Is Twitter down? Users report error code and not being able to open links

Chad Stahelski, the director of “John Wick: Chapter 4”, faced some heavy studio opposition for his decision to end the story of Keanu Reeve’s beloved John Wick character in the fourth franchise film.

Chad Stahelski and then partner David Leitch came from the area of martial arts and stunts, and made their mark choreographing huge stunt sequences and directed second unit for many films before getting the shot at steering a franchise with John Wick. Leitch went his own way and Stahelski remained welded to Keanu Reeves in one of most fascinating director-star relationships that concludes with John Wick 4, the final installment of a sleeper action-heavy hit that grew into blockbuster status as each film grew in ambition and box office grosses. The most fantastical gun violence Hollywood has brought since The Matrix films has only been part of it, as are the close combat brawls, knife, sword fights and car crashes that left Wick bloodied but undaunted. For their fourth and likely final time out, Stahelski and Reeves added iconic Asian action heroes Donnie Yen and Hiroyuki Sanada to ramp things up even further. Here, Stahelski breaks down why the franchise’s mythological underpinnings was its secret weapon, how they pulled off an endless string of eye-popping action sequences — 14 in the finale — for much less than a pricey romcom and why stunt professionals deserve Oscar recognition as much as any other category. Getting that recognition for his bruised and battered brethren might be his next production.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor As Elon Musk promised, Twitter’s previous blue check-mark verification regime will soon be history. The social network, which the mega-billionaire bought last year in a debt-heavy $44 billion deal, announced on Thursday that starting April 1, it will remove the verified check-mark status of accounts that Twitter had been verified as notable before Musk’s takeover unless they have subscribed to Twitter Blue or the business-focused Twitter Verified Organizations plan.On April 1st, we will begin winding down our legacy verified program and removing legacy verified checkmarks. To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue here: https://t.co/gzpCcwOpLp Organizations can sign up for https://t.co/RlN5BbuGA3… The only individual Twitter users who will have verified blue check-marks are those paying for Twitter Blue, which in the U.S. costs $8/month via the web and $11/month through in-app payment on iOS and Android. Earlier Thursday, the company announced that Twitter Blue was now available worldwide.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures has preemptively acquired a remake of the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock-directed psychological thriller Vertigo, with Robert Downey Jr eyeing the James Stewart lead role of the former police detective forced to retire after a line of duty trauma that leaves him with fear of heights and vertigo. The script will be written by Steven Knight, the See and Peaky Blinders creator who just signed on to write a Star Wars film.

“I love you, but you are not serious people,” says Logan Roy (Brian Cox) to his estranged and ambitious offspring in Succession‘s fourth and final season. For a series stuffed to gills with verbal uppercuts that would leave Malcolm Tucker bruised and blushing, the profanity-free candor from the Emmy-winning series’ media baron fulfillingly sticks the shiv in deep.

Bloomberg reported.The user base grew by more than 500% in the first month since its launch in November, the report said, citing internal data. Its second month saw another 50% growth.The numbers pale in comparison to Netflix’s 231 million paying users — 74 million in the U.S.

John Wick: Chapter 4” on Monday evening was a celebratory, yet somber occasion, as star Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski paid tribute to the late Lance Reddick, who starred as Charon in all four “John Wick” films before dying suddenly on Friday. He was 60. “Lance is a people person, a special artist, a gentleman of grace and dignity,” Reeves said on the carpet. “It’s just really something special, every time he stepped on set, to watch the passion he had for his work. It’s really easy to work with him.” “It’s not just one memory. It’s not just one day. It’s a collective. I had Lance in my life almost 10 years,” Stahelski told Variety. “Although that was done over the course of four films, we’ve worked together on other things. I just got to be happy and be proud of the fact that I got to spend so much time with him. We’re going to miss him.”

All inquiries from members of the press directed to Twitter’s official press email now receive the same automatic reply: a poop emoji.

Ghost shirts, which are sacred to certain Indigenous communities, were thought to guard the wearer against bullets through spiritual power. This precious heirloom is at the center of Tony Tost’s directorial debut film at SXSW, Americana. This western dramedy has some tricks up its sleeve, thanks to the brilliant writing and the script’s comedic timing. It boasts a big cast of actors including Sydney Sweeney, Halsey, Paul Walter Hauser, Zahn McClarnon, Simon Rex, Eric Dane and Gavin Maddox Bergman.

Hollywood is mourning the loss of the late Lance Reddick.

"John Wick: Chapter Four" star Keanu Reeves; the film's director, Chad Stahelski; and more Hollywood stars are mourning the unexpected death of actor Lance Reddick. Reddick, who starred in "The Wire," "Fringe" and the "John Wick" franchise, died Friday. He was 60.

Twitter's head Elon Musk has been called out by the son of Leicestershire-star Gary Lineker following his father's public fallout with the BBC as trolls have hurled abuse his way online. Gary hit out at the billionaire and chief executive officer on Twitter, including him in a post that shows his son George being told that he should be "burned at the stake" for his public support of his father. It comes after the former footballer was reinstated as host of Match Of The Day (MOTD) on Monday (March 13).

Gary Lineker has questioned Twitter owner Elon Musk after a threatening message was sent to his son in the wake of the sports presenter’s row with the BBC. The former footballer, who was reinstated as host of Match Of The Day (MOTD) on Monday, re-shared a private message which said his eldest son, George, should to be “burned at the stake” for his public support of his father. Lineker and other employees of the BBC have received abuse online following the ex-England striker’s brief suspension as host of MOTD at the weekend.

In a world where franchises tend to have diminishing returns with subsequent sequels, it’s pretty extraordinary that the “John Wick” film franchise has been able to nearly double its worldwide box office gross with each new film in the series. Now, with “John Wick: Chapter 4” just days away, everyone is expecting the newest film to perhaps be the biggest one yet.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Emily Longeretta Warning: This story contains major spoilers for “Scream VI,” in theaters now. Anytime a “Scream” movie drops, it’s safe to assume fans want to see it multiple times, especially to catch all the Easter eggs. The sixth movie, written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, picks up plenty of threads from the last film. This time, Tara (Jenna Ortega) enrolls in college in New York City, attempting to leave the past in the past. Making it hard is her overprotective sister, Sam (Melissa Barrera), who struggles to move forward since the internet is convinced she actually orchestrated the last killings. Along with Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), “Scream VI” also marks the return of Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, respectively) and “Scream 4” survivor Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), who now works as an FBI agent and comes to New York after hearing about Ghostface’s return.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Meta, parent of Facebook and Instagram, said it is considering launching a new Twitter-like social network. “We’re exploring a standalone, decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. The rep said the company had no additional info on the prospective social network to share. News site Moneycontrol first reported on the potential Meta service, which is code-named “P92.” The new Meta app would be based on — and interoperable with — the framework that powers Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that launched in 2016 and has seen a surge in popularity since Musk’s takeover of Twitter last October.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in a $44 billion, debt-laden deal a little over four months ago, said advertising revenue has dropped as much as 50% since he took over. But the mega-billionaire tech mogul said a few large advertisers have continued to spend with Twitter, and he specifically called out — and thanked — Disney and Apple as remaining two of the biggest marketers on the social network, speaking Tuesday at the 2023 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in San Francisco. According to Musk, Twitter is improving its ability to serve timely and relevant ads. He said he was speaking with David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, who asked Musk why Twitter couldn’t put an ad with the trailer for HBO hit show “The White Lotus” next to every tweet that mentions “White Lotus.” Musk responded affirmatively, describing it as basic keyword-based ad buys that Twitter is now selling: “It’s just Google AdWords but applied to tweets.”

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Elon Musk will be the center of a new documentary from the unflinching Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning director of “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.” Already months into production, Gibney announced the project on Monday saying he was “hugely excited” about tackling Musk on film. It is described as a “definitive and unvarnished examination of multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.” Tech mogul Musk reached peak saturation in late 2022 when he completed a $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, promising to upend the platform’s user experience as well as restore “balance” to its user body (including the elimination of bot accounts, which Musk has previously said ran rampant on the site).

Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney has his next doc as he is currently months into the making of Musk, a definitive and unvarnished examination of multi-billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter.