela and their children Arturo, Gilbert and Cynthia Jiménez and Raquel Fernandez, as well as by his brother, Santiago Jiménez Jr.

The post Flaco Jiménez, Grammy Winning Legend of Tejano and Conjunto, Dies at 86 appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Chief of War’ Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out?

“See” and “Game of Thrones” star Jason Momoa‘s latest collaboration with Apple TV+, “Chief of War,” makes its highly anticipated streaming debut this week. Co-created, starring, produced and — in the case of one episode — directed by Momoa, the new series is a massive, ambitious historical epic about a pivotal turning point in Hawaiian history. The show is a passion project for Momoa, who was born in Honolulu, and co-creator Thomas Paʻa Sibbett.

Their passion is on full display in every scene and visually impressive frame of “Chief of War.” Here is how, when and where you can watch new episodes of the historical drama.

When does “Chief of War” premiere?

“Chief of War” premieres Friday, Aug. 1.

How can I watch “Chief of War”?

“Chief of War” streams exclusively on Apple TV+.

When are new episodes released?

New episodes of “Chief of War” release weekly on Fridays on Apple TV+.

When do new episodes come out?

Apple is dropping the first two episodes of “Chief of War” on the same day, Friday, Aug. 1. The remaining episodes of its first season will then premiere individually every Friday through Sept. 19.

You can find the full release schedule for “Chief of War” Season 1 below:

Episode 1, “The Chief of War” — August 1Episode 2, “Changing Tides” — August 1Episode 3, “City of Flowers” — August 8Episode 4, “City of Flowers Part II” — August 15Episode 5, “The Race of the Gods” — August 22Episode 6, “The Splintered Paddle” — August 29Episode 7, “Day of Spilled Brains” — September 5Episode 8, “The Sacred Niu Grove” — September 12Episode 9, “The Black Desert” — September 19What is “Chief of War” about?

Based on true events, “Chief of War” tells the story of Kaʻiana, a fearsome warrior chief who finds himself at the center of a bloody, dangerous war for control of the islands of Hawaiʻi at the turn of the 19th century. His journey not only sends Kaʻiana around the world, but also gives him a front-row seat to the very conflict that resulted in the unification of Hawaiʻi.

Who is in the “Chief of War” cast?

In addition to co-creating the series, Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones,” “Aquaman”) also leads the cast of “Chief of War,” playing its eponymous warrior, Kaʻiana. He is joined in the series by Temuera Morrison (“The Book of Boba Fett”), Cliff Curtis (“Avatar: The Way of Water”), Luciane Buchanan (“The Night Agent”), Te Ao o Hinepehinga (“Head High”), Brandon Finn (“Central Valley”), Te Kohe Tuhaka (“Love and Monsters”), Siua Ikale’o (“They Don’t Cast Shadows”) and James Udom (“Judas and the Black Messiah”).

Watch the trailer:

The post ‘Chief of War’ Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out? appeared first on TheWrap.

Who Plays Galactus in ‘The Fantastic Four’? Meet the Man with the Booming Voice

In “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” Marvel’s First Family faces off against the walking, talking, planet-eating Galactus for the first time — sort of. Though the cosmic devourer has appeared in a Marvel film before, Matt Shakman’s latest entry to the MCU marks the first time an actor has actually portrayed Galactus.

When the Fantastic Four meet Galactus, they are faced with a colossal man in purple garb with a tuning fork helmet. Despite the visual silliness of this character, his immense size and booming, theater-shaking voice immediately establish a threat unlike the Four have ever faced.

But who lent their voice to give Galactus such gravitas? Read on to meet the man behind the planet eater.

Who plays Galactus in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”

To play Galactus, Marvel Studios tapped Ralph Ineson, a Robert Eggers regular and rising horror icon known for “The Witch,” “The First Omen” and “Nosferatu.” Ineson has appeared in a number of franchises including “Harry Potter,” “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars.” This isn’t even his first time in the MCU. Ineson briefly appeared in “Guardians of the Galaxy” as an unnamed Ravager pilot in Yondu’s crew.

One of the most relevant roles to Galactus, Ineson portrayed the titular Arthurian legend in David Lowery’s “The Green Knight.” Adapted from the poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” the film features Ineson, caked in makeup, as a tree-like knight who portends doom for Dev Patel’s Gawain. This role certainly feels like an inspiration for the portrayal of Galactus in “First Steps,” with Ineson’s sonorous voice and poetic way of speaking stirring dread in both films.

Ralph Ineson on the “Fantastic Four: First Steps” red carpet (Getty Images)Is Galactus CGI?

Galactus is not an entirely computer-generated creation in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” At San Diego Comic-Con, fans were able to see the practical suit worn by Ineson to portray the space giant.

Ineson shared a look at his practical costume and makeup on Instagram. The highly-detailed design portrays the ancient devourer as if he were a spaceship or stellar relic himself. In one photo, Ineson poses in-costume with his daughter, wearing a hat that she made herself resembling Galactus’ helmet.

The practical Galactus costume from ‘THE FANTASTIC FOUR’ on display at #SDCC pic.twitter.com/dKcaKlIQ2q

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 27, 2025

“It literally took an army to get Galactus onto screen, and I’m very proud of the end product of all our hard work,” Ineson shared on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ralph Ineson (@ralph.ineson)

Has Galactus been in a movie before?

Technically? Yes.

Like “First Steps,” 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” loosely adapted Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s “Galactus Trilogy” — a storyline Galactus debuted in starting with 1965’s “Fantastic Four #48.” In that sequel to 2005’s “Fantastic Four,” the superhero team comes into contact with the Silver Surfer for the first time after the cosmic being leads Galactus to Earth. Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne work together to portray the Surfer’s body and voice, respectively.

But who plays Galactus? Well, nobody.

“Rise of the Silver Surfer” shies away from portraying Galactus in all his goofy comic glory. Rather than a giant man with a purple costume, the film depicts Galactus as a space cloud that floats around eating planets. There are a few points where shadows evoke Galactus’ iconic helmet, but that’s about the most fans get.

This Galactus design isn’t fully without comic book precedent. In Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Universe of Earth-1610, the book “Ultimate Extinction” (the finale of a new “Galactus Trilogy”) introduces the cosmic being in a new way. In this universe, the world-devourer is known as Gah Lak Tus, a cosmic swarm of Kree-made robots floating through space and consuming planets. Eventually, Gah Lak Tus and the Galactus of Marvel’s main universe (Earth-616) merged in a multiversal saga leading up to “Secret Wars.”

Watch the trailer

The post Who Plays Galactus in ‘The Fantastic Four’? Meet the Man with the Booming Voice appeared first on TheWrap.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Gets an Old School Spidey Suit for ‘Brand New Day’ | Video

At the end of 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” in order to save the universe Peter Parker was forced to let anyone who ever knew of his existence forget who he is. It’s a literal start-over but with no friends, no money and no more super Spidey suits courtesy of Stark Industries.

Fitting then that when Tom Holland returns next year for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” he’s getting a brand new Spider-Suit with extremely old school vibes. The actor revealed the new look in a video posted Saturday on Instagram:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tom Holland (@tomholland2013)

And in case you want to just stare for a second at the suit:

Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios via Tom Holland on Instagram

Now that looks like a suit made on a budget, likely by someone barely paying their way through college as a freelance photographer for New York City’s biggest tabloid.

Fans of the comics will no doubt recognize those lines and baby blue highlights as clearly modeled on perhaps the defining costume of “Spider-Man” comics.

As originally designed by co-creator Steve Ditko in 1962, the costume featured the instantly iconic red mask with large white eyes rimmed in black, along with red boots, gloves, arm stripes and midsection, and webbing under the arms. But the rest was actually painted black, with blue highlights for shading.

Just before he abruptly quit Marvel in 1966, Ditko stopped filling the black in, giving the suit that now-defining bright blue sections. Ditko’s replacement as lead artist on “The Amazing Spider-Man,” John Romita Sr. continued that and eventually removed the underarm webbing too. The result is the classic costume drawn pretty consistently by all “Spider-Man” artists from the late 1960s until 1984.

For example:

“Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man” Issue 1, 1976, art by Sal Buscema (Marvel Comics)

Clearly, Sony and Marvel at least want us to think they’re taking Spider-Man way back to basics. We can’t wait to see more.

The post Tom Holland’s Spider-Man Gets an Old School Spidey Suit for ‘Brand New Day’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Roger Daltrey Says Zak Starkey Was Fired by The Who Over a ‘Complete Misunderstanding’ and ‘Character Assassination’

In a new interview, The Who singer and co-founder Roger Daltrey said that the band’s longtime drummer, Zak Starkey, was fired after a “complete misunderstanding” led Starkey to make comments Daltrey said amounted to “character assassination.”

Starkey, the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, had served as the band’s drummer since 1996 but in April he was fired after the band performed at the Royal Albert Hall, was then re-hired, and then fired again. The reasons for this odd turn of events weren’t clear at the time, but speaking to The Times of London, Daltrey explained that it started with a mixing error.

Daltrey told the Times that the drums the band uses are electronic so that he can hear them through his monitors. “It is controlled by a guy on the side, and we had so much sub-bass on the sound of the drums that I couldn’t pitch. I was pointing to the bass drum and screaming at him because it was like flying a plane without seeing the horizon,” he explained. “So when Zak thought I was having a go at him, I wasn’t. That’s all that happened.”

Starkey apparently thought Daltrey was yelling at him and later said, “what happened was I got it right and Roger got it wrong. That, Daltrey told The Times, was “kind of a character assassination” and “incredibly upsetting.”

When asked to explain why Starkey rejoined only to be fired again, he added, “Pete and I retain the right to be the Who. Everyone else is a session player. You can’t replace Keith Moon. We wanted to branch out and that’s all I want to say about it. But [Starkey’s reaction] was crippling to me.”

Read the interview with Roger Daltrey here.

The post Roger Daltrey Says Zak Starkey Was Fired by The Who Over a ‘Complete Misunderstanding’ and ‘Character Assassination’  appeared first on TheWrap.

The Best Fantasy Shows on Hulu Right Now

Hulu is booming with a selection of solid shows for fantasy fans to sink their teeth into. But where to start?

The streaming service has a number of great series – both new and long-running – like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and anime juggernaut “Attack on Titan.” Both well worth any fan’s time but for very different reasons. There is something for every subset of fantasy fan.

Below are the fantasy TV shows that viewers should check out first when looking for their next binge.

“Attack on Titan: The Last Attack” (Crunchyroll)Attack on Titan

“Attack on Titan” is a meticulously paced, completely thought-out series that will have any fan of long-running fantasy stories frothing at the mouth. Following a civilization that is beset by towering titular Titans, a group of expeditioners is forced to go on the offensive or risk their own extinction. That’s the quickest elevator pitch for a show that quickly evolves into much more than that as a large cast of lovable and loathsome characters fight for a future, no matter how bleak it may be.

“Attack on Titan” starts strong and finishes stronger, which is something that happens less and less these days. If you only dive into one show on this list, make it this series.

Sarah Michelle Gellar on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (CREDIT: UPN)Buffy the Vampire Slayer

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy – the next in a long line of Slayers tasked with protecting humanity from all manner of supernatural entities, be they vampires or others. Juggling that, she also has to deal with high school (and later, adult) woes. The show was ahead of the curve in many of the topics and themes it explored, and it changed how TV stories were told with its masterful blend of episodic and serialized storytelling. With a new revamp around the corner, there is no better time to check out the original.

Tom Welling (Credit: CW)Smallville

It’s a classic for a reason! “Smallville” boasts 10 long seasons of origin story for Clark Kent as he navigates learning about his powers – and his rogues gallery – before ever taking flight or donning the red and blue tights. The original CW superhero series has a bit of that early-aughts cheesiness to it, but it becomes endearing rather than a distraction. Tom Welling is a fine Clark Kent, but Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex Luthor is just as captivating, if not more.

“Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood” (Credit: Bones)Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

There are a lot of anime options to consider on Hulu, but a universal, top-of-the-list choice for most fans of the genre is “Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood.” The series tracks two brothers on the search for the mythic Philosopher’s Stone with hopes that it can restore their bodies – one lost just arms while the other’s whole body is robotic – while breaking the rules of alchemy, trying to resurrect their mom.

“True Blood” (HBO)True Blood

One of HBO’s first big swings into the fantastical was their steamy vampiric “True Blood.” The series was set in sweltering Louisiana and followed Sookie – a local oddball and mindreader – who falls for a 173-year-old vampire who recently popped back up in town. The show was ahead of the curve in what has become a booming subgenre of novels in the 2020s. Fans of books like “A Court of Thorns and Roses” and “Fourth Wing” will likely find themselves in familiar but exciting territory with “True Blood,” as long as you don’t mind some horror with your spicy romance.

“Over the Garden Wall” (Credit: Cartoon Network)Over the Garden Wall

Not every fantasy show has to be about wars, dying by the sword, or world-ending magic. Sometimes, it’s nice to just plop down for a cozy quest in a delightful world. “Over the Garden Wall” has become many people’s go-to Fall rewatch for a reason. It’s whimsical, it’s beautiful, and it has as strongly realized a world as anything else on the list with a fraction of other shows’ runtimes. The story follows two brothers who accidentally get lost in a strange forest called The Unknown and need to find their way out.

The post The Best Fantasy Shows on Hulu Right Now appeared first on TheWrap.

Chuck Lorre and Leanne Morgan Talk Centering Middle-Aged Women in ‘Leanne’: ‘Hollywood Has Ignored Them’

Chuck Lorre’s newest sitcom introduces standup comedian Leanne Morgan as a middle-aged, church-going Tennessee woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband of 33 years leaves her. Leanne is a protagonist not often seen on TV, finally satisfying the hunger that Morgan has seen from women her age while on tour.

“I knew that I was in a lane by myself, and that my demographic had been ignored, and Hollywood has ignored them … I see all the time, when I’m on stage, how hungry they are for something that depicts their life and something authentic,” Morgan told TheWrap, thanking Lorre on behalf of women and their husbands in the middle of the U.S. for crafting one of the only shows centered on on the group.

“It is a vacuum — those stories are not being told about their lives, and I just saw that as an opportunity to take on something that isn’t being beat to death,” Lorre said, adding that “young love” has been “pretty much covered” on TV in a wink to his CBS series “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.” “This is really fresh territory, I think, comedically.”

Lorre added that each time he seeks out his next project, he challenges himself to find what’s missing on TV. “There’s a whole world of human beings that are being ignored … their difficulties and the comedy that comes from it,” Lorre said. “It comes from when a family turns upside down, how to get it right side up again, maybe never get it right side up again. But those are stories worth telling.”

Lorre first became acquainted with Morgan through her standup, which he said swept him away. “It’s like nothing I’d ever seen or heard and it was singularly truthful and honest and one of a kind — no one else is doing anything like what Leanne does on stage,” he said.

The veteran TV creator was specifically drawn to one part of Morgan’s standup, in which she discussed her friend who was pushing 60 and going through a divorce and still made it humorous. “That’s what I like to do — I like to take comedy out of the nightmare,” Lorre said. “That’s what the show really is: The nightmare of a long, long, apparently wonderful marriage crashing and burning.”

Lorre approached Morgan with the idea for the show — and for her to star in it — by flying out to Knoxville, Tenn., where he sat on Morgan’s back porch and held her grandchild while delivering the news.

“I felt validated and really it moved me, because … this hasn’t been all for nothing,” Morgan said of her 20+ years performing standup. “Here’s Chuck Lorre wanting to do a show with me. It’s been a dream come true.”

Chuck Lorre, Leanne Morgan and Kristen Johnston on the set of “Leanne” (Patrick Mcelhenney/Netflix)

While Morgan has made the stage her home doing standup, “Leanne” is one of her first times delving into the world of acting, with her previous credits including “You’re Cordially Invited” and “Sun Moon.”

“I didn’t know anything; I didn’t know what the terminology was. I didn’t know there was going to be this big soundstage, the 250 in a crew, all of that, but they all wanted to see me win and everybody helped me,” Morgan said. “At first I was overwhelmed and thought, ‘Am I worthy of this? Can I do this?’ But after every episode, I would feel a little more settled in, and then it felt like home.”

Lorre applauded Morgan for learning on the spot, especially for the more emotional moments at the start of the series that require Morgan to “basically have a breakdown on camera” as her character learns that her husband is leaving her for another woman. But naturally, there was no learning curve when it came to the comedy, with Lorre saying the timing is “in [Morgan’s] bones.”

“There’s 20 years of work that went into developing that standup act and that’s something you can’t fake,” Lorre said. “That experience is hard won, and it takes time. It takes failure. It requires you to rebound from failure and learn, and you either [learn] or you just get bitter and hard and miserable. It’s a choice.”

If anything, there was more of a learning curve for the show’s more dramatic moments, though Morgan noted the devastation her character felt came naturally to her as she imagined if she was in a similar position, instead of being happily married to her longtime husband, Chuck Morgan.

“We wrote it and rewrote it, trying to find the truth of it,” Lorre said, noting the difficulty of starting a brand new show from scratch. “The very first scene is a woman traumatized … it happened yesterday that she found out that he’s leaving and that’s that’s an extraordinary thing to have to do right out of the gate, and do in front of a live studio audience as well.”

Leanne Morgan, Kristen Johnston as Carol, Celia Weston as Mama Margaret and Blake Clark as Daddy John in “Leanne” (Patrick Mcelhenney/Netflix)

Both Lorre and Morgan are all in on continuing “Leanne” with a potential Season 2 should they get the green light from Netflix. Lorre noted “Netflix has been extraordinarily supportive” of the show, which is in line with his past experiences at the streamer where he created “The Kominsky Method” and “Disjointed.”

“The ethos of Netflix is if they’re going to greenlight a show and say, ‘Go make the show,’ they let you go make the show, which is not my experience in network television,” Lorre said.

With all 16 episodes of “Leanne” shooting at once — as opposed to shooting one by one across August through April on a network timeline — Lorre noted the autonomy can be “treacherous” at times.

“You can be wrong, you can make mistakes, you can go down. You can misunderstand one of your characters and their relationships, and you have to learn very quickly what’s what’s in front of you, and how best to tell their stories,” Lorre said. “It’s a little unnerving, but I think we’ve managed pretty good.”

“Leanne” is now streaming on Netflix.

The post Chuck Lorre and Leanne Morgan Talk Centering Middle-Aged Women in ‘Leanne’: ‘Hollywood Has Ignored Them’ appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Fantastic Four’ Sinks 66% From Box Office Opening Weekend

Despite a largely strong critical and audience reception, Disney/Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” is not holding as well in its second weekend at the box office as predicted, even as it stays No. 1 over Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Bad Guys 2” and Paramount’s “The Naked Gun.”

After a $11.7 million second Friday, industry estimates have “Fantastic Four” earning a $40.8 million second weekend, which equates to a 66% drop from its $117.6 million domestic opening. Theatrical sources and rival studios had predicted a second weekend of at least $45 million, which would have keep its drop to 60% or less.

By comparison, Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Superman” had a $58.4 million second weekend, dropping 53% from its $125 million launch. “Superman” crossed $300 million domestically on Thursday and is headed for a $13.8 million fourth weekend.

While a mix of new releases and continued competition from “Superman” may be peeling off more moviegoers from “Fantastic Four” than predicted, it’s not an encouraging sign for Marvel that such a well-received installment that introduces a new version of a well-known superhero team is having a tougher time drawing in casual audiences.

Meanwhile, “The Bad Guys 2” and “The Naked Gun” are opening consistent with pre-release projections. “Bad Guys 2” earned $9 million on opening day and is now estimated for a $22.8 million opening weekend from 3,852 theaters.

The $80 million animated sequel is hoping to have similar legs to its spring 2022 predecessor, which opened to $23.9 million and finished with a $97 million domestic/$250 million global total. It has the reception to do that, earning an A on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 84% critics and 95% audience. Now it comes down to how many families come in before kids go back to school.

“The Naked Gun” is in third this weekend, earning $6.2 million on Friday as it heads for an estimated $16.3 million opening. That’s a decent result given the infrequency of comedy films these days, roughly $1 million above the opening of Sony’s R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings” starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Still, this revival of the hit 1988 police movie spoof needs to leg out to turn on its $42 million budget. The good news is that “Naked Gun” has been well received by critics and audiences alike, earning an A- on CinemaScore alongside scores of 90% critics and 80% audience. Drawing out moviegoers under 35 who were not around to see Leslie Nielsen’s “Naked Gun” films on the big screen is key.

The post ‘Fantastic Four’ Sinks 66% From Box Office Opening Weekend appeared first on TheWrap.

Bill Maher Says People Need to ‘Triage’ Trump Outrage and ‘Make Some Rational Decisions About What to Lose Our S– Over’

“Let’s take stock of the first half of the first year of Trump’s second term, and make some rational decisions about what to lose our shit over,” Bill Maher urged during Friday’s “Real Time” in the “New Rules” segment.

Specifically, he urged people to ignore things like “Gulf of America” and focus on more dire matters, like the “domestic army of masked troops” in ICE terrorizing U.S. cities and residents.

To set the commentary up, Maher related an encounter he says he had with a fan who brought up something the Trump administration did, asking if Maher was angry about it. About that, Maher said, “I’m not. I’m not incensed. I’m sure you’re right. I just don’t have room,” Maher said, and after some more riffing on the specific Trump subject, added, “right after he got elected in November, I said, here and everywhere else I could, he got the White House, but this time, he’s not going to get my mind. There’s only so many f—s to give.”

Maher noted that “Steve Bannon famously said that the way you win is to flood the zone with s—. You want to help him with that? Great you do you, but I’m not chasing every brain fart down the rabbit hole. So therefore, here is my 1/8 of the term scorecard for what actually matters: Turning the Environmental Protection Agency into the pollution Protection Agency. Yes, that’s going to matter. All the people who will lose health care and all the debt that will be run up from the big, beautiful bill. Yes, that matters.”

“Turning the Justice Department into the national revenge agency, firing all the inspector generals, maybe firing the head of the Federal Reserve, letting Doge destroy lives here and abroad in a way that didn’t have to go down like that in order to slim the government down, which it didn’t do anyway, creating a Domestic army of masked troops, rounding people up and sending them off to detention centers and foreign prisons? Yeah,” he continued.

“The big, beautiful bill is $150 billion in IT for additional spending for snatching people up who’ve lived here peacefully and productively for decades, mostly with no criminal records. I’m just saying if you’re thinking of getting your car wash. You might want to do it now,” Maher joked, bleakly.

“So, yeah, there’s a lot of outrageous, horrible shit going on,” Maher went on — though he did note he’s glad people don’t have to take their shoes off in airports anymore.

“It’s just that life is complicated, and Democrats need to be less emotional and more focused,” Maher said, listing some other issues he thinks doesn’t rise to the importance of the previously mentioned crises.

“Get a life, stop making [Trump] your whole personality,” Maher also said, adding somewhat later, at the end, “So please, when I’m out there, no more ‘Bill, did you just see what he did today?’ If you’re if you don’t even have to say who ‘he’ is, you already lost, because ‘he’ is already living too rent-free in your head.”

Watch the whole commentary below:

The post Bill Maher Says People Need to ‘Triage’ Trump Outrage and ‘Make Some Rational Decisions About What to Lose Our S– Over’ appeared first on TheWrap.