Teenage girls electrify in sci-fi shocker ‘The Power’

Tupac Shakur was murdered, meaning he's been gone longer than the 25-year-old was alive. Throughout his life, the rapper's ambitions warred with his personal struggles as his portrayal in the media fought to outshine his rising star onscreen. Since his death, many have tried to encapsulate how his legendary music career and passion for acting influenced hip-hop long after he died.

Joshua Alston Director Allen Hughes has evolved into a deft and imaginative documentarian, just the latest pleasant surprise in a long, eclectic career. His best-known films are the scripted fare he co-directed with his twin brother Albert, including “Menace II Society” and “Dead Presidents,” which dove deep into the lives of young, disaffected Black men. The brothers dabbled in documentary with 1999’s “American Pimp,” another film about Black men thriving (and suffering, and causing suffering) in a brutal subculture, but the film’s insights were mostly washed out by its prurience. Since then, the Hugheses have pursued solo projects, but Allen found new traction with “The Defiant Ones,” the HBO docuseries chronicling the durable and fruitful partnership between Dr. Dre and Interscope Records founder Jimmy Iovine. The brilliance of that show, which earned a Grammy and five Emmy nods, was in its format and structure. Hughes plots the key points of their professional and personal journeys, from their initial meeting to their eventual $3 billion sale of Beats Audio. Because the hip hop producer and music executive affected so many aspects of their industry at the time, an exploration of their friendship became a microcosmic portrait of a seminal period for American music. 

Hulu — two of Tupac Shakur’s cousins recount, in chilling detail, how they first heard the titular classic.They were hanging in an Atlanta hotel room with the late rap icon on Halloween 1993, just after Shakur shot two white off-duty cops. Law enforcement was standing by in the hallway.“But Tupac — he’s calm,” Billy Lesane said, recalling his weed-smoking cousin before his arrest.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – has now changed historical sides.  Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”  Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.” 

William Earl Kate Winslet is returning to HBO, but she’s a long way from Easttown. The Oscar-winning actor is leading the upcoming HBO limited series “The Regime,” which was teased during the April 12 Warner Bros. Discovery streaming press event. The lush teaser is filled with mystery and political intrigue, and the official logline doesn’t give too many clues, simply saying that the series “tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of a modern European regime as it begins to unravel.” The cast includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, Hugh Grant, Danny Webb, David Bamber, Henry Goodman, Stanley Townsend, Louie Mynett, Rory Keenan, Karl Markovics and Pippa Haywood.

Ethan Shanfeld As Nintendo takes its shot at the box office with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the first animated film featuring the iconic mustachioed plumber, the gaming company has been coy about revealing what’s next for the Super Mario video game franchise. But while Shigeru Miyamoto — the legendary video game designer, Nintendo fellow and self-proclaimed “Mario’s mom” — won’t say where Mario is running next, he is forthright about where he won’t be: your smartphone. Sitting down with Variety for this week’s cover story on the making of the film, Miyamoto said firmly, “Mobile apps will not be the primary path of future Mario games.” After two moderately successful but dwindling iOS games, plus another that shuttered after two years, Nintendo is pulling Mario away from the mobile market. Released in 2016, Super Mario Run grossed $60 million in its first year, while 2019’s Mario Kart Tour has generated $300 million (compared to Mario Kart 8’s $3 billion and counting). Without explanation, Nintendo removed 2019’s Dr. Mario World from app markets two years after its release.

Naman Ramachandran Studiocanal has confirmed that “Paddington in Peru,” the third instalment of the beloved bear’s adventures, will commence production on July 24. The film is set to be helmed by Dougal Wilson, making his feature film directorial debut. He has previously made commercials for brands including Apple, Ikea and the BBC as well as U.K. department store John Lewis’s annual Christmas commercial. Among his many industry awards and honours, Wilson’s film “We’re the Superhumans” for the Channel 4 Paralympics, garnered two Black D&AD Pencils and the Film Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. He was also nominated by the DGA for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials in 2020. 

EXCLUSIVE: Make that a triple marmalade sandwich. Long-awaited movie threequel Paddington In Peru is on course to start production on July 24, we can reveal.

Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden and Tool are set to all play new California festival Power Trip.Across three days at the Empire Polo Club in Indio – the venue for Coachella – the six metal heavyweights will come together for a massive show on October 6, 7 and 8.The show will be Ozzy Osbourne’s first since he announced his retirement from touring. It’s also AC/DC’s first gig since 2016, and could signal the return of frontman Brian Johnson, who missed their last gigs due to hearing loss and was replaced by Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose.The first day of Power Trip (October 6) will be headlined by Guns N’ Roses and Iron Maiden, with AC/DC and Osbourne headlining the second night.Things then wrap up on October 8 with sets from Metallica and Tool.See full details below.

Last month, Steven Yeun joined the ever-growing ensemble cast of the upcoming Marvel film “Thunderbolts.” Now the creator of Yeun’s latest buzzy project, Netflix‘s “Beef,” out April 6, joins the MCU, too. Variety reports that “Beef” creator Lee Sung Jin joins “Thunderbirds” as a writer.

She's voiced her dislike for this year's series of The Apprentice after taking part in the BBC One business competitiion in 2022, and Amy Anzel raised eyebrows as she launched a petition to replace Lord Alan Sugar at the helm. Amy, who was fired halfway through the process by the business magnate, is calling for the Amstrad founder to be switched for Dragons' Den star Steven Bartlett.

Gordon Ramsay has leapt to the defence of his reality TV competition Future Food Stars after Lord Alan Sugar's condemnation. Premiering on BBC One this time last year, the show puts 12 culinary entrepreneurs through their paces in a battle to secure £150k worth of investment in their business, while it's also been given the go-ahead for a second series. Alan, 76, recently told MailOnline: "I think broadcasters, Channel 4, Channel 5, and ITV have tried for many years, at least for 17 years, to try and replicate the elimination process of The Apprentice.

Auli’i Cravalho got everyone’s attention at the premiere of The Power in New York City on Thursday night (March 23).

The winner of the 17th series of The Apprentice has been revealed as boxing gym owner, Marnie Swindells.The 28 year old beat stiff competition from 18 ambitious entrepreneurs undertaking plenty of tough tasks on the popular BBC show to win a life-changing £250,000 investment from Lord Alan Sugar, her new business partner. She won the show with her boxing gym business plan for Bronx, and last week she said: "My business is in boxing gyms, the name’s Bronx, the idea is to create a middle-market option between the high-end boutique gyms and the low-end spit and sawdust gyms." Marnie was in the final with Rochelle Ray Anthony, who's dream was to expand her salon and hair academy business.

As The Apprentice reaches it’s final nail biting conclusion on Thursday evening, Lord Alan Sugar will once again be revealing which contestant has earned his highly sought after investment to help get their business of the ground. The 74 year old star, has been making the dreams of contestants come true since 2005, when he first launched The Apprentice and kickstarted the businesses of the winning contestants, by offering both a cash investment and his impressive business knowhow to help them reach their full potential.

A defiant Lord Sugar has assured fans that he’s not going anywhere ahead of this year’s The Apprentice finale, that airs on March 23 at 9pm.The successful businessman, who was recently rocked by a star quitting the show, said that “a lot of people underestimate me” and that he could easily go on doing 20 or 25 years on the hit reality show. So far, he’s fronted all 17 series of the programme.The 75 year old also explained that he was “very fit” for his age and that finding someone to replace him on The Apprentice could end up meaning the show would “kill itself off.” Alan Sugar did concede, however, that if they went on a ten year hiatus before bringing it back with “new characters” the show could wind up with a successful revival.The star has certainly never shied away from his business success, and is thought to be worth a staggering £1.2 billion, ranking him as the 138th-richest person in the UK.

Apple is said to be interested in bidding for the rights to broadcast English soccer games, according to a new report published this morning.

Soccer AM has reportedly been cancelled by Sky after almost 30 years on the air.The popular Sunday morning TV show will be removed from Sky’s broadcasting schedule at the end of the current Premier League season, with 10 episodes still remaining.A spokesperson for Sky did not confirm the show’s cancellation, but said consultations were underway as they aim to “adapt to the evolving needs” of viewers.“Soccer AM has played an important role in our coverage of football for the past three decades, and we continually adapt to the evolving needs of our customers,” the spokesperson said (via The Guardian).“We now go into a period of consultation to discuss the proposed changes with our people. We are unable to provide more detail while these consultations are underway.”Soccer AM was launched on Sky Sports in 1995.

Cult football programme Soccer AM is being cancelled by Sky after almost 30 years on air. The broadcaster has made the decision due to failing ratings.

EXCLUSIVE: Crunchyroll has tapped Nichole Sakura (Superstore) for the title role in the English-language dub of their acclaimed animated feature Suzume, which in addition to the original subtitled version, debuts in theaters in Australia and New Zealand on April 13, coming to the U.S., Canada, the UK and Ireland the following day.