'The Acolyte' Surpasses 'The Mandalorian' As Most Expensive 'Star Wars' Series

The Acolyte” is pushing back against those who say that her show is “woke” propaganda featuring “lesbian space witches,” slamming the criticism as “reductive.”Leslye Headland, the “first openly queer person to create” a major Star Wars project as The Hollywood Reporter (THR) described her, spoke to the outlet this week about the backlash the show has gotten for its progressive themes, telling the outlet that she never intended to make a show with an overt political agenda, even if it contains some LGBTQ messaging.“I don’t believe that I’ve created queer, with a capital Q, content,” Headland told the entertainment outlet.“Star Wars: The Acolyte” has proven to be one of the most divisive entries in the Star Wars franchise since its debut on Disney’s streaming platform earlier this month. Despite being a hit with critics – it currently features an 85% Rotten Tomatoes rating among professional movie reviewers – it has a 14% audience score, the lowest rating in that category among all Star Wars content.The Disney-owned film franchise has been criticized by fans in recent years who claim the company has embraced “woke” storylines and characters, with fans slamming “The Acolyte” as the most progressive one yet.The show’s LGBTQ reputation has preceded itself, generating a now-viral moment where a journalist from The Wrap told Headland and non-binary series star Amandla Stenberg during an interview that the show is “arguably the gayest Star Wars by a considerable margin.”Though she and the actor were amused by the question, Headland suggested it wasn’t something she was aiming for.

EXCLUSIVE: Synchronicity Films is adapting Hanif Kureishi’s The Body as a series with the novelist and screenwriter on board as an exec producer and Emmy-nominated director Paul McGuigan attached. There are scripts from crime writer Robert Murphy and the producers will relocate the action from the UK to the U.S. for the series.

Weddings aren’t cheap, but some stars take the expenses to the next level.

compiled a report on the world’s most badly behaved celebrities. To come up with the naughty list, the UK gaming company used stats from Google searches.

The last major role of Donald Sutherland, who died today at the age of 88, was on the Paramount+ limited series Lawmen: Bass Reeves, headlined and executive produced by David Oyelowo.

Colin Farrell is back as The Penguin!

Don’t Look Now and The Hunger Games, has died aged 88.With a career dating back to the 1950s, he is widely regarded as one of the most versatile and respected actors, winning numerous prestigious awards for his work in both film and television.His son Kiefer Sutherland, also an actor, announced on X earlier this evening (June 20) that his father had passed away. He reportedly died in Miami from a long illness.The statement read: “With a heavy heart I tell you that my father, Donald Sutherland, has passed away.

Billy Ray called him “a prince.” Kiefer Sutherland said his dad was “never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly.” Joe Russo simply wrote, “RIP to the Goat.”

UCP is teaming with Side Naegle, Jenna Bush Hager’s Thousand Voices and Ali Krug’s Dinner Party Productions to develop a series adaptation of Chris Whitaker’s new novel All the Colors of the Dark. 

The Struts have announced ‘The Grand Union’ UK and European tour with Barns Courtney – check out all details below.The Derby band are now gearing up to tour in the UK this September, where they’ll be stopping by cities such as Leeds, Manchester, and Newcastle before finishing their tour with a show at London’s Roundhouse on October 6.From there, they’ll also be visiting European cities like Paris, Berlin, Warsaw and Prague, with the EU leg of their tour concluding at Milan’s Fabrique on the 21st.The Struts will also be bringing Aylesbury’s Barns Courtney as their special guest for their UK/EU tour. Courtney has previously toured with the band for their headline American tour for their fourth album, ‘Pretty Vicious‘.Speaking about the tour, frontman Luke Spiller shared: “We are really looking forward to getting back out and bringing our best show to date alongside our longterm friend and partner in rock, Barns Courtney.

If you have a lot of free time (and perhaps a degree in copyright law), then you should really try to unravel the mess that is the “Friday the 13th” rights. Without getting stuck in the weeds, it appears various people own various parts of the franchise.

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli romcom drama series The Baker and the Beauty is being remade for France’s TF1, with French singer-songwriter Amir Haddad playing the lead in his debut TV role.

After the impressive display of The King's Birthday Parade in London at the weekend, another important royal procession will take place in Windsor today, Monday, 17 June.The Order of the Garter is the oldest order of chivalry in the United Kingdom and is the most senior knighthood in the British honours system which is only outranked by the Victoria Cross and the George Cross. It sees those members of the Royal Family who have been honoured, attend a service at St George's Chapel, Windsor, before parading in their eye-catching dark blue mantles and Tudor bonnets with ostrich feather plumes.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor At the Monte-Carlo TV Festival Saturday, Lee Jung-Jae, one of the stars of new Disney+ series “Star Wars: The Acolyte,” spoke with Variety about how he prepared for his role as Jedi Master Sol, the strengths of Leslye Headland, the show’s creator, as a showrunner, and the relationship between Sol and Amandla Stenberg’s characters.Lee, who won a Primetime Emmy for “Squid Game,” says that for 50% of “The Acolyte” role he drew inspiration from previous depictions of the Jedi Masters, and “for the remaining 50% I tried to find something that was appropriate to Sol – something that would only incarnate him.” He also consulted with an expert in “Star Wars” lore at Lucasfilm.In “The Acolyte,” the Jedi Masters are shown to be flawed. How does the show present this? “In ‘The Acolyte,’ what it tries to say is that anyone can make mistakes, but you have to accept the mistakes that you make, and put effort into correcting them or developing yourself, because any human being has some unstable thinking,” Lee says.

Even a quarter-century later, box office victory still tastes sweet for Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal.

Anohni and the Johnsons played their first show in nine years in Athens last night (June 13) – read on to see the footage.READ MORE: Anohni – ‘My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross’ review: a sublime soul reinventionThe group last performed live in June 2015, the final show taking place in Hobart, Australia. That absence came to an end in the Greek capital’s Odeon of Herodes Atticus on Thursday with a show that took in material from across their career, as well as Anohni’s 2016 solo album ‘Hopelessness’.The group were introduced by the renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic, and gave live debuts to a number of songs, including ‘It Must Change’, ‘Can’t’ and ‘Why Am I Alive Now?’Check out footage below:ANOHNI and the Johnsons @ Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Acropolis.

Doug Liman is a director known for many things, but one of them, most notably here, is his unique and thrilling action flicks. Liman is a master at taking the most straightforward concept, putting random celebrities in it, and making it gold.

EXCLUSIVE: BAFTA-nominated Rocks co-writer Theresa Ikoko is no longer attached to Channel 4 drama series Dance School, a show the network said she was co-creating two years ago.

Prince Harry's old chums from his Eton and military days are reportedly steering clear of him due to their strong dislike for Meghan Markle, according to a royal expert.

So many stars stepped out to attend the Critics Choice Association’s Inaugural Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television at Fairmont Century Plaza on Friday night (June 7) in Los Angeles.