Legendary folk singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell made a rare public appearance in Canada at the Juno Awards on Sunday night, where she received a lifetime achievement award.
Canadian-born Mitchell appeared on stage at her country’s music awards alongside the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, whom she praised. “I’m so glad to be back in Canada. This man is a blessing. You guys are so fortunate,” she added in tribute to Carney while he was at her side on stage in Hamilton, Ontario.
Mitchell, who lives in Los Angeles, added in a note of contrast: “I’m living in the States and you know what’s happening there.” The legendary musician while on stage also recalled a decade earlier when she “had a (brain) aneurysm, which changed my life. Oddly, for the better. I went into a coma, which helped me to quit smoking. And my house filled up with the most wonderful nurses. I was, on the road with men for years and years; now I live with a house full of women. So my life has changed for the better out of a catastrophe like a phoenix.”
For his part, Carney said of Mitchell during his tribute broadcast countrywide on the CBC network: “During a career spanning six decades, Joni drew a map of of Canada. Oh Canada.” Also Sunday night, during a Junos awash in Canadian nationalism, award show host Mae Martin, a non-binary comedian and actor who created and stars in Netflix’s Wayward series, welcomed returning home to Canada after touring her comedy act in the U.S.
“I just feel like I’m with my people, you know, people who care more about which hockey team I support then which gender I am… Coming back to Canada after living in the U.S., it feels like seeing your old friends after you’ve been in a toxic relationship that you just got out,” Martin said when taking a few swipes at Americans to the south.
Martin also pitched while on stage fellow Canadian Nelly Furtado on a video cover of her hit song “Promiscuous,” which she would retitle “Promiscuous They/Them.” “The video could be good. It’s me in sensible jeans, trying to decide which bathroom to use,” Martin added.
Also at the Junos, Canada’s version of the Grammys, The Beaches all-women rock band took home the prize for best group of the year, after winning n the same category in 2024 and 2025. “I promise you all I’ll keep working hard and I’ll stay sober,” Cameron Whitcomb said on stage after winning for breakthrough artist or group of the year with his debut album, The Hard Way, which has lyrics about his addiction and recovery journey.
In other prize giving, the best contemporary R&B recording of the year trophy was picked up by Toronto singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar for “Son of Spergy,” a tun inspired by his father. And the Juno Fan Choice Award went to Canadian rapper Alexander Leon Gumuchian, also known professionally as BBNO$.
In pre-telecast award giving, Tate McCrae, who was a no show at the Junos, won the best album of the year for So Close to What, best artist of the year, best single of the year for “Sports Car” and pop album of the year.
Another emotional high point during the Junos came when “I’m Like a Bird” singer and Latin Grammy winner Nelly Furtado was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, a tribute preceded by a pre-taped video tribute by Drake.
“Being a woman in the music industry, in any era, is something that I have to tip my hat to. The men in this business do not make it any easier. I think what was most impressive to me is the respect that all men had when they spoke about you,” the Canadian superstar said of Furtado.
That was followed a series of hits by the Portuguese-Canadian songstress performed on stage at the Junos by Alessia Cara, Jully Black, Shawn Desman and Tanya Tagaq. When accepting her career tribute, Furtado told the Junos audience: “I’m just really proud to be Canadian. I live in Canada. I make my music in Canada. And I work with Canadian musicians, songwriters and producers because I totally believe in the Canadian dream. Please believe in it, too.”
In other prize giving, the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award to Raquel McIntosh from Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School in Hamilton.
John Oliver kicked off Sunday’s Last Week Tonightby mocking President Trump for his justification of avoiding the use of the word “war” amid the United States’ military operation in Iran.
“The Iran war entered its second month, though Trump tries not to use the word ‘war’ for reasons he probably shouldn’t be saying out loud,” Oliver said, setting up a clip of Trump explaining why he isn’t using the term.
“I won’t use the word ‘war’ because they say if you use the word war, that’s maybe not a good thing to do,” Trump said. “They don’t like the word war because you’re supposed to get approval, so I’ll use the word ‘military operation,’ which is really what it is.”
Responded Oliver: “What? He really just talks like a 6-year-old speaking stream-of-consciousness to a stranger: ‘And my mum says I’m not allowed to talk about my penis with other people, even though everybody has one, well, not her and not my sister, but my dad and I both have penises, but I can’t say that when there are too many people around, even though everyone knows ’cause they have their own penises unless they don’t, but I do.’”
Oliver then said that no matter what word is used to describe the conflict, “it has been chaos.” He recapped recent developments, including Trump threatening to attack Iran’s power grid if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, posting on social media that he’d be “starting with the biggest” power plant first. That “would be a war crime if this was a war, but luckily we now know it isn’t,” Oliver observed.
Oliver continued that Trump then said those strikes would be delayed after fruitful conversations with Iran, which the latter denied have even taken place. Trump then extended the deadline to April 6, though Iran has been bombing U.S. bases and allies. He noted that 2,000 Iranians and 13 U.S. service members have been killed so far, while Trump is reportedly mulling sending another 10,000 troops to the region.
“It sure feels like we’re in an unnecessary war with no endgame, though the president’s supporters will insist that if you just look at things in the right way, it all makes sense,” he said, showing a clip of Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican, giving his take.
“Here’s why we went into Iran: We had no choice,” Kennedy said. “The president didn’t start a war. He … was trying to stop a war.”
Said Oliver: “Oh, I get it. Sometimes you have to start a war to stop a war. The same way you have to ‘spend money to make money’ or ‘fake it ’til you make it’ — you know, any of those things that people say when they’re in way over their heads.”
Alex Duong, a stand-up comedian and TV actor who appeared on the CBS drama “Blue Bloods,” died on Sunday in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 42.
Duong’s death was announced via a GoFundMe page. The page was set up in February 2025 to help the actor pay for medical expenses as he fought alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer that affected his sight.
“With the heaviest hearts, we share that our dear Alex passed away peacefully this morning, surrounded by love and dear friends,” read an update post from the GoFundMe page. “He was comfortable and thankfully out of pain. [His wife] Christina and [daughter] Everest were able to see him last night, and he was alert enough to say goodbye to his little girl, whom he has treasured every moment since the day she was born. We are devastated, but so grateful for the support, prayers, and generosity you have all shown during this unimaginable time. Your continued support now means everything as Christina and Everest navigate the days ahead and to arrange a beautiful celebration of his life.”
Along with “Blue Bloods,” Duong’s other TV credits include “Everybody Hates Chris,” “Mad TV,” “Dexter,” “Interns Anonymous,” “Death Valley” and “The Young and the Restless.” On the film side, Duong appeared in “Formosa Betrayed,” “Ghetto Physics,” “The Beyond” and “Sideways for Attention.”
Last August, the Largo in Los Angeles hosted “The Alex Duong Has Cancer In His Eye Comedy Benefit Show,” which featured comedians like Ronny Chieng, Andrea Jin and Atusko Okatsuka.
“Comedians always have each other’s backs when times are shit,” Duong told the LA Times in a 2025 profile. “We know how hard it is to pine and struggle and scrape by in this lifestyle, just so we can do these jokes and keep improving. It’s a beautiful thing to see in this world; it really is.”
The 29th Sonoma Intl. Film Festival wrapped March 29 with Spanish film “Maspalomas” winning the Grand Jury Award for best narrative feature. In a statement, the jury noted that directors Aitor Arregi and Jose Mari Goenaga’s film was “an authentic and rare depiction of an elder man confronting personal and physical crisis at the onset of the COVID pandemic” in this “nuanced and moving queer drama.”
Over five days, SIFF presented 104 films from 37 countries, mixed with filmmaker talks, panels (with guests including Barry Jenkins and Lulu Wang) and culinary pop-ups in the picturesque Northern California town. Filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel was on hand to accept the Sonoma Intl. Film Festival Visionary Artist Award with a screening of his film “In the Hand of Dante,” with special guest Tom Waits.
“This year’s record-breaking attendance and ticket sales underscore the extraordinary appetite for bold, international cinema and immersive cultural experiences here in Sonoma,” said SIFF artistic director Carl Spence. “With packed screenings, dynamic filmmaker engagement, and a festival atmosphere unlike any other, SIFF 2026 has truly been a landmark community celebration of film, food, wine, and fun.”
Filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel was on hand to accept the Sonoma Intl. Film Festival Visionary Artist Award with a screening of his film “In the Hand of Dante,” with special guest Tom Waits.
Other festival winners include the Special Jury Prize in Directing to Marie-Elsa Sgualdo for “Silent Rebellion” (Switzerland). The jury cited the film’s “unflinching portrayal of a virtuous teen in WWII era Europe.”
The Grand Jury Award for documentary feature prize went to “State of Firsts,” from U.S. helmer Chase Joynt.
“This year, the jury wants to recognize a film that represents what authentic truth looks like among the squalor of our politics,” said the jury in a statement. “The award-winning film is a nuanced portrait of leadership and responsibility that also provides a clear and honest account of the challenges and apparent harms that come from seeking to change the world. The language of change is complex, and sometimes it’s as simple as using the right name. The jury is honored to platform a story that showcases the wholeness of a person in an industry and society so quick to tokenize”
SIFF also screened 47 short films in its official selection, which competed for three awards.
“A Very Normal Seeming Man,” directed by Al Pattanashetty (U.S.), won the Grand Jury Award: Live Action Short, while “Voices From the Abyss,” directed by Irving Serrano and Victor Rejon (Mexico) earned the Documentary Short honors. “Two Black Boys in Paradise,” directed by Baz Sells (U.K.) took the Animated Short prize.
The festival opened with Maude Apatow’s Toronto Intl. Film Festival hit “Poetic License,” while the Centerpiece Film, Steven Soderbergh’s Ian McKellen-starrer “The Christophers,” won the Stolman Audience Award for Best Film. The A3 Audience Award for Best Documentary went to “Jane Elliott Against the World,” directed by Judd Ehrlich (U.S.).
Other awards include:
Special Mention for Cultural, Environmental and Community Impact: “Abalone Stories: Loss, Connection, Renewal,” from Cynthia Abbott (U.S.)
Special Jury Mention for Directing: “Domingo Familiar,” directed by Gerardo del Razo (Mexico)
Black, who reprises his voice role as Bowser in Universal Pictures’ animated sequel, told ExtraTV, “It’s kind of a cool thing. We got lucky that we got Brie [Larson], who crushes it and loves the Nintendo universe. And also Donald, who campaigned for the role. He told his agent, ‘Call [Illumination CEO] Chris Meledandri. Tell him I really want to be Yoshi, I’d love to be in the new “Super Mario Bros.”‘ Because he loves it, and he loves that universe.”
Glover said he felt “a little timid” when first taking on the role, telling ExtraTV, “I was like, ‘OK, how am I gonna do this? These guys did such a great job on the first one.’” He added, “And that’s a hard thing to do. It’s a very iconic movie and character. I always believe in the idea of under-promising, over-delivering, and was like, ‘I’ll just study really hard, and hopefully I’ll be beloved like them.’”
In addition to Glover and Black, the film’s star-studded cast includes Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Brie Larson as Princess Rosalina, Issa Rae as Honey Queen, Glen Powell as Fox McCloud, Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr., Keegan-Michael Key as Toad and Luis Guzmán as Wart.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, and will be released in theaters on April 1 from Universal, Illumination and Nintendo.
Mary Beth Hurt, the Tony-nominated actress whose demure demeanor drew moviegoers to her array of emotionally impactful performances in such films as Interiors, Chilly Scenes of Winter and The World According to Garp, has died. She was 79.
Hurt died Saturday at an assisted living facility in Jersey City, New Jersey, her husband, Oscar-nominated writer and director Paul Schrader, told The Hollywood Reporter. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2015, she had until recently been living in another facility in Manhattan, with her husband in another apartment in the building.
Hurt also brought a sophisticated flair to James Ivory’s Slaves of New York with her turn as a gallery owner, and she portrayed a 1950s mom whose quirky behavior convinces her son (Bryan Madorsky) that she and her husband (Randy Quaid) are cannibals in another 1989 film, the Bob Balaban-directed black comedy Parents.
And in Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Hurt played one of the New York socialites who falls into the web of deceit created by a charismatic young man (Will Smith) pretending to be the son of Sidney Poitier.
Hurt appeared 15 times on Broadway from 1974-2011 and in 1982 received one her three career Tony nominations for her turn as Meg Magrath, one of three Mississippi sisters facing trauma in their lives, in the Beth Henley-written Crimes of the Heart. (Jessica Lange starred in the role opposite Diane Keaton and Sissy Speck in the 1986 Bruce Beresford-directed film adaptation.)
“The first thing, above all, is that she is a fine ensemble actress,” said playwright David Hare, who directed Hurt on Broadway in 1989’s The Secret Rapture and praised her in a piece that year for The New York Times in 1989. “She has the best of the English and the best of the American traditions.
“What marks English actors is that they can turn on a sixpence — there isn’t anything technically they can’t do. They’re supple, like musicians, and from the technical facility they acquire freedom. And in Mary Beth’s case, there is a sort of improvisatory gift, a willingness to make the performance fresh every time.”
Her first husband was Oscar-winning actor William Hurt; they married in 1971, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1982.
Raised in Iowa, where one of her babysitters was future actress Jean Seberg, Hurt made her big-screen debut in Interiors (1978), Woody Allen’s first full foray into drama. She made a lasting impression as Joey, a would-be artist outshined by her sisters, successful poet Renata (Keaton) and well-known TV actress Flyn (Kristin Griffith). The daughters come together after their mother (Geraldine Page) suffers a mental breakdown.
Though it was Hurt’s first feature, she more than held her own in a powerhouse cast that included E.G. Marshall, Maureen Stapleton, Sam Waterston and Richard Jordan.
“Miss Hurt is very appealing as the youngest daughter who hates her mother and, thus, goes out of her way to convince herself she doesn’t,” Vincent Canby wrote in his review for The New York Times.
In Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), directed by Joan Micklin Silver, she played the emotionally unavailable romantic obsession of John Heard’s character. And in by George Roy Hill’s The World According to Garp (1982), she took on the pivotal role of Helen Holm, a smart, fiercely independent woman who catches T.S. Garp’s (Robin Williams) eye, marries him, betrays his trust and ultimately becomes a passionate defender of his legacy.
Watch a 1982 interview about her work in Garphere.
Mary Beth Hurt with Robin Williams in 1982’s ‘The World According to Garp.’
Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection
Hurt rarely enjoyed top billing during her career, and that’s the way she preferred it.
“I’ve never been extremely comfortable playing the lead,” she explained in a 2010 interview. “I don’t like the responsibility; there’s a feeling that I have to be good. Besides, I found secondary parts much more interesting, especially when I was younger and the ingénue roles were pretty bland.
“I never felt very beautiful, or incredibly smart or witty, so I was always looking for something about [roles] that intrigued me. And I would sort of twist that character in a way because I remember thinking that an ingénue character doesn’t ever think they’re an ingénue. They think they’re a person, and they have idiosyncrasies. Those idiosyncrasies interested me.”
Mary Beth Supinger was born on Sept. 26, 1946, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Her father, Forrest, had been a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and her mother, Dolores, took her and her sisters to see plays in Des Moines.
“It wasn’t until I saw a play at our high school — I must have been in the eighth grade — that I realized that it was something you could do,” she said.
Before she starred in Otto Preminger’s Saint Joan (1957) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960), Seberg used to babysit her.
“She was just a neighborhood kid,” Hurt said. “We lived on Summit Street, which was between 6th and 7th. And the Sebergs lived on 6th Street. Her father was a pharmacist and my grandfather was a pharmacist, so the families had known each other for a while.”
After graduating from Marshalltown High School, she enrolled at the University of Iowa to study drama. In college, she was selected to join the Mortar Board, a national honorary service society for women.
With a bachelor of arts degree, Hurt continued her graduate theater studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1969, and she met and married William Hurt while in New York. Her next stop was Ealing, the district in West London, where she performed with the theater troupe The Questors.
Mary Beth Hurt on Broadway in 1974’s ‘Love for Love.’
Van Williams/Courtesy Everett Collection
At Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, she played Celia in a 1973 production of As You Like It for the New York Shakespeare Festival. Her other efforts with the company included roles in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Othello, One Shoe Off and More Than You Deserve before she made her Broadway debut in 1974 by playing Miss Prue in a revival of Love for Love, directed by Hal Prince.
Hurt’s first Tony nom came in 1976 for her turn in a revival of the comedy Trelawny of the “Wells.” Among those sharing the stage with her were John Lithgow, Mandy Patinkin, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Hewett, Michael Tucker and, in her Broadway debut, Meryl Streep.
She originated the role of Meg in the Manhattan Theatre Club’s off-Broadway production of Crimes of the Heart and received an Obie Award, then accompanied the drama to Broadway.
Her third Tony nom came in 1986 for her performance in the Michael Frayn drama Benefactors, about an architect’s attempts to revitalize a run-down London neighborhood. It gave Hurt the chance to work with longtime friend Glenn Close (the two first met on Love for Love andstarred opposite each other in The World According to Garp) and Waterston, who had played her love interest in Interiors.
Hurt’s Broadway résumé included 1974’s The Rules of the Game; 1975’s The Member of the Wedding (where Close was her understudy); 1976’s Secret Service and Boy Meets Girl; 1977’s The Cherry Orchard; 1981’s Twyla Tharp Dance; 1983’s The Misanthrope; 1996’s A Delicate Balance (from Edward Albee); 2008’s Top Girls; and 2011’s The House of Blue Leaves.
She and Schrader married in August 1983 in Chicago, and she appeared in four films he directed: Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), The Walker (2007) and Adam Resurrected (2008).
Mary Beth Hurt with her ‘Chilly Scenes of Winter’ co-star John Heard in 1979.
United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection
She also worked on the big screen in A Change of Seasons (1980), Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence (1993), D.A.R.Y.L. (1985), the Schrader-penned Bringing Out the Dead (1999), The Family Man (2000), M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water (2006), The Dead Girl (2006), Untraceable (2008) and Change in the Air (2018).
And for television, she starred on the 1988-89 NBC drama Tattinger’s and had a memorable guest-starring turn alongside Henry Winkler on a 2002 episode of Law & Order: SVU.
Survivors also include her children, Molly and Sam.
In the 1989 Times piece, Hurt described her process for the theater. “I try not to think about the play, or the part, until I start rehearsals,” she said. “And then I just try everything that comes to mind, until one thing makes sense.
“You may say, ‘Oh, she’s very selfish,’ and so you add that to the character. And then maybe a few weeks later you say, ‘She’s selfish, but she’s well intentioned,’ which tempers the selfishness. It’s just a process of addition and subtraction.”
Nick Cannon is getting candid about his political views.
The comedian-producer was joined by model Amber Rose on a recent episode of his show, Big Drive, where he called the Democratic Party “the party of the KKK.”
After Rose claimed that Democrats “don’t care about Black people, don’t care about people of color and the Republicans do,” Cannon replied, “I agree with you 100 percent.”
The Masked Singer host continued, “People don’t know that the Democrats are the party of the KKK. People don’t know that the Republicans are the party that freed the slaves. I mean, both of you and I have some conservative views. You’re just a little bit more outspoken than I am. And honestly, I don’t subscribe to either party. I rock with W. E. B. Du Bois, when he said there’s no such thing as two parties. It’s just one evil party with two different names.”
Rose added that she’s “not married to any party” but voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election because “we had two options and he was definitely by far the better option for us.”
When she said she mostly agrees with how Trump’s second term is going, Cannon enthusiastically jumped in, saying, “motherfucker’s cleaning house. He’s doing what he said he was gonna do.”
“We got the Gulf of America now,” Cannon added. “He’s like the club. He’s charging a $5 million bottle service fee to get into the country. I fuck with Trump.”
The Wild ‘N Out creator’s claims were partially correct. Regarding who founded the KKK, the white supremacist group was not established entirely by the Democratic Party, but rather by some people who were largely Democrats in the post-Civil War South, the Associated Press reported.
As for the Republican Party, it was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists. Several years later, then-President Abraham Lincoln, a member of the Republican Party, issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing all slaves living in Confederate states who were against the Union. Slavery was officially abolished in the United States when the 13th Amendment was passed in 1865.
James Blake has asked for his name to be removed from the production credits of Kanye West’s track “This One Here,” featured on the artist now known as Ye’s new-ish album “Bully.”
Blake says his “original version” of the track, which was recorded several years ago, “is completely different in spirit.”
In a post on Vault, the direct-to-fan streaming platform that Blake joined after parting ways with his longtime label Universal, he wrote, “The way I pitched his vocals and constructed the track from his freestyle is partiaully there, majorly peppered with other newer vocal takes etc…. Happy for the fans but I’ve asked to be taken off the producer credits for now as I don’t want to take credit for other people’s work and this version isn’t what I created with Ye.
“It’s not personal!” he added. “I just hit a point where [I] don’t want to be credited on music where I can’t affect the end result.”
Vault
Like most of West’s releases over the past decade, “Bully” has gone through multiple different iterations before it was officially released. The two artists have collaborated several times over the years, but not recently.
Both the request and the comment, which were first reported by Complex, are consistent with comments Blake has made in past interviews with Variety. While he celebrated West playing an unreleased collaboration between the two at an afterparty in London in 2022, he declined to comment when asked by Variety about their friendship a year later, after West had made multiple antisemitic comments.
“We haven’t seen each other for a little while,” he said, before adding with a sigh, “I think it’s probably a no-comment from me… and I say that with sadness.” He said in the same interview that he’s asked for his name to be removed from songs that he felt had evolved so far beyond his original contributions that he didn’t deserve or want credit, although he did not give examples.
At the time of this article’s publication, Blake’s credit remained on the song on major streaming services.
“Trying Times,” Blake’s new album — his first since leaving Universal and going fully independent — debuted at No. 3 on the U.K. charts earlier this month. Over the past few years Blake, disillusioned with the traditional music business, has taken control of virtually every aspect of his professional career, joining forces with the independent label Good Boy and direct-to-fan platforms like Vault and B-side ticketing.
“Happy Death Day” star Jessica Rothe is happy to relive another day as Tree Gelbman in the franchise’s third installment.
Rothe, who starred in the 2017 film “Happy Death Day” and its 2019 sequel, “Happy Death Day 2U,” recently revealed that writer and director Christopher Landon “has the whole third one figured out” while discussing the future of the “Groundhog Day”-style horror-comedy franchise.
“I think that is the power of zeitgeist. I think the more we ask, and the more we put it into the universe, it will happen,” she told ScreenRant. “Because the truth is, Chris Landon, our brilliant, fearless writer/director, he has the whole third one figured out.”
In “Happy Death Day,” Rothe plays a college student named Tree, who is murdered on her birthday, only to wake up at the beginning of the day. As the nightmarish day keeps repeating itself and ending in her death every time, she has to uncover her killer’s identity in order to stop the cycle. The sequel incorporates sci-fi elements, as Tree finds herself in a parallel universe as a result of her friend’s time-travel experiments.
Rothe added, “I think at this point, it’s just logistics, and all I’ll say to you and the fans is, whether it’s next year or when I’m 65, pulling a Jamie Lee Curtis coming back for ‘Halloween,’ I will be there to finish Tree’s story. So, it’s just a matter of when they get all their ducks in a row.”
Rothe also stated she’d be game for a crossover event amongst all of Landon’s films, saying, “I’m sure he also has his version of the MCU, but the ‘ChrisCU’ with ‘Freaky,’ ‘Happy Death Day,’ ‘We Have a Ghost’ and ‘Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse,’ they all could totally live in the same universe. That’s the crossover that I need right now in my life.”
Project Hail Mary continues its out-of-this-world performance after rocketing past the $300 million mark at the global box office to rank as the top Hollywood title of 2026 to date, a feat it accomplished in only its second weekend.
In North America, the Ryan Gosling-led movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi pic fell a scant 32 percent to $54.5 million to boast the best hold in recent memory for movies opening in the same range, including Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 2023 and 2024’s Dune: Part 2. Nolan’s pic dropped 54 percent to $46.2 in its sophomore outing, while Dune dipped 44 percent to $46.7 million.
That puts Project Hail Mary‘s 10-day domestic cume at an astonishing $164.3 million. Overseas, its total gross rose to $136.2 million for a worldwide total of $300.8 million in a huge win for Amazon MGM Studios. The movie has become the highest-grossing pic since the e-commerce giant took over the once-storied studio after passing up Creed III‘s lifetime run of $156.2 million domestically and north of $276 million globally.
Opening well ahead of expectations last weekend, the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-directed Project Hail Mary blasted off with a domestic launch of $80.6 million, the best showing of the year to date and the second-best in a decade for a non-sequel or franchise title behind Oppenheimer ($52.5 million). Gosling’s top-grossing film of all time, of course, is Barbie, but Project Hail Mary is his biggest domestic opening featuring the actor in a leading role, not adjusted for inflation. It is also a domestic best for Lord and Miller.
Hail Mary is also performing ahead of expectations overseas, where sci-fi is a notoriously tough genre to sell in certain European countries, as well as key regions in Latin America and Asia. The film launched to $60.4 million from 80 markets at the foreign box office for a global launch of roughly $141 million, also the best start of 2026 so far for a Hollywood title.
And just as in the U.S., Project Hail Mary‘s wit and heartwarming undercurrents are leading to the sort of unanticipated, collective word-of-mouth that comes along once in a blue moon for theater owners and studios. On Friday, for example, the film grossed $11.7 million overseas, up four percent from the previous Friday despite adding more territories, for an international tally of $98.7 million in 86 markets.
The sci-fi epic stars Gosling as an ostracized biologist now teaching high school who is tapped by the head of an international consortium (Sandra Hüller) to help stop the sun from dimming and usher in another ice age. Gosling’s character doesn’t remember any of this upon awaking to find himself alone on a ship hurtling through space. The rest of the crew has died, but he proceeds and discovers an alien life form that is trying to solve the same problem. The craggy-looking alien, who is given the nickname “Rocky,” learns how to use English as their means of communication and the two, working step by step, use their growing bond to solve the problem (the merchandising possibilities are tantalizing, to say the least, should Hail Mary transform into a franchise).
Multiple sources say a franchise is a possibility. Weir has said he has ideas for a sequel to his best-selling novel, but to date, there are no official conversations between the author— who is in the driver’s seat in terms of all things related to Hail Mary — but insiders say a sequel is far from out of the question.
The movie arrives at a defining moment for Amazon MGM, which is on the verge of becoming a major Hollywood studio, just as David Ellison‘s Skydance, which became the new owner of Paramount in August 2025, prepares to add Warner Bros. Discovery to the portfolio. While he says he will keep the two studios separate, no one is sure how that will work. By all accounts, a vertical merger of this size would be heavily scrutinized by Washington regulators, but President Donald Trump is a close ally with Oracle founder and mega-billionaire Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father. Trump has also praised the younger Ellison and supported the Paramount-Skydance marriage after sweeping changes were made at CBS News. Trump is widely expected to exact changes at CNN as well if Ellison succeeds in buying WBD, the owner of the cable channel.
Hail Mary wasn’t the only winning pass driving up year-over-year revenue. In its fourth weekend, Pixar and Disney’s Hoppers became the second-biggest Hollywood offering of 2026 at the global box office with $297 million in ticket sales (Chinese sports comedy Pegasus3 ranks No. 1 overall at $609 million). Domestically, fell only 31 percent to $12.2 million for a domestic tally of $138.6 million as it continues to redeem Pixar’s ability to turn out original fare (Elio‘s entire domestic cume was $72.9 million). Overseas, it earned another $24.8 million for a foreign tally of $159 million
Duking it out for third place are They Will Kill You and two holdovers: Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the latest installment in the Indian action-thriller starring Ranveer Singh; and Universal’s movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him.
The Warners-owned New Line and Skydance’s genre label partnered on They Will Kill You long before talks of a merger, and is reporting an estimated $5 million opening domestically and $9 million globally (rival studios show it coming in lower, so nothing is official until Monday when weekend actuals are tallied).
The new action-horror-comedy follows Satan-worshipping tenants living in a luxury New York City building who perform ritualistic killings on their mostly poor and marginalized staff. Filmmaker Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) directed from a script he co-wrote with Alex Litvak. The film has a decent 79 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 65 percent critics’ score is also in the fresh zone (The critics’ score has been fluctuating, and was in the low 70s several days ago). While solid, PostTrak exits aren’t spectacular either.
From Universal, Reminders of Him took in an estimated $4.7 million domestically and $4.9 million overseas for an early worldwide tally of $69.5 million. Like Hail Mail and Hoppers, the female-fueled pic also enjoyed a great hold of 41 percent.
More to come.
This story was originally published March 28 at 12:59 p.m.
