Category: Entertainment

Greek mythology is riddled with humans who become immortal, many as punishment for tangling with the gods. But not Christopher Nolan, the toast of the mortal world’s Mount Olympus — Hollywood.

The opening-weekend success of his Imax epic “The Odyssey” cements Nolan as his own kind of myth: a bankable auteur who can command the attention of worldwide moviegoers simply by picking up his camera.

Nolan has spent most of his career in the upper stratosphere of show business; he’s thought to be one of a few name directors who are events unto themselves (Quentin Tarantino, Ryan Coogler, Greta Gerwig, James Cameron). But after a nearly $265 million global first frame for “The Odyssey,” the best start of Nolan’s career, he’s moved even closer to the sun. Analysts predict the film now has the runway to gross $1 billion around the world. The title has also crashed down on this year’s Oscars race like a thunderbolt from Zeus, disrupting a low-hum narrative that Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary” is the reigning, populist choice for best picture.

“The Odyssey” has “invited people back to a theatrical experience which had been hobbled since the pandemic,” says Jason E. Squire, professor emeritus at USC School of Cinematic Arts. “This is an extraordinary creative and commercial victory for Nolan and Universal Pictures.”

Indeed, the other victor here is Donna Langley, NBCUniversal’s entertainment and studios chairman. As the days tick by and box office records for “The Odyssey” keep rolling in, it’s abundantly clear how important it was that Langley wooed Nolan to Universal Pictures five years ago following his messy breakup with Warner Bros.

In 2021, Langley fended off Sony Pictures, Paramount and the deep-pocketed Apple Studios to win the director’s unexpected blockbuster “Oppenheimer.” While Nolan never has signed any kind of exclusive studio deal — and almost surely never will — Langley’s team has proven an able partner for the once-in-a-generation talent. In essence, they have replaced Warner Bros., where Nolan made nine of his 13 movies, as his default home.

“You may think it’s an easy approval process to move forward with any Nolan movie, but it’s an enormous financial commitment. A $250 million budget, another $100 million at least for marketing? There is no guarantee of profitability, and that’s the intriguing and seductive gamble for movie executives,” added Squire, who taught Coogler at USC and hosts “The Movie Business Podcast.”

That gamble has paid off and observably came down to an issue of trust. Nolan was incensed in 2021 when Warner Bros., his studio partner of nearly 20 years, went rogue amid the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to release a full slate of films concurrently on its streaming service HBO Max and in cineplexes. This directly impacted Nolan’s time-traveling action film “Tenet,” led by John David Washington and Robert Pattinson. Nolan’s brand exclusively celebrates movies made for theaters. Jason Kilar, the corporate overlord of Warners at the time, exploded the company’s goodwill with talent and agents in every corner of the business by forcing the studio’s titles to stream day and date.

Langley, known for an English sort of grace under pressure and her bedside manner with filmmakers, swooped in with a complex and unusual deal for “Oppenheimer.” It guaranteed a lengthy exclusive theatrical window for the opus about the atomic bomb, committed in writing to a marketing spend equal to the film’s $100 million budget and awarded Nolan a generous portion of the film’s first-dollar box office grosses. Nolan earned a reported $100 million in fees and back end for the best picture Oscar winner. Langley and Nolan’s bond had been forged years before, as the two both have same-aged kids.

While his “Odyssey” deal is thought to be a more standard agreement than the “Oppenheimer” pact, insiders say Nolan will again receive first-dollar gross. That means he stands to reap millions for his work on top of his salary early in “The Odyssey”’s theatrical run, instead of having to wait until the film is profitable. Reps for Universal Pictures and Nolan declined to comment.

Not that WB, Universal’s neighbor in Burbank, didn’t put up a fight. In 2022, following Discovery’s purchase of Warner Bros., the film studio’s incoming leaders, Mike De Luca and Pamela Abdy, announced plainly in a Variety cover story that they were “hoping” to get Nolan back. Subsequently, we reported that De Luca and Abdy cut a seven-figure check to the director in 2022 — a payment in arrears for fees he waived in hopes of getting “Tenet” to be the first film shown in theaters reopening after coronavirus closures.

That “little kiss,” as one source put it, didn’t work. Especially given the windfall that came to Nolan after Warner Bros. staked its own blockbuster “Barbie” on the same July 2023 release date that Universal had given “Oppenheimer.” While the competition ignited the box office in a world-class example of counterprogramming, the move was seen as baiting and antagonizing the director.

And so Universal won the day again with “The Odyssey.” After the success of “Oppenheimer,” Nolan and partner Emma Thomas did not take “The Odyssey” out to other bidders. Langley traveled to Nolan and Thomas’ Hollywood Hills home and read the script with the pair, insiders say. Afterward, the group rolled directly into planning for the Matt Damon epic.

Nolan can run the table with any studio partner he wants, but “The Odyssey” feels like his own homecoming to Langley’s lot. Shareholders, the creative community and global audiences are all pleased. Why test the movie gods?

Scatena & Rosner Films has acquired distribution rights for North America, Australia and New Zealand for the LGBTQ indie dramedy “Actual Nobodies,” written and directed by Alex Wyse. S&R picked the film up at this year’s Cannes Market.

Germany’s Media Luna New Films has secured rights for all remaining territories. A U.S. release is planned for early 2027.

Marking Wyse’s solo feature directorial debut following the GLAAD Media Award-nominated and ARTIOS-winning “Summoning Sylvia,” “Actual Nobodies” stars legendary actress Didi Conn (“Grease,” “Best Medicine”) and Austin P. McKenzie (“When We Rise,” “Speech & Debate”).

“Actual Nobodies” tells the story of two lonely outsiders who find unexpected companionship when Joyce (Conn), a whimsical woman in her seventies, rents out her spare room to Anthony (McKenzie), a young gay man in search of solitude.

The ensemble also includes Greta Quispe (“American Fiction,” “New Amsterdam”), Paul Lieber (“Alias,” “Barney Miller”), Will Chase (“Stranger Things,” “Dopesick”), Jason Veasey (“Only Murders in the Building,” “Best Medicine”), Olli Haaskivi (“Widow’s Bay,” “Oppenheimer”) and David T. Patterson (“The Gilded Age,” “Blue Bloods”).

“’Actual Nobodies’ is a story about the people who feel invisible to the world and the surprising ways they ultimately connect with one another,” Wyse said in a statement Tuesday. “Making this film with this extraordinary cast and crew was deeply personal, and finding partners in Scatena & Rosner, who truly believe in filmmaker-driven, emotionally resonant storytelling, makes this next chapter especially exciting.”

Gato Scatena and Jordan Rosner of Scatena & Rosner Films added: “Alex has a unique voice that balances humor and heart with incredible precision. Actual Nobodies is exactly the kind of elevated, theatrical-forward independent cinema we are passionate about championing, and we’re thrilled to have launched the film’s global journey in Cannes. Independent films don’t break through simply because they’re well made—they break through because they make audiences feel something. Actual Nobodies does exactly that.”

“Films with genuine emotional authenticity have tremendous international appeal, and Actual Nobodies delivers exactly that. Alex Wyse has created a heartfelt, uplifting film with universal themes that we believe will resonate with international buyers and audiences alike,” Media Luna New Films’ Ida Martin said.

Producer Cody Lassen of Alder Street Productions said, “From the moment we began sharing the film, we felt it connect with audiences in a profound way. Scatena & Rosner and Media Luna immediately understood both its emotional core and its broader marketplace potential. We’re excited to partner with them as we introduce Actual Nobodies to buyers and audiences around the world.”

Producing alongside Tony Award-winning and Grammy-nominated Lassen’s Alder Street Productions (“Summoning Sylvia,” “Indecent”) is Trey Tetreault (“Holding Back the Tide”), and Wyse, with co-producers Neil Gooding Productions, Second Set Productions, and associate producers Rayshaun Sandlin and Pam Moriarty.

The film features cinematography by Al Bouchillon, editing by Sara Corrigan, music by Max Mueller, costumes by Nadia Durham, and production design by Rachel Aileen Abraham. The film was shot on location in New Jersey.

Lassen and Wyse previously collaborated on the horror-comedy feature “Summoning Sylvia,” which received a theatrical release, was acquired by Starz, and currently holds a 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.

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St. Lucia, Porto Santo, Praslin and Syros are the among the top island escapes to travel to this year, according to Expedia‘s 2026 Island Hot List, an annual ranking of the most popular island destinations based on searches and bookings.

Released July 21, this year’s Island Hot List highlights ten under-the-radar islands that offer an “alternative to traditional hotspots,” per Expedia, with the locations lauded for “combining natural beauty, cultural depth, and sometimes better value.”

St. Lucia tops the list for 2026, with Expedia reporting searches for the Eastern Caribbean island up 125% over 2025. Travelers say the lush getaway in the Lesser Antilles is best for “romantic escapes,” citing its intimate vibe and host of luxury resorts. Of course there’s plenty for adventure seekers to do as well, with long stretches of beaches, tropical rainforests and dramatic volcanoes in the distance.

Porto Santo Island, in the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira, ranked second on Expedia’s 2026 Island Hot List, with searches for the destination up 85% from this time last year. Expedia says the so-called “golden” island ranks best for “wellness and relaxation,” with travelers seeking out spa treatments and tranquil moments along stretches of sand that are said to hold calming “geotherapeutic” properties. Porto Santo also offers an airy and quieter sun-soaked getaway, compared to the busy resorts and mountainous landscapes of its sister island, Madeira.

Praslin, an island in the Seychelles, comes in third on this year’s list, as a destination for “nature lovers.” Located in the Indian Ocean, Praslin is home to the Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve (“May Valley”), a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that offers an expansive palm forest promising sightings of rare birds and plants (like the Coco de Mer palms). You can also hit the open water to snorkel for giant turtles and coral reefs, or swim along Anse Lazio beach, renowned for its white sand and dramatic granite boulders in the distance.

This year’s Expedia roundup also includes Syros Greece, which the booking site says is best for foodies looking for both authentic and inventive Greek cuisine; Lofoten Islands in Norway for arctic adventures; Phu Quoc, Vietnam for “affordable luxury;” and Sanibel Island over in Florida, which Expedia says is “best for family escapes.” Other islands on the Hot List are Palawan, Philippines; Culebra, Puerto Rico; and Fiji, along with Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, which was named Expedia’s “Best Private Island for Cruises.” Great Stirrup Cay is a private island that is exclusive to Norwegian Cruise Line guests.

Of course, this year’s Island Hot Lists reflects what people are buzzing about and Expedia says searches for Cape Verde have shot up a whopping 805% on the heels of the country’s cinderella World Cup run. The travel site says the archipelagic country off the coast of West Africa saw interest boom after “a summer of soccer, where team Cape Verde melted soccer fans’ hearts and drove a new wave of travel demand.”

Cape Verde was ranked 67th in the FIFA rankings prior to the World Cup but finished second in Group H with three draws (including tying now-World Cup champions Spain). The team then went on to narrowly lose to Argentina in a Round of 32 knockout stage match, earning the respect of Lionel Messi and soccer fans from around the world. Expedia, meantime, calls it the “Best Ultimate Soccer-inspired Island.”

“Islands don’t just satisfy the urge to get away; they can also be one of the smartest vacation values, thanks to all-inclusive resorts and bundle savings on Expedia,” says Melanie Fish, VP of Public Relations, Expedia Group Brands, who adds that “The list was finalized until two destinations generated so much buzz from cruise travelers and soccer fans that we had to give them awards of their own.”

The 2026 Expedia Island Hot List was based on global flight searches made on all Expedia points of sale from September 22, 2025 to March 22, 2026, for travel any date in 2026. See the full list here.