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Circus performer pulls 2,184-pound carriage with his nipples
March 24 (UPI) — A Finnish man used his body piercings to break the Guinness World Record for the heaviest vehicle pulled by the nipples — 2,184 pounds.
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Vatican to Host Private Screening of Scorsese-Produced Pope Documentary ‘Aldeas’
Martin Scorsese, it’s fair to say, is team Pope.
The Vatican on Monday announced it would be hosting a private screening of the Scorsese-produced documentary Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis, in Rome on April 21, to mark the one-year anniversary of Francis’ death.
Aldeas is the community cinema project run by Pope Francis’ global educational movement Scholas Occurrentes which holds workshops around the world to help local communities create scripted short films celebrating “their unique identities, histories, and values.” The documentary follows the cinema initiative across Italy, Indonesia, and The Gambia, and includes a visit by Scorsese to his grandfather’s village in Sicily, where he works with local young people to make a film of their own. It includes Pope Francis’s last in-depth on-camera interview shortly before his death and several behind-the-scenes conversations between the Pope and the Oscar-winning director.
“This film is a tribute to the Holy Father,” said Scorsese in a statement. “It honors his memory by embodying the spirit of his ministry and his dream of creating an ever more human culture. At this moment in history, I believe that is not only a dream, but a necessity.”
The Vatican will hold a private screening of the film on Tuesday, April 21, a year after Pope Francis’ death, just steps from where he lived and died.
On Monday, the Vatican unveiled several first-look images from the film (see below).
The new film lands amid a weeks-long dispute between the current pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, and U.S. President Donald Trump over the U.S.-Israel war against Iran. After Leo called Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die” to be “truly unacceptable,” POTUS lashed out, posting on Truth Social that the first U.S.-born Pope was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump also posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure, which he later removed amid a backlash from American Christians.
On the new episode of Last Week Tonight on Sunday, host John Oliver mocked Trump for taking on the leader of the Catholic Church, saying the President was “on a epic run of picking losing fights.”
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, also weighed in, suggesting the Pope should be “careful when he talks about matters of theology.
Over the weekend, the Pope, currently on a tour of Africa, said it was “not in my interest at all” to debate Trump about the Iran war, but that he would continue preaching the Gospel message of peace.
Clare Tavernor and Johnny Shipley directed Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis, which was produced by Aldeas Scholas Films in association with Sikelia Productions and Massive Owl Productions. LBI Entertainment and Double Agent are handling sales of the film, with all proceeds to be reinvested in the Aldeas initiative.
Aldeas, The Final Dream of Pope Francis.
Aldeas Scholas Films
Aldeas The Final Dream of Pope Francis.
Aldeas Scholas Films
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Cloud over US-Iran talks: What are the key sticking points?
United States President Donald Trump has claimed a second round of negotiations with Iran will take place in Pakistan on Tuesday as mediators try to revive negotiations before the end of an ongoing yet fragile two-week ceasefire.
The announcement on Sunday came alongside a sharp escalation in rhetoric. Trump warned that Iran must agree to a deal “one way or another – the nice way or the hard way” and threatened to target key infrastructure if negotiations fail. He also renewed his threat of striking “bridges and power plants”, which experts said could amount to war crimes under international law.
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Iran, however, has so far denied it will participate in the talks, accusing the US of “armed piracy” after US forces struck and seized an Iran-linked tanker on Sunday, further heightening tensions between the longtime adversaries.
What has the US said?
On Sunday, Trump announced that US negotiators would travel to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday for talks aimed at ending the US-Israel war on Iran.
In a social media post, the president did not say which officials would be sent to the talks. Last weekend’s first round of talks, at which Vice President JD Vance led the US delegation, ended without a deal.
Trump accused Iran of violating their two-week ceasefire, which is due to expire on Wednesday, by opening fire on Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz. The US president threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if it doesn’t accept the terms of the deal being offered by the US.
“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
In a further escalation, Trump said an Iranian-flagged ship called the Touska was “stopped” by US forces in the Gulf of Oman “by blowing a hole in the engine room”. He said it was trying to get past the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
US forces boarded the ship and took physical control of the vessel.
How has Iran responded?
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters confirmed the US attack on the Iranian-flagged tanker and said it would “respond soon”.
Then, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that Iranian forces had sent drones in the direction of US military ships.
Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, told Al Jazeera that Iran’s actions during talks with the US are strictly guided by national interests and security.
When asked if Tehran intends to participate in the talks in Islamabad, he said, “Iran acts based on national interests.”
“We see the current negotiations as a continuation of the battlefield, and we see nothing other than the battlefield in this,” he said. “If it yields achievements that sustain those of the battlefield, then the negotiation arena is also an opportunity for us … but not if the Americans intend to turn this into a field of excessive demands based on their bullying approach.”
What are the key points of friction now?
Since the start of the war on February 28, a number of new sticking points have emerged – alongside old challenges:
Strait of Hormuz
A central dispute is over the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route linking the Gulf to the Arabian Sea. One-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies were shipped through the strait before the war began.
Iran insists on sovereignty over the waterway, which lies within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman and does not fall into international waters, and stated that only “nonhostile” ships could pass. It has also floated the idea of levying tolls while Washington demands full freedom of navigation.
After the war began, Iran in effect closed the strait by forbidding transits, attacking ships and reportedly laying sea mines. Shipping traffic has since dropped by 95 percent.
A week ago, the US implemented a blockade of its own. Its Navy has been blocking Iranian ports to pressure Tehran to reopen the vital waterway, adding another obstacle to the talks.
According to Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London, Trump’s stance on the strait has shifted during the conflict and remains unclear.
“We’ve had Trump say that he would be open to jointly controlling the Strait of Hormuz with Iran, where both sides collect a toll for shipping,” Geist Pinfold noted, calling this “completely different to the demands of the US on paper but also the demands of the US’s regional allies like the Gulf states and Israel, … who would regard any deal that entrenches Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz … as a stab in the back”.
“This isn’t just between the US and Iran. It’s about the US having to keep its regional allies on side,” Geist Pinfold told Al Jazeera.
Enriched uranium
Another core issue is Iran’s nuclear programme, particularly its stock of enriched uranium.
The US and Israel are pushing for zero uranium enrichment and have accused Iran of working towards building a nuclear weapon while providing no evidence for their claims.
Iran has insisted its enrichment effort is for civilian purposes only. It is a signatory to the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
In 2015, the US was a signatory to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under then-US President Barack Obama. In that agreement, Iran pledged to limit its uranium enrichment to 3.67 per cent, which is substantially below weapons grade, and to comply with inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to insure it wasn’t developing nuclear weapons. In return, international sanctions on Iran were lifted.
However, in 2018, during his first term, Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA despite the IAEA saying Iran had complied with the agreement up to that point.
In March 2025, Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, testified to Congress that the US “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon”.
A month later, the IAEA estimated that Iran had 440kg (970lb) of 60-percent enriched uranium. While that is also below weapons grade, it is a short jump to achieve the 90-percent purity needed for atomic weapons production.
On Sunday, in strongly worded comments, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump had no justification to ”deprive” Iran of its nuclear rights.
Maryam Jamshidi, a law professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, said Iran’s position on enrichment is based on Article IV of the NPT, “which recognises that all state parties [to the treaty] have the inalienable right to research, develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes”.
“In demanding that Iran have no enrichment, the United States is denying Iran its rights under this treaty,” she told Al Jazeera.
“In insisting that its right to enrichment be preserved, Iran is expressing a reasonable desire to be treated the same as any other state under international law.”
Lebanon
Two days after the first US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28, in which Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei was killed, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon began firing rockets and drones into northern Israel, and Israel struck back, launching an invasion into southern Lebanon.
Iran is adamant that its ceasefire with the US extends to Lebanon and is demanding Israel end its offensive against its ally Hezbollah and its invasion of Lebanon.
After initially denying the two-week ceasefire included Lebanon, Israel accepted a 10-day truce starting on Thursday night after direct Israel-Lebanon talks. However, that ceasefire is also teetering on collapse amid renewed hostilities.
On Monday, the Israeli military claimed that it struck a loaded launch system in the Kfarkela area of southern Lebanon overnight while Hezbollah claimed responsibility for multiple explosions that it said hit a convoy of eight Israeli armoured vehicles, also in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah is Tehran’s most powerful ally in the region and a central part of its “axis of resistance”, a network of armed groups across the Middle East aligned with Iran against Israel. The network also includes Yemen’s Houthis and a collection of armed groups in Iraq.
Which of the US demands have changed during the conflict?
Ballistic missiles
Before the US-Israeli war on Iran, Tehran had always insisted negotiations be exclusively focused on Iran’s nuclear programme.
US demands, however, have extended beyond the nuclear file. Before the war, Washington and Israel demanded severe restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile programme. Iran has said its ability to maintain its missile capabilities is non-negotiable.
On February 25, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Iran’s refusal to discuss its missile programme was a “big problem”.
Yet, since the two-week ceasefire was announced on April 8 and the Pakistan-brokered negotiations began, the US has not made any mention of Iran’s ballistic missiles, which have been a major feature in Iran’s retaliation against US and Israeli forces.
A change in Iran’s government
The US and Israel have also made no secret of their desire for a change in Iran’s government. Asked two weeks before the war began if he wished for a toppling of the government in Tehran, Trump said: “Seems like that would be the best thing that could happen.”
After the killing of Khamenei and multiple other senior Iranian leaders, Trump claimed the US-Israel war had in effect brought about “regime change”, claiming key leadership layers were “decimated”.
Experts, however, disputed Trump’s assertions, saying the government was very much intact, if not stronger.
Salar Mohandesi, a professor at Bowdoin College in Maine, argued that despite US claims, what is happening in Iran does not meet any serious definition of “regime change”.
“The fundamental structures of the Islamic Republic are intact, and the new leaders are regime loyalists who are arguably more hardline than their assassinated predecessors,” he told Al Jazeera.
Mohandesi said the war has arguably strengthened the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), something that is an “acceleration of an existing” trend and does not necessarily amount to regime change, “certainly not in the way Trump means it”.
“Trump’s declaration that he has succeeded in ‘regime change’ is just a rhetorical move to try to claim victory where none exists,” he added.
Ending support for proxy groups
Three days before the war began during his State of the Union address to the US Congress, Trump accused Iran and “its murderous proxies” of spreading “nothing but terrorism and death and hate”.
The US and Israel have long demanded Iran stop supporting its nonstate allies – primarily Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and a number of groups in Iraq.
Tehran to date has refused to enter into any dialogue about limiting its support for these armed groups.
But on Friday, Trump claimed Iran had agreed to almost all of the US demands, including support for its proxies.
A statement by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected that any such agreement was in place, saying: “The Americans talk excessively and create noise around the situation. Do not be misled!”
Can the divide be bridged?
On Sunday, Iran’s top negotiator and speaker of its parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, acknowledged that while “conclusions” had been reached on some issues, “we are far from a final agreement.”
Analyst Geist Pinfold told Al Jazeera that deep divisions between the US and Iran make a comprehensive deal unlikely in the near term despite some openings created by Trump’s shifting positions.
“The primary complication that would mean a deal is less likely but also one of the potential curveballs that would make a deal more likely is the Trump administration’s equivocations regarding what its red lines actually are,” he said.
“At the moment, the gaps look insurmountable,” Geist Pinfold added, noting that “the best-case scenario would be the extension of the ceasefire rather than the actual deal.”
The US-Iran talks face major structural obstacles despite growing speculation about a negotiated end to the current crisis, according to Bowdoin College’s Mohandesi.
“Donald Trump feels that he needs to somehow convert this disastrous defeat into some sort of win,” he noted, adding: “It’s unclear what that would look like at the negotiating table.”
On the Iranian side, Mohandesi sees little room for compromise on the core strategic issues. “Iran will absolutely not abandon its missile programme. It will not stop supporting its allies in the region, and it will almost certainly not agree to zero enrichment,” he said.
The academic questioned whether even a restoration of maritime traffic would constitute meaningful success for Washington. Even if Trump “were to somehow convince Iran to return the Strait of Hormuz to the pre-war status quo, it’s unclear how that would be a major win since the strait was open before he started the war”, Mohandesi said.
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Catherine O’Hara Rewrote Entire Scenes for ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ Dan Levy Reveals: ‘She Was Just an Irreplaceable Talent and an Irreplaceable Person’
Catherine O’Hara didn’t just have notes for the writers of “Schitt’s Creek” — she would rewrite entire scenes “from top to tail,” according to Dan Levy.
O’Hara died on Jan. 30 in her Los Angeles home after a brief illness. She was 71. On Monday’s episode of podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” Levy recalled working with his friend and co-star on the award-winning sitcom
O’Brien told Levy, “I remembered thinking it was such a nice thing for Catherine to have that role during that last decade of her life, where she was playing someone who was beloved, because people love the character and they’re really getting to see yet another way that she’s really funny. … It was such a nice thing for her that you made happen.”
Levy responded: “She made it happen. I just made sure that I was prepared. That’s really what it came down to. Like so much of Moira Rose was Catherine.” He recalled Seth Rogen once telling him that O’Hara would send emails the night before a shoot that said “Gentlemen, some thoughts about the scenes we’re shooting tomorrow,” and “it would be a full top-to-tail rewrite.”
“And as soon as he said it, it was like: I got those emails. The ‘gentleman’ — it always started with ‘gentlemen, some thoughts’ — and then it was an unbelievable rewrite of the scene. And that is what the amazing, all the great Catherine roles were when she found collaborators that wanted to give her that platform,” Levy said.
Levy continued, “You know, because she had so much to offer, and she was so, the way that she thinks is so on another level that as a writer, you can’t get into her head. So all you can really do is set the table, wait for the email, ‘gentlemen, some thoughts,’ read the scene and say, ‘Fuck yeah.’ You know, and like, just be prepared.”
Levy also revealed that he often stops and watches clips of O’Hara from the show when he sees them online.
“The crazy thing about it is that I’m still like, you know, I go on Instagram and her face is there and Moira’s clips from the show are all over the place,” Levy said. “And I, every time I see her — even though I wrote the thing — I stop and I watch, and I’m watching not for anything that I did, but I’m watching because she is impossible not to watch. And she’s impossible not to love and she’s, it’s impossible not to laugh with her in anything she does. And it’s, it is like an unimaginable loss. She was just an irreplaceable talent and an irreplaceable person.”
On the podcast, O’Brien asked Levy if he owns the costumes from “Schitt’s Creek,” noting that Sarah Jessica Parker owns the dresses from “Sex and the City.”
Levy responded: “Are you fucking crazy? Do you understand how little that show cost? We had to sell every piece of clothing to pay off the debts that the show had, even in our sixth season. We got no cash. It was like slim pickings from the very beginning, and then incremental sort of, I think it’s like a standard 15%, whatever it is, that your budget can increase, but 15% on like a pile of shells and a feather is not giving you much.”
Although they had to sell most of the “Schitt’s Creek” wardrobe, Levy said, he kept four “looks” from his character, as well as O’Hara’s Moria Rose and Annie Murphy’s Alexis. “Unfortunately, my dad’s suits, we can just buy in a store. So I have some,” Levy said. “The retrospective will be small, but I do have some of the looks.” Said O’Brien, “So the museum is going to be like a little nook in a mall.” To which Levy replied, “It’ll be a corner.”
O’Hara starred in “Schitt’s Creek” alongside Dan Levy, Eugene Levy and Annie Murphy. The show followed a wealthy family who became penniless overnight after falling victim to fraud. “Schitt’s Creek” premiered on Canadian broadcaster CBC in 2015 and ran for six seasons until 2020. In the U.S., the series is available to stream on HBO Max.
Dan Levy had previously said he was considering a “Schitt’s Creek” sequel series before O’Hara’s death.
Watch Levy’s appearance on SiriusXM’s “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” at this link.
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Martin Scorsese’s Pope Francis Film to Launch With Private Vatican Screening One Year After His Death; First-Look Images Revealed
A new Martin Scorsese film titled “Aldeas, the Final Dream of Pope Francis” is set to launch with a private screening at the Vatican on Tuesday, which marks one year since the pontiff’s death.
Scholas Occurrentes, a global Catholic educational movement founded by the late Pope Francis, has released some first-look images from the film that Scorsese and his team shot across Italy, Indonesia, the African country of Gambia and Vatican City. According to its synopsis, “Aldeas” features Pope Francis’ last, never-before-seen testimony, recorded shortly before his passing.
“At its heart is a film in which entire communities come together to create and share their own stories, including a return by Martin Scorsese to his grandfather’s village in Sicily, where he works with local young people to make a film of their own,” the synopsis says.
“Aldeas” is described as “a powerful convergence of Pope Francis’ and Martin Scorsese’s visions of art, spirituality and humanity,” moving “beyond traditional cinema, transforming storytelling into an act of resistance, identity and purpose, and positioning film as a force for a new culture.”
Courtesy Sikelia Productions
The film’s promotional materials go on to say that “Aldeas” is rooted in Pope Francis’ vision and was described by Francis as “an extraordinarily poetic and deeply transformative project, because it reaches the very root of human life: our sociability, our conflicts and the very essence of life’s journey.”The statement continues: “Pope Francis understood that cinema would play a fundamental role in making the culture of encounter a reality. Working from the peripheries, the project creates space for people to tell their own stories, celebrating cultural diversity while fostering intercultural and intergenerational dialogue. It is a new kind of cinema, born from a new kind of education, helping shape a new culture.”
On April 21, exactly one year after Pope Francis’ passing, “Aldeas” will be screened just a few steps from where he lived and where his life came to an end.
“This film is a tribute to the Holy Father,” Scorsese said in a statement. “It honors his memory by embodying the spirit of his ministry and his dream of creating an ever more human culture. At this moment in history, I believe that is not only a dream, but a necessity.”
In an interview last June with Variety at the Taormina Film Festival Scorsese spoke about the Sicilian component of this project “In a way I think that for me that [Sicilian connection] combined with the religious experiences, it has propted a curiosity and a search as to my own identity. As to who I am,” he said.
“Aldeas” is produced by Aldeas Scholas Films in association with Scorsese’s own Sikelia Productions and Massive Owl Productions. Producers include Scorsese, Teresa Leveratto, Ezequiel del Corral and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, with Lisa Frechette, Romilda de Luca, Ariel Tcach and Ariel Broitman serving as executive producers.
Directors Clare Tavernor and Johnny Shipley, together with producer Amy Foster, lead the creative team. Acclaimed cinematographers Ellen Kuras and Salvatore Totino also contributed to the film.
The project features collaborations with internationally recognized artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, including actor Babou Ceesay, actress Happy Salma and Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore, representing Africa, Asia and Europe, respectively.
The film and the broader project are independently financed by international sponsors and donors, ensuring that all proceeds are reinvested in sustaining and expanding the initiative globally.
LBI Entertainment and Double Agent are handling sales on “Aldeas.”
Courtesy Sikelia Productions
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Analyst Explains: “There Are Two Critical Levels to Watch in Bitcoin This Week!”
Bitcoin ($BTC) surged above $78,000 on Friday due to the impact of events between the US and Iran, but gave back its gains over the weekend as tensions escalated, falling back to $74,000.
As $BTC continues to be affected by the events between the two countries, a major expiration date is approaching for options contracts in the crypto market, as it does every Friday.
These options are particularly significant because they fall on the last Friday of both the week and the month.
According to weekly data, approximately $7.9 billion worth of Bitcoin options will expire on the Deribit derivatives exchange on April 24th.
According to Deribit data, $7.9 billion worth of Bitcoin options will expire this Friday, and the $75,000 level will be a key level to watch closely.
According to Deribit data, the $62,000 and $75,000 levels are noteworthy for Bitcoin. Call options are concentrated around $75,000, while put options are concentrated around $62,000.
Approximately $395 million worth of call positions are clustered around the $75,000 strike price. According to crypto analyst James Van Straten, this concentration of around $395 million in call positions at the $75,000 strike price is turning this level into a battleground. This could lead to the price being stuck in this region and increased volatility.
The analyst also noted that the current Bitcoin funding rate has turned negative, signaling a general downward trend in the market. According to the analyst, if the Bitcoin price remains above the key $75,000 level, a short squeeze could occur, potentially paving the way for a rapid and sharp upward movement in Bitcoin’s price.
*This is not investment advice.
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Singapore Gulf Bank Launches Stablecoin Service
Singapore Gulf Bank has introduced a new stablecoin mint and redeem service for corporate and high-net-worth clients. The product allows users to convert fiat currencies into stablecoins and back directly from their bank accounts.
To support adoption, the bank announced a temporary waiver of gas and banking fees for operations on the Solana network. Clients will also receive rewards based on transaction volume during the promotional period.
The service is integrated into SGB Net, the bank’s internal clearing system. This allows funds to move between blockchain networks and traditional accounts without additional intermediaries.
At launch, the service supports USD Coin transactions starting from 100,000 US dollars. The bank plans to expand the offering by adding Tether, USDe, and Global Dollar in future updates.
Image: Freepik
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Ryan Reynolds Says Deadpool Will Be a ‘Supporting Character’ Moving Forward and ‘I’ve Got Stuff Written’ for His Return: ‘I Don’t Think I’m Ever Going to Center Him Again’
Ryan Reynolds confirmed in a “Sunday Today” interview that he’s got some stuff already written when asked about Deadpool‘s return in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While there’s no information on what the actor is cooking up for his foul-mouthed superhero, it appears it will not be a standalone “Deadpool 4” movie.
“I have some stuff kind of written, but I don’t think I am ever going to center him again,” Reynolds said, revealing Deadpool’s life as a big screen main character might be over as far as Reynolds’ iteration of the character is concerned. “He is a supporting character. He is a guy who is great in a group.”
Speculation has run rampant on social that Reynolds will be back as Deadpool in a secret role in this December’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” although the actor has downplayed such rumors. Reynolds said in an interview with THR in December 2024 that he’d love for the character to cross paths with the Avengers or the X-Men without having to join either group.
“If he becomes either, we’re at the end,” Reynolds said. “Deadpool works so well appearing with the X-Men and Avengers, but he always needs to stay an outsider. His ultimate dream is to be accepted and appreciated. But he can’t be accepted. His coping mechanism of deflecting shame through humor works only when used to pave over his many inadequacies. If and when he does become an Avenger or X-Man, we’re at the end of his journey.”
Reynolds also explained at the time that he was leaning towards not making another standalone “Deadpool” movie because “centering Deadpool works best if you take everything away from him and put his back against the wall. I can’t really do that again. A fourth time feels a little iterative and redundant. That doesn’t mean sacrificing fun. There is still an arc for Deadpool which is fulfilling and powerful.”
Reynolds’ Deadpool officially entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2024’s smash hit “Deadpool and Wolverine,” which earned $1.3 billion at the worldwide box office to become the highest grossing R-rated movie in history. The first two “Deadpool” movies were released in 2016 and 2018 and each grossed in the $780 million range worldwide.
Watch Reynolds’ latest interview with “Sunday Today” in the video below.
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The Mandalorian and Grogu director used Apple Vision Pro to preview the film in IMAX
Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Jungle Book) hasn’t been shy about embracing new technology for filmmaking. While producing The Mandalorian for Disney+, he was one of the first filmmakers to use ILM’s massive LED screens, AKA “The Volume,” to produce more realistic lighting and backgrounds on studio sets. For the feature film The Mandalorian and Grogu, which hits theaters May 22, Favreau recently revealed that he had Disney build an Apple Vision Pro app to preview its full IMAX scope during filming.
“So I’m making an IMAX movie, and I’m looking at a TV screen, and no matter how big your TV screen is it’s not an IMAX screen,” Favreau said in a recent episode of The Town podcast. “We built software so that I can pop on my Apple Vision Pro and be sitting in an IMAX movie theater and see the full aspect ratio when we’re lining a shot up. And I can watch that take and see what people will see.”
Favreau isn’t the first director to use the Apple Vision Pro — Wicked filmmaker Jon Chu also used it to handle post-production work — but he’s the first to specifically mention using the headset for IMAX production. That’s still a relatively limited use case for the Apple Vision Pro, but it’s one that could be useful to future filmmakers. With its large field of view and sharp micro-OLED screens, the Apple Vision Pro is one of the only ways to replicate the experience of watching a large IMAX screen at home. (The Meta Quest 3 comes in as a close second.)
In general, Favreau says he’s more excited about using existing consumer technology in the filmmaking process than AI. He mentions using the Unreal Engine to previsualize special effects on The Mandalorian and his previous films, and he believes the quality from game engines could be good enough to make it into final productions down the line.
“This is what the animation industry has understood from the beginning,” he said. “Get it right before you ever paint a cel.”
