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US to send third aircraft carrier towards Iran: US official to Al Jazeera

Massive US military deployment in the Middle East includes 50,000 troops, F-35s and Marines to pressure Tehran.

Published On 2 Oct 2026

The United States is deploying a third US aircraft carrier to the waters around Iran, a US official told Al Jazeera, as the war enters its eighth month and both sides weigh escalation and diplomatic engagement.

The official told Al Jazeera that the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group left its San Diego base on Sunday, bound for the region, followed a day later by the Makin Island Marine Expeditionary Force, carrying more than 2,000 Marines.

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By the end of November, the official said, three aircraft carriers and two amphibious landing groups will be positioned around Iran.

The official said the concentration of force would hand President Donald Trump a wider menu of options if he decides to act.

Al Jazeera’s Tanya Noury, reporting from Washington, said the new deployment includes thousands of troops and extra air power, including F-35 fighter jets, layered on top of the roughly 50,000 US service members already stationed in the region.

The goal, Noury said, citing sources inside the Pentagon and White House, is to keep military options “on the table” for Trump regardless of how diplomacy unfolds, with the Pentagon not planning to withdraw any assets even if an agreement with Iran is reached. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said forces are “ready to go” should Trump order new strikes.

Trump himself has kept the threat alive in public. He told Fox News he believes the US is “going to win the war” with Iran “very soon”, while suggesting in other remarks that a return to military action “is possible” but something he would rather not spell out before November’s midterm elections.

Washington has paired the show of force with new economic pressure, sanctioning Iran’s rail and automotive conglomerates this week, as the Treasury Department called the new measures an effort to drain what remains of Tehran’s revenue.

Diplomatic track

Parallel to the military build-up, Iran has pushed a seven-day roadmap, conveyed through Qatar, that would see it reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks in exchange for an end to the US naval blockade, sanctions relief and a regional ceasefire covering Lebanon and Yemen.

The plan was then rejected by Trump.

US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told NBC the plan’s demand for frozen funds and sanctions relief was non-negotiable, noting “these aren’t just the United States’ sanctions … these are global sanctions”, and pointing to seven UN Security Council resolutions against an Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

Iran’s response, in the meantime, has been similarly two-pronged.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC that Tehran was “fully prepared” to resume the war, before writing on X that “we did not come to New York to sell a war. We came to forge peace.”

Analysts say the mixed signals are deliberate.

Abas Aslani of the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies said the dispute has shifted from whether to negotiate to “who is going to abandon the primary leverage first”, while former US ambassador Richard Schmierer said Trump is caught between delaying past the midterms and the political cost of offering concessions that mirror a June deal he was already criticised for.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans now say the war has not been worth fighting, according to a new AP-NORC poll, with Trump brushing off the slide in his approval ratings by insisting “the pollsters are corrupt”.

October 3, 2026
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October 3, 2026
Amber Heard makes rare Instagram return with impressively long wine list

Amber Heard just made an unexpected return to Instagram. The 40-year-old actress shared a rare new photo on Wednesday, September 30, offering followers a small glimpse into her life in Spain.

Sitting at a restaurant with what appears to be a seriously extensive wine menu in front of her, Heard kept her caption short and playful: “Now this is my kind of wine list.”

In the photo, Heard is pictured smiling while looking through the oversized menu. She wore a red satin halter-style top, with her blonde hair swept into a relaxed updo.

© WireImage
Amber Heard on October 30, 2009

Amber Heard’s Instagram Post Comes After a 14-Week Break

Heard’s latest Instagram update arrives more than three months after her previous feed post.

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Her last update came on June 21, when she celebrated completing the KLM Norte Sur 10K race in Madrid. Heard posted a smiling race-day photo after finishing the event, along with Instagram Stories that included a moment with her 5-year-old daughter, Oonagh.

Her June post was similarly upbeat. Wearing pink athletic gear after completing the 10K, Heard captioned her race-day photo, “First race glow,” alongside heart and Spanish flag emojis.

This time, there is no major milestone or work announcement attached to the update. Instead, Heard appears to simply be enjoying a meal and an exceptionally substantial wine selection.

Amber Heard Has Kept a Lower Profile in Spain

Heard has been living in Spain since 2022 and has largely stepped away from the constant public visibility that surrounded her during her highly publicized legal battle with former husband Johnny Depp.

© CBO/The Grosby Group
Amber Heard was seen enjoying a family day out with her children in Madrid.

Her recent social media activity has consequently offered only occasional glimpses of her day-to-day life.

Heard’s life in Spain has remained a subject of interest precisely because she reveals relatively little about it herself. Her Instagram account no longer functions as a steady diary of celebrity appearances, projects, and daily updates.

October 3, 2026
Miami judge rules federal noncitizen voting law violates US Constitution

Judge Leibowitz’s decision underscores state jurisdiction over voter qualifications, limiting federal actions.

Published On 2 Oct 2026

A United States federal judge has ruled that a law criminalising voting by noncitizens is unconstitutional, dealing a setback for President Donald Trump’s administration as it cracks down on alleged election fraud ahead of November’s midterm elections.

US District Judge David Leibowitz in Miami dismissed a federal case on Thursday against Chelsea Cox, a Florida resident originally from Jamaica who had been charged in October 2025 with illegally voting in the 2020 presidential election.

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Leibowitz, who was nominated to the bench by former Democratic President Joe Biden, found that under the US Constitution, only individual states, not the US Congress, have the authority to set voter qualifications.

Since every state already requires US citizenship to vote, he wrote, it is up to Florida, not the Department of Justice, to prosecute Cox for breaking that rule. “Florida can and does,” he wrote, noting the state already has its own laws against the conduct Cox is accused of.

The ruling applies only to Cox’s case and it does not bind judges elsewhere, though about 45 similar cases remain pending nationwide. At least four other defendants have raised the same constitutional challenge.

Court filings show Cox entered the US as a tourist in 1999, overstayed her visa, and later used a fraudulent birth certificate from the US Virgin Islands, a US territory in the Caribbean, to obtain a Florida driver’s licence and register to vote in 2012.

Trump has falsely claimed that noncitizen voting, which is already illegal and rare, cost him the 2020 election, and has cast it as part of a broader effort by Democrats to dilute Republican support.

The Department of Justice has charged at least 60 people with the offence since Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Among 129 people charged with “voting by an alien” since 2021, none was accused of conspiring to sway an election, backing a candidate, or being paid to vote, according to Reuters. Most were found to be lawful permanent residents who had registered by mistake or on the incorrect advice of an election worker or government clerk.

Cox’s lawyer, Bruce Udolf, welcomed the ruling and said he hoped authorities would not now seek to deport her, citing her declining health conditions.

October 3, 2026
Tilda Swinton to Release Debut Memoir ‘Material Evidence’: “A Book About Curiosity”

Tilda Swinton is set to publish her debut memoir, Material Evidence, in the fall of 2028.

The book, published through Farrar, Straus and Giroux, “refuses the shape of a conventional life story, in favor of something closer to how memory actually works: associative, sensory, anchored in things,” according to a post shared on the publisher’s Instagram account on Thursday.

Unlike many memoirs, Material Evidence will not follow a chronological format. Instead, the book will tell Swinton’s story through objects, including “a christening dress, a letter, a wooden leg, a sweatshirt, a length of embroidery silk [and] a photograph.”

“Material Evidence is a book about curiosity,” Swinton said in the post. “A trail of breadcrumbs through the forest. And an essay in wonder: I hope that by the time it closes, its reader might feel affirmed and recharged with energy to value the difference between that elusive spirit that we each, uniquely, constitute, which changes constantly — evolving and developing — and that solid matter which stays the same in its essence — and consistently repays and feeds us, the world around us and all the things in it that make up our singular lives.”

FSG president Mitzi Angel said in a statement posted to Instagram that she has “long admired Tilda Swinton’s unique way of seeing things.”

“The objects she contemplates in her enchanting book vibrate with meaning and memory — and through that contemplation she brings us the story of life,” Angel added. “Material Evidence is full of humor, insight and appreciation for detail that might otherwise go unnoticed. I couldn’t be more delighted that Tilda Swinton joins FSG with this extraordinarily unusual and moving book.”

Material Evidence is Swinton’s second published book. The Oscar winner released her first book, Tilda Swinton: Ongoing, in September 2025. An art book highlighting her career, fashion and artistic collaborations, Ongoing was published under Rizzoli International Publications.

Swinton told press at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2025 that she was looking forward to doing “something different” after a 40-year career in film. The winner of an Oscar, a BAFTA and a European Film Award, Swinton has starred in several critically acclaimed movies and blockbusters, including Michael Clayton and The Chronicles of Narnia series.

“I can tell you that when I go home on Monday to Scotland, I’m entering something that I’ve been looking forward to for about 15 years — which is a period of my life when I do something different,” Swinton said at the time. “I can’t quite say what it is, but I can say I’m not shooting a film for the rest of this year. I want more time.”

October 3, 2026
Rihanna’s alleged home shooter indicted on attempted murder charge after pleading not guilty

When news broke that a woman opened fire on Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s home, fans were ready to see the alleged shooter punished for her actions. Now things are starting to move through court, and she could spend life in prison. Ivanna Lisette Ortiz is now facing an attempted murder charge.

© Backgrid/The Grosby Group
Rihanna has not spoken about the incident

The 36-year-old was indicted by a Los Angeles County grand jury in connection with the March shooting at Rihanna’s Beverly Crest home. The indictment, which was returned June 18, was unsealed Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Ortiz is facing one count of attempted murder, 10 counts of assault with an assault weapon and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

She pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on $2.65 million bail. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 29. If convicted, Ortiz faces up to life in prison.

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What happened?

© HIGHFIVE/Bauer-Griffin
Bullet holes are seen as workers repair the exterior of the couple’s Beverly Hills home

The charges stem from the March 8 shooting, when prosecutors allege Ortiz pulled up outside Rihanna’s home and opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle.

Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and their three children were at the property at the time. The singer and Rocky were inside an Airstream trailer when the gunfire erupted, according to a police report obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

Rihanna told investigators she heard about 10 loud sounds, grabbed Rocky and pushed them both to the ground before the couple went to check on their children.

The bullets hit multiple areas around the property, including the Airstream. Three bullet impacts were found on the trailer, although the rounds did not penetrate it.

Authorities also documented damage to the property’s gate, fence, patio, and the exterior wall of a nursery where the children were located.

© Orange County Sheriff’s office
Ivanna Lisette Ortiz

Ortiz was arrested in Sherman Oaks shortly after the shooting. Police say she was driving the same white Tesla allegedly used in the incident and found a black Springfield Armory rifle and two 30-round magazines in the vehicle.

The case took an unexpected pause months later when Ortiz’s public defender questioned whether she was competent to stand trial. “It is the ethical obligation of counsel and the court to ensure that Ms. Ortiz’s rights are protected, including being able to assist counsel in conducting a defense in a rational manner,” Dillman told The Associated Press.

After a court-ordered evaluation, a judge ruled on Sept. 29 that Ortiz was competent, allowing the criminal proceedings to continue. The details of the evaluation remain sealed.

© Backgrid/The Grosby Group
Rihanna, A$AP and their children were in the home

Ortiz has also reportedly denied that she was trying to kill Rihanna. According to the Los Angeles Times, she told police after her arrest that she “wasn’t attempting murder.”

Prosecutors have not publicly identified a motive, but Ortiz had made several social media posts about Rihanna in the weeks before the shooting.

One post tagged the singer and told her to “say something to me directly instead of sneaking around.” She also shared a post making a false claim about Rihanna’s health.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman addressed the seriousness of the case following the indictment. “Every person deserves to feel safe in and around their home,” Hochman said. “Shooting at an occupied home is a serious, violent crime that is both reckless and dangerous.”

Hochman added that it was “pure luck and not a matter of restraint” that nobody was killed or injured. No one was physically injured in the shooting, but the fact that Rihanna, Rocky and their children were home when the gunfire erupted added an extra layer of terrifying details.

© Getty
A$AP opened up about the shooting

The rapper later opened up about the incident with VIBE, calling it “f**ked up.” “Somebody attempted at [harming] me and my family,” he said. “It took away a lot of peace and happiness of being able to just be free.”

October 3, 2026
New aircraft carrier, 10,000 US troops: Is the Iran war about to escalate?

The United States is deploying a third aircraft carrier strike group to waters in the Middle East close to Iran, a US official has told Al Jazeera, as the war enters its eighth month and both sides weigh escalation and diplomatic engagement.

Thousands more troops are also on their way to the region, just a month before November US midterm elections, which could see US President Donald Trump’s Republican Party hit hard by his handling of the war, which is deeply unpopular in the US.

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We look at what the latest troop deployment means and whether it signals a coming escalation in the war on Iran:

What troops and military equipment have been deployed?

A US official told Al Jazeera that the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group left its San Diego base on Sunday, bound for the region, followed a day later by the Makin Island Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), which is carrying more than 2,000 Marines.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the strike group and naval deployments could involve an additional 9,000 to 10,000 US troops in total, including sailors and Marines assigned to the carrier strike group and other ships.

By the end of November, the official said, three aircraft carriers and two amphibious landing groups will be positioned near Iran.

The official said the concentration of force would hand President Donald Trump a wider menu of options if he decides to act.

Al Jazeera’s Tanya Noury, reporting from Washington, said the new deployment, which includes F-35 fighter jets, will add to the roughly 50,000 US service members already stationed in the region.

The goal, Noury said, quoting sources inside the Pentagon and White House, is to keep military options “on the table” for Trump regardless of how diplomacy unfolds. The Pentagon is not currently planning to withdraw any assets even if an agreement with Iran is reached.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said forces are “ready to go” should Trump order new attacks.

What forces does the US already have in the Middle East?

The US has stationed troops and military assets at bases in the Middle East for decades.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US operates from a broad network of military sites, both permanent and temporary, across at least 19 locations in the region.

Of these, eight are permanent bases, located in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The US’s first deployment of soldiers in the Middle East took place in July 1958, when combat troops were sent to Beirut during the Lebanon crisis. At its height, there were almost 15,000 Marines and soldiers in Lebanon.

As of mid-2025, there were 40,000 to 50,000 US soldiers stationed around the Middle East, comprising personnel stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites across the region.

Trump has been beefing up the US military presence in the Middle East since the start of this year, initially sending warships, including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, to the Arabian Sea.

What military assets and troops did the US send ahead of the war?

According to open source intelligence analysts and military flight-tracking data, the US has deployed more than 120 aircraft to the region since early February. This is the biggest surge in US airpower in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War.

Reported deployments include E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, F-35 stealth strike fighters and F-22 air superiority jets alongside F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft. Flight-tracking data showed many of these planes departing bases in the US and Europe, supported by cargo aircraft and aerial refuelling tankers, a sign of sustained operational planning rather than routine rotations, military analysts said.

In March, the Pentagon also ordered additional US forces to the Gulf.

The reinforcements consisted of three distinct formations, each with a different origin, route and timeline.

The first was the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group, centred around the America-class assault ship USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

The second was the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, built around the Wasp-class assault ship USS Boxer and the 11th MEU, based in Southern California in the US.

Together, these two Marine groups have added 4,500 Marines and sailors in the region.

The third was a contingent of about 2,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division’s Immediate Response Force, based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The airborne infantry division is focused on parachute assaults.

In total, nearly 7,000 additional soldiers have already been deployed to the Middle East since the war on Iran began.

What does the latest deployment signal?

While it is not clear if the new troop deployment signals an escalation in the war, in an interview with Time magazine published on Thursday, Trump suggested that it is “possible” he could ramp up bombing Iran after the midterm elections.

When asked by Time for further details, Trump said: “I can’t tell you that because look, you know, you’re asking, where are you going to bomb?”

Some analysts have suggested that sending more troops to the region could be Washington’s negotiating technique with Iran.

Last week, Iran sent a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, subject to certain conditions it wants the US to meet, including the lifting of sanctions, unfreezing Iranian assets and guaranteeing an end to strikes.

However, the Trump administration rejected the proposal. Analysts say the US wants other issues, such as Iran’s nuclear programme, to be discussed before it agrees to any terms.

In his Time interview, Trump said that he had rejected the latest ceasefire proposal from Iran because it included “things” he “wouldn’t have approved a year ago” and “wouldn’t have today”.

Washington has paired the show of force towards Iran with economic pressure, sanctioning Iran’s rail and automotive conglomerates this week, as the Treasury Department called the new measures an effort to drain what remains of Tehran’s revenue. Last month, the US unveiled sweeping new sanctions on Iran, as well as on other countries which trade with it.

What stage are diplomatic efforts at?

Indirect peace talks conducted between the US and Iran via mediators have been continuing without any breakthroughs.

At talks held on the sidelines of the United National General Assembly (UNGA) in New York last month and mediated by Qatar, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz remained a sticky subject.

At the talks, Iran pushed a seven-day roadmap, conveyed through Qatar, that would see it reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks in exchange for an end to the US naval blockade, sanctions relief and a regional ceasefire covering Lebanon and Yemen.

The plan was rejected by Trump.

US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told NBC the plan’s demand for frozen funds and sanctions relief was non-negotiable, noting “these aren’t just the United States’ sanctions … these are global sanctions”, and pointing to seven UN Security Council resolutions against an Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

In response, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC that Tehran was “fully prepared” to resume the war, before writing on X that “we did not come to New York to sell a war. We came to forge peace.”

Late on Thursday, Trump warned Iran that the current confrontation will end “very soon”, threatening severe consequences if Tehran fails to reach a deal with Washington.

Speaking at a Peterbilt Motors plant in Denton, Texas, Trump said Iran will either “do something very proper and smart, or they won’t be around very long”.

He also questioned whether Iran can be trusted to honour any agreement, saying: “When I make a deal with this company, you’re going to honour it. When you make a deal with them, it’s very possible that they won’t honour it.”

October 3, 2026
Bank group sues U.S. regulator over granting crypto trust charters

The ICBA is one of the largest banking advocacy organizations in the U.S., typically representing smaller institutions. It also played a significant role in pushing back against the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act that failed to advance in the U.S. Senate last month — in part due to the bankers’ objections that its stablecoin provisions didn’t protect them against direct competition with the deposit accounts that are core to their businesses. Now, the group is targeting the trust charters crypto firms are pursuing as an entry point into the U.S. banking and payments system.

“Congress did not create the national trust charter as a side door into the banking system for crypto firms seeking the credibility of a federal bank charter,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a statement, adding that the firms don’t get the same obligations on such things as capital, liquidity, supervision and the need for insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Asked for comment by CoinDesk, an OCC spokesperson said the agency “does not comment on litigation.”

The OCC has been granting a steady stream of trust charters to crypto firms, however those companies don’t operate under the same business model or intend to offer the same services as typical community banks. For instance, they don’t offer the same kind of cash deposit accounts for which FDIC insurance is designed and required.

October 3, 2026
Michael Douglas finally admits secret Kathleen Turner romance after 40 years of denials

Michael Douglas is finally changing the story he and Kathleen Turner told for more than 40 years. The 82-year-old actor reveals in his forthcoming memoir, One Helluva Ride, that he and Turner, now 72, had a secret romantic relationship while filming their 1984 hit Romancing the Stone in Mexico.

For decades, the co-stars acknowledged their unmistakable chemistry and attraction but maintained that they never actually became lovers. Douglas now says that version of events was not true.

© Corbis via Getty Images
American actors Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner on the set of The Jewel of the Nile directed by Lewis Teague.

In an excerpt from his memoir published by People on October 2, Douglas says he and Turner “fell hard for each other” during production and began a relationship that they deliberately kept private.

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The admission adds a surprising new chapter to one of Hollywood’s most famous on-screen partnerships.

Michael Douglas says he and Kathleen Turner were secretly lovers

Douglas and Turner played adventurer Jack Colton and romance novelist Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone. Their chemistry helped turn the action-adventure comedy into a major hit and fueled speculation about whether their connection extended beyond the cameras.

According to Douglas, it did.

© Corbis via Getty Images
American actors Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner on the set of The Jewel of the Nile directed by Lewis Teague.

He writes that they were immediately attracted to each other and that their connection evolved from friendship and professional respect into romance as they spent long, demanding days working together in Mexico. “We found each other first as friends, then as co-stars, and finally, as lovers,” Douglas writes in the memoir excerpt.

Douglas says they worked hard to conceal what was happening. After spending time with colleagues following filming, he says he would secretly visit Turner’s hotel room after everyone else had gone to bed.

Their relationship was apparently hidden so effectively that Douglas says Romancing the Stone director Robert Zemeckis and fellow star Danny DeVito did not know about it.

Why Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner denied the romance

The circumstances surrounding the relationship were complicated. Douglas was still legally married to his first wife, Diandra Douglas, although he says they were separated when he left to shoot the movie in Mexico. The couple shared a young son, Cameron, who was five at the time.

Douglas says protecting his wife and son was behind the decision to keep the relationship with Turner secret and later deny that anything romantic had happened.

© Corbis via Getty Images
Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.

The public explanation remained essentially unchanged for decades. Douglas and Turner had powerful chemistry, flirted and were attracted to each other, but did not act on those feelings. Douglas now explicitly rejects that account, writing, “That was a lie.”

He says it was a story they maintained for roughly four decades, including through their later professional reunions.

Kathleen Turner previously admitted she had feelings for Michael Douglas

Turner had already spoken openly about being attracted to Douglas, making the new revelation particularly intriguing. During a 2018 appearance on ITV’s Loose Women, Turner said she had been “feeling rather romantic towards Michael” while making Romancing the Stone. She explained that she believed Douglas was separated and she was single.

Turner’s version at the time, however, suggested the possibility of a romance that stopped when Douglas’ wife appeared. “You don’t mess with other women’s marriages,” Turner said.

© WireImage
Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner attend the 27th Annual “Chefs’ Tribute To Citymeals-On-Wheels” Benefit at Rockefeller Center

In another 2018 interview, Turner again described the pair as having “great chemistry” and said she understood Douglas was separated from Diandra while she was unattached.

Douglas’ memoir now goes significantly further, saying the two had already become lovers.

What ended Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner’s relationship?

According to Douglas, the turning point came when Diandra traveled to Mexico with Cameron.

Douglas writes that his wife became suspicious and spoke privately with Turner, making clear that she and Douglas were still married. He says Diandra’s understanding of their separation differed from his.

© Getty Images
Michael Douglas (L) and Kathleen Turner attend the 27th Annual “Chefs’ Tribute To Citymeals-On-Wheels” Benefit at Rockefeller Center on June 4, 2012

That encounter apparently changed Turner’s perspective. Douglas says Turner did not want to interfere with his marriage. The co-stars ended their relationship, and Douglas reconciled with Diandra, a decision he says was motivated in large part by concern for Cameron and his own memories of experiencing his parents’ divorce as a child.

Douglas and Diandra eventually divorced in 2000. That same year, Douglas married Catherine Zeta-Jones. Turner married real estate developer Jay Weiss in 1984. They later divorced in 2007.

Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner remained friends

Whatever happened behind the scenes of Romancing the Stone did not end their professional relationship.

Douglas and Turner reunited for the 1985 sequel The Jewel of the Nile and starred opposite each other again in the dark 1989 comedy The War of the Roses. Decades later, they reunited on The Kominsky Method, with Turner playing the ex-wife of Douglas’ character.

© Getty Images for AFI
Actress Kathleen Turner (L) and actor Michael Douglas, recipient of the Life Achievement In Motion Pictures and Television award and actress pose backstage at the AFI Life Achievement Award

Their friendship has also endured. Significantly, People reports that Douglas asked Turner for permission before including the story of their relationship in his memoir.

October 3, 2026
‘Digger’: How Its Big Twist Saves the Movie From Being a Complete Disaster (Opinion)

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains major spoilers for “Digger,” in theaters now via Warner Bros.

When does a bad movie become a fascinating watch?

So often the kiss of death for a feature is boredom; that feeling you’ve seen the same story many times before, the actors are checked out, there’s no visual panache. That’s not the case with “Digger.” While it’s shaping up to be a box office disaster, the movie is anything but dull. Tom Cruise leads the cast in acting to the rafters, DP Emmanuel Lubezki keeps the camera moving and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu injects plenty of swagger in the proceedings.

Unfortunately, the film’s opening — an extended introduction to Cruise’s ambitious oilman Digger Rockwell — is so in-your-face that it sags under the weight. Cruise is in grotesque prosthetics, eager to show us as quickly as possible how uncouth Digger is: He eats from the same can of sardines as his beloved cat, his butt crack is seen in plain view of his maid, his comb-over wisps wildly.

It’s a clichéd character surrounded by other bobbling caricatures that enter and exit the rooms of his mansion, flailing wildly as Digger learns that his oil company might have inadvertently caused a climate-based global disaster. It’s shrill and tired, and despite the best intentions of the filmmakers to cause provocation around environmentalism, it’s about as subtle as Cruise turning to the camera and screaming, “DO YOU GET IT?!?” Ultimately, the poster’s promise of “a comedy of catastrophic proportions” seems more like a threat than a guarantee of “Dr. Strangelove”-esque genius.

But then, an interesting twist happens. No, “Digger” isn’t a musical, but rather reveals that everything we’ve seen so far is a group of actors rehearsing an ambitious play about Digger called “Fossil Fools.” We’re witnessing the tech rehearsal hours before the show is set to debut in front of an audience, and Cruise drops his broad southern accent, revealing himself as Curtis Markson, the star of the show who has difficulty finding the satirical rhythm.

It’s an engagingly meta turn, and shows much more of Cruise’s psyche than audiences might expect. During a teflon press tour hyping “Digger,” journalists weren’t able to conjure anything personal or interesting from him. But during a scene where Cruise argues with “Fossil Fools” director Hannah (Sophie Wilde) about satire versus real-world events, the artifice of Cruise’s fat suit and cowboy boots melts away, and the fire in his eyes that made iconic performances in films like “Magnolia” and “Eyes Wide Shut” blaze returns in flashes.

It also helps to contextualize Iñárritu’s vision of satire itself. Some reviews of “Digger” have knocked the very idea of satirical films in 2026. After all, how can anything feel larger-than-life in the Trump era? But given the put-on-a-show staging, the film’s structure adds further firepower to standout scenes like Digger holding court in the United Nations, tap-dancing around a global community ready to feed him to the wolves after he doubles down on his wrongdoing.

The showcase scene is emphasized by the fact that everything is underwritten by Digger’s real-life nephew Kenny (Jesse Plemons), who bought the rights to “Fossil Fools” and used his vast wealth to fund the production. His motivations are many, as he implies that he’s doing it out of a mix of penance, flagellation and tribute to his family name. But ultimately he’s a benefactor of the arts. The themes make it impossible to ignore the real-life soap opera currently happening at “Digger” studio Warner Bros., where new owner David Ellison swears he bought the company for all the right reasons.

“Digger” ends on a somber note, with the audience methodically putting on gas masks and emptying the gorgeous theater, stepping into the dystopian world that remains after Digger’s environmental disaster. Flooded streets, discarded cars and military police are all around, until the camera tilts to the sky and the soundtrack becomes overwhelmed with the natural noises of wild animals. It’s a chilling wrap, as well as a dour end to what appears to be the last Warner Bros. film ever released.

Not all of the elements tied to the twist work — Curtis’ search for his daughter’s missing flight during the tech rehearsal is curiously underbaked — but at least it teases a flurry of ideas instead of drowning in clumsy dialogue. At its best, it recalls Charlie Kaufman’s far superior 2008 film “Synecdoche, New York,” in which Philip Seymour Hoffman is a theater director who, in the pursuit of truth, creates a full-scale recreation of New York City in a warehouse in order to accurately reflect life. It, too, looks at the idea of understanding larger truths through a stage production, but is more clever and sincere.

Ultimately, even the decision to add another layer, becoming a story about art just as much as one about the climate crisis, doesn’t escalate “Digger” into must-see territory. But the cross section of cinephiles who will be compelled to catch it in theaters — Cruise completists, flop aficionados, rubberneckers who want to see the world burn — will have more to chew on than the artifice presented at the beginning.

October 3, 2026