From Paramount Pictures, the movie will screen out of competition at the Spanish festival. Both Pitt and Ayer are expected to attend the event, as the Oscar-winning star plays a former Special Forces officer who, accompanied by his retired combat dog, must survive in the Alaskan wilderness following a harrowing plane crash.
It marks Pitt’s first visit to the festival since his 2009 presentation of Inglourious Basterds, alongside filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
Ayer’s credits include Training Day, Suicide Squad, End of Watch, The Tax Collector and Sabotage. His latest feature is written by Cameron Alexander and reunites him with Pitt (who starred in Ayer’s Fury). The film’s cast also includes J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe. Pitt produces the film alongside Olivia Hamilton, Marty Bowen and David Ayer, with Damien Chazelle among its executive producers.
With the addition of Heart of the Beast, the list of titles in San Sebastian’s official selection is now complete. The 74th edition includes 17 films in competition, three out of competition and five special screenings.
This year’s batch boasts opening filmGhost Song from Faith Akin, closer Le Faux Soir from Michaël R. Roskam, as well as a slew of other projects from Mike Leigh (Tender Loving Care), Pablo Larrain (My Sad Dead) and Jaime Lorente (The Bad Son). Other competition highlights include Milo from director Nicole Garcia (Oran), a French drama featuring Marion Cotillard and Lurker star Théodore Pellerin; and In My Father’s Room, the directorial debut of Japanese novelist Maha Harada.
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Are you ready to take an air taxi to watch the Los Angeles Lakers or Kings play at Crypto.com Arena? It could happen sooner than you think.
This morning, AEG and Archer Aviation unveiled a multiyear partnership and collaboration to develop downtown L.A.’s first “vertiport” — a vertical takeoff and landing site for electric air taxis — at the sports and entertainment district L.A. Live.
The goal is to enable folks to take one of Archer’s Midnight air taxis for a 10- to 20-minute point-to-point trip that, with traffic, could take two hours. The taxis carry four passengers, reach speeds of up to 150 mph and produce far less noise and zero operating emissions compared with traditional helicopters.
Archer already has plans for its air taxi network to include SoFi Stadium, USC, LAX, Hollywood Burbank Airport and spots in Santa Monica and Orange County, with the recently acquired Hawthorne Airport serving as its central operational hub.
According to the companies, AEG and Archer have completed the initial feasibility study for the site, including land-use and airspace reviews, power availability and community impact. The next phase, reviewing operational approach and guest experience, is underway. (Exactly where the taxis will land and take off has yet to be determined.)
The agreement, brokered by AEG Global Partnerships, names publicly traded Archer as the exclusive air taxi partner of L.A. Live.
“We are thrilled to pursue this endeavor with Archer to enhance the fan experience around the major sports and live-entertainment events we host,” AEG Global Partnerships president and COO Nick Baker said in a statement.
“This is an ambitious project and exactly the kind of forward-thinking collaboration that blends infrastructure and technology in service of our fans, visitors and the broader community around major sports and live-entertainment events hosted at L.A. Live.”
In addition to Crypto.com Arena, L.A. Live is home to the Peacock Theater, The Novo, a Regal multiplex, the Grammy Museum, restaurants and bars, and the L.A. Convention Center, which is around the corner.
Archer is also the official air taxi provider for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and Team USA, and downtown L.A. will serve as a central hub for 18 Olympic and Paralympic sports a couple of summers from now.
“We see this as a one-of-a-kind opportunity to add a flagship downtown location to our planned Los Angeles air taxi network ahead of the LA28 Games,” Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said. “Working with AEG on an iconic project like this vertiport at L.A. Live gives us the opportunity to continue building the infrastructure needed for Southern California to lead in the next era of all-electric flight.”
A Midnight air taxi will be on display at L.A. Live through Tuesday.
Dirty Monkeys’ war comedy-drama “Once Upon a Time in the Middle East” held onto the No. 1 position at the mainland China box office during the Aug. 21–23 weekend, taking in RMB298.8 million ($43.9 million) in its second weekend of release, according to data from Artisan Gateway.
Directed by Wen Muye (“Dying to Survive”) and starring Shen Teng, Jiang Qiming, Aarif Rahman, and Omar Sherif, the hit production has accumulated $232.2 million since launching nationwide on Aug. 11. The story tracks a Chinese chef who moves to the Middle East to clear family debts by running a restaurant, only to see the venue become a community refuge when armed conflict breaks out across the region.
Pearl River Film Group’s crime drama “V” debuted in second place, pulling in $18.9 million over the three-day weekend frame. Bolstered by early screenings following its Aug. 19 premiere, the feature has reached a cumulative total of $30.7 million. Directed by Han Yan (“Love Never Ends”), the film features a heavyweight ensemble cast led by Tony Ka Fai Leung, Zhu Yilong, Tan Jianci, and Kara Wai. The narrative follows an ambitious figure who uses relentless daring and sharp enterprise to rise through the ranks and taste immense success, only to see dark consequences and long-buried shadows gather to threaten his triumph.
Universal’s epic “The Odyssey” took third position in its sophomore frame, collecting $15.9 million for a total of $68.7 million.
Pearl Studio’s animated fantasy feature “All Wishes Come True!” moved to fourth place in its sixth weekend, adding $9.8 million. Directed by Mu Zhengyang, the enduring family hit has amassed $255.7 million since its July 18 debut.
Sony’s superhero blockbuster “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” rounded out the top five, generating $4.6 million in its fourth full weekend, lifting its cumulative total in China to $219.9 million since rolling out on July 29.
Mainland China’s overall weekend grosses reached $103.1 million, while the 2026 year-to-date revenue stands at $4 billion, down 28.6% from the same period in 2025.
“The Odyssey” maintained its commanding position atop the South Korea box office during the weekend of Aug. 21–23.
According to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the Christopher Nolan-directed tentpole generated $10.6 million from 1,321,204 admissions over the three-day frame across 2,182 screens, capturing 66.3% of total weekend business. Showing formidable holding power in its third outing, the film pushed its cumulative local gross to $56.8 million from 7,109,368 total admissions since its Aug. 5 launch.
Superhero tentpole “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” held onto second place in its fourth frame, taking $2.9 million from 386,754 admissions. The film accounted for 18.39% of the market, lifting its cumulative South Korea haul to $61.4 million from 8,127,615 total admissions.
“Insidious: Out of the Further” opened in third place, generating $547,555 from 71,592 admissions across 678 screens. Since its Aug. 20 premiere, the release has collected $706,508 from 93,922 total admissions.
Local animated feature “Teenieping: Legend of the Whale Heartstone” finished fourth, adding $480,487 from 69,482 admissions. Directed by Kim Soo-hoon, the musical fantasy adventure follows Princess Romi, Heartsping, and their crew venturing into the deep sea to rescue Queen Velita. The sequel has grossed $5.3 million from 788,263 viewers since its Aug. 5 rollout.
Animated mystery “Detective Conan the Movie: Fallen Angel of the Highway” took fifth place in its second weekend, pulling in $380,240 from 50,053 admissions. Directed by Takahiro Hasui, the franchise installment has reached a total of $2.5 million from 356,276 tickets.
The local action-comedy sequel “Ok! Madam: Bon Voyage” took sixth place, generating $239,231 from 33,585 admissions. Directed by Lee Cheol-ha and starring Uhm Jung-hwa, Park Sung-woong, Lee Sang-yun, and Sooyoung, the film has now earned $2 million.
“Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie” placed seventh, collecting $143,937 from 20,488 admissions to move its gross to $671,567 from 95,605 admissions.
Sci-fi thriller “Hope” took eighth place, adding $130,477 from 18,366 admissions. Directed by Na Hong-Jin and starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender, and Alicia Vikander, the alien-encounter feature has accumulated $35 million from 4,518,395 admissions.
Studio Ghibli’s 2010 animated fantasy “The Secret World of Arrietty,” directed by Yonebayashi Hiromasa, placed ninth via a specialty re-release, earning $82,305 from 10,431 admissions to lift its lifetime South Korea gross to $5.6 million from 1,086,258 tickets.
Rounding out the top ten was “Warfare,” which pulled in $58,172 from 7,333 admissions over the frame. The real-time Iraq War encounter film has generated $108,585 from 13,863 admissions since its Aug. 19 rollout.
The overall market collective gross for the weekend was $16.1 million, down from last week’s $22.3 million.
“It’s a project that has been on my desk for many, many years. Jon Fosse wrote it almost 20 years ago. After he received the Nobel Prize in Literature [in 2023], it felt like the whole world wanted to read it. But I always knew it was a powerful piece of work,” he tells Variety.
“Beloved” follows a couple who meet in a small coastal town. They have a child, but Asle is drawn back to the sea while Gerd remains in the village.
The film, starring Leo Magnus de la Nuez and Kristi-Helene Giæver Engeberg, was produced by Paradox and SF Production. It’s sold by Reinvent Yellow Sales.
One of Norway’s most acclaimed directors, Poppe is known for larger productions, from “The King’s Choice” to “Utøya: July 22,” “The Emigrants” and “Quisling: The Final Days.” But focusing on a more intimate story felt right this time.
“Looking at the world as it is right now, I needed to hold onto some sense of hope – or at least something more human. I wanted to explore the relationship between two people, as well as between a father and son, because it’s a story of daily life I can relate to.”
He adds: “We’ve all seen how well they perform in the cinemas, surprisingly enough. People long for something honest and truthful that they can just dive into.”
The fact that Fosse is only growing in stature doesn’t hurt either.
“He’s about to be named one of the most important living authors in the world today, and this isn’t based on his novels or plays. [The screenplay] is an original piece of work that he wrote with only one goal in mind: to make it into a movie.”
Still more adaptations are likely on their way.
“I’m quite sure more movies will be made from his novels. As a filmmaker, he’s opening up the space between the dialogue for me to fill in. His style is so simple yet deep. You connect with it, understand it, and it hits you right in the stomach. His novels are short, but when you read them, it feels like Dostoyevsky. I find it extraordinary.”
Despite following only two characters and their son, Poppe didn’t change his approach to working with actors.
“On all my movies, I insist on having at least eight or 12 weeks with them [prior to the shoot]. If I can establish a truthful, honest relationship with my actors, I can push them quite far,” he says. He also paid extra attention to their surroundings.
“I spent a lot of time figuring out where to shoot this film. It’s almost like a mythical landscape, a mythical part of Norway. It’s the fourth character in the film.”
Misty and melancholic, it mirrors their insecurities and growing estrangement.
“It’s quite typical of many relationships. It’s so hard to talk to each other,” says Poppe.
“I was raised by two parents who were almost exactly like these two. Except, it was my mother who left and my sister and I stayed home with my father. The film is about the language these two used to share, which is disappearing, it’s about where they are and what they’re longing for.”
Which is why, despite that title, there is a darker side to ‘Beloved.’
“Based on our first screenings, people have been surprised, but they also really love that it’s not your regular love story,” he admits.
“I think it’s a brave piece of work by Jon. I was tempted by the fact that he doesn’t follow the paths we are so used to. I wanted to explore how that could work in a movie.”
The U.K. government announced on Aug. 18 that a London court had wound up Key Coin Assets Ltd. a week earlier. An investigation by the Insolvency Service, the U.K. government agency that investigates corporate misconduct and insolvency, found no evidence that the company carried out any of the crypto trading it advertised.
Nine people who took their complaints to Action Fraud, the U.K.’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting center, paid the company more than £300,000 between them.
Unauthorized investment schemes remain a live risk for U.K. savers, with Britain’s full crypto authorization regime still more than a year away. The company told investors it could guarantee returns ranging from 40% to 100%, while one online promotion claimed “0 Fees, 0 Risks.”
Insolvency Service Chief Investigator Mark George said:
“Key Coin Assets Ltd promised guaranteed returns but delivered nothing. Their behavior displayed all the hallmarks of a Ponzi-style scheme.”
Money from newer investors appeared to have gone toward paying off earlier ones rather than into any investment, the Insolvency Service noted.
Funds Moved Into Director’s Personal Account
Bank records examined by investigators showed customer funds were often transferred into the company director’s personal account within hours or on the same day they arrived. The money then became difficult to trace, while accounting records requested by the Insolvency Service were not provided during the investigation.
The company repeatedly changed its official address, at one point listing a flat whose occupants had never heard of the firm. Filings at Companies House claimed assets reaching £42 million, a figure investigators found far above the level suggested by the company’s actual banking activity.
Fake customer testimonials went up online without the permission of the people named in them. Moreover, investors were instructed to avoid terms such as “crypto” and “investment” in bank payment references.
Fraud against individuals and businesses cost the U.K. economy £14.4 billion in 2023-24 and ranks as the country’s largest crime type, according to the government’s 2026-2029 Fraud Strategy. The strategy commits more than £250 million between 2026 and 2029 to combating it.
FCA Had Previously Flagged the Firm
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) added Key Coin Assets to its list of unauthorized firms on Sept. 12, 2024, nearly two years before the court order. The FCA warning on Key Coin Assets states that the firm was not authorized and could be targeting U.K. consumers.
Anyone dealing with an unauthorized firm is not protected by the Financial Ombudsman Service, which handles complaints against financial firms, or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which can compensate customers if an authorized firm fails.
The regulator has also stepped up enforcement elsewhere in the sector, including raids on eight premises linked to suspected illegal peer-to-peer crypto trading. That April operation marked its first coordinated enforcement action of that type and resulted in cease-and-desist letters as authorities examined potential unlawful activity.
What Investors Should Check Before Paying
The Insolvency Service and the FCA urge anyone weighing a crypto investment to look up the firm on the FCA’s Firm Checker and its list of unauthorized firms. Guaranteed high returns, a request to leave normal payment references off a transfer, and pressure to recruit other investors are the warning signs both bodies name.
A common crypto scam warning sign is an unusually high return advertised alongside little or no apparent risk. Investigators found that exact combination in the material Key Coin Assets put in front of its customers.
Wider UK Crypto Rules Take Effect in 2027
Crypto firms carrying on regulated crypto asset activities in the U.K. will answer to the FCA the way banks and brokers already do, under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026. The regulations were finalized in February 2026, according to an HM Treasury policy note on the cryptoasset regulations.
The final framework covers businesses including exchanges, custodians, staking providers, and lenders, with an Oct. 25, 2027 effective date outlined in the U.K.’s final crypto rulebook. Firms can begin applying for authorization from Sept. 30, 2026, creating a transition period before the broader rules take effect.
Separately, U.K. lawmakers opened a July inquiry into crypto banking access, asking whether banks are cutting off legitimate crypto companies. The Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group wrote to major bank executives on Aug. 11 and is gathering evidence through Aug. 31.
The Official Receiver, a government official who handles the affairs of companies wound up by the court, has been appointed liquidator of Key Coin Assets following the High Court order.
A notable development has occurred in Bitcoin’s technical outlook. The cryptocurrency’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) rose to the 84-86 range, pushing Bitcoin into its strongest overbought zone since November 2024. This rise in the technical indicator has attracted investor attention following Bitcoin’s recent sharp gains.
Bitcoin recently broke above its trading range of $62,000 to $71,000. Following this breakout, the cryptocurrency surged by up to 12% in just one to two days, coming very close to the $80,000 level at one point. This sharp price movement also led to a significant liquidation of short positions in the market.
According to the data, over $3 billion in short positions were liquidated within 24 hours during Bitcoin’s surge. These forced position closures caused investors who had taken short positions to exit the market, and the resulting liquidations contributed to a further acceleration of the upward movement.
In the short term, the $77,000 level stands out as an important support point for Bitcoin. Analysts believe that the price remaining above this level is critical for maintaining the uptrend. Conversely, it is noted that a loss of the $77,000 support level could strengthen short-term selling pressure.
In Bitcoin, the RSI approaching its highest overbought region in two years indicates that strong momentum coexists with the risk of a potential correction.
John Oliver took a close look at what he called a “less-covered story from this week” on Sunday’sLast Week Tonight: a reality show from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy called The Great American Road Trip.
Duffy debuted a trailer for the show in May. At the time, a press release stated that the series “asks: Who are we? Following U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his family, this five-part journey encourages Americans to step away from their screens for a vital civic experience. From small towns to iconic landmarks, the series captures the unscripted moments and shared values that prove to love America, you have to see America. The series will be released for free on YouTube, allowing every American family to follow along.” The show was timed to debut during this year, the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“So the motto is to love America is to see America,” Duffy explains to President Donald Trump in the trailer. He continues in voice-over: “It’s more than a road trip. It’s a civic experience. It’s one of the most powerful ways to understand the vast, beautiful, complicated place we call home.” (Watch it below.)
Said Oliver of the trailer: “OK, lots not to like there — from the generic ‘hey ho’ folk rock to Trump giving insane grandma’s new boyfriend vibes to the very conspicuous close up of the Toyota logo to the seemingly AI-generated images of cars, which makes sense. No one’s ever thought to film a real car before.”
At the time the show was announced, Duffy’s wife, Fox News Channel host Rachel Campos Duffy, “even claimed it was a solution to what ails us as a nation,” Oliver said.
“I’m going to be really honest, we live in a Pornhub world,” Rachel said in a Fox News clip shown by Oliver. “This is really wholesome, good family stuff. This is what families need to do is just get together. That’s what our kids want from us.”
Replied Oliver: “Is it? Because I think what every kid really wants is for their mum not to say the word ‘Pornhub’ on national TV. Also, she clearly hasn’t spent a lot of time on that site, or she’d know, families getting together is very much its own category.”
However, the road-trip series drew controversy for a few reasons: the high cost of gas, the fact that Sean was out filming a reality series when he had an important government job to do, and who was paying for the show. Regarding the latter, Sean said that it wasn’t funded by taxpayer money; instead the series was funded through a nonprofit production company called Great American Road Trip Inc. However, that organization’s website lists 17 sponsors, many of which are companies that the Department of Transportation oversees and regulates.
“Yeah, that’s not great,” said Oliver. “The only worse answer to who pay for this than ‘the American taxpayer’ is ‘a bunch of companies I oversee and regulate.’ Actually, I suppose an even worse answer would be a bunch of companies I oversee and regulate, and also my close personal friend Jeffrey Epstein.”
The show was supposed to be released in June, but “all the scrutiny seemed to delay it,” Oliver noted, and all six episodes were “quietly dumped on YouTube” last week.
Oliver said that it’s no surprise that Sean, a former star of MTV’sThe Real World: Boston, wanted to return to reality TV. (He also met his wife on Road Rules: All Stars.) But Oliver pointed out some discrepancies in how Duffy recalled his time on those shows over the years. For example, in Road Trip, he visits the house that the Real World: Boston cast stayed in while filming and “tries to rewrite some history,” the Last Week Tonight host said.
During the segment, Sean reflects on the tension between him and housemate Kameelah Phillips, denying he called her a “bitch.” But Oliver showed a clip from The Real World in which Duffy says, “I walked up ahead of the group and I called her a bitch.”
“You did call her that,” Oliver said. “Call me CVS, Sean, because I will always bring the receipts.”
As for Sean’s claim that the show is “a nationwide storytelling movement that invites Americans to explore the open road, connect with their communities,” Oliver said, “That’s not really what it is at all, because it turns out it’s basically just an expensively produced test run of a Duffy family reality show with each episode featuring a bare minimum about travel or America, but a ton of manufactured reality TV drama around the Duffys doing stuff like planning a family party or over the course of several episodes watching their daughter decide which college she’ll attend.” As for that lattter point, Sean and Rachel are seen talking to their daughter about her desire to go to Harvard, which they evidently don’t support because they believe Harvard has “professionalized figuring out how they can take good young girls like you and I think corrupt their minds,” Sean tells his daughter in the show while the two are chatting in their kitchen.
Replied Oliver: “What the fuck are you talking about? First, this was supposed to be a road trip. Why are we still in your kitchen? Second, is there anything less relatable than a family whose conflict is, how do I tell my daughter she can’t go to Harvard because we did too good a job raising her?”
He continued: “And finally, please don’t be worried that Harvard’s going to corrupt your daughter’s mind. Be worried that if she goes there, like every other Harvard grad, she’s never gonna shut the fuck up about it. One of this show’s writers went to Harvard and guess how I know that? Exactly. I don’t know where any of the others went.”
Oliver then said that it’s no surprise that “hardly anyone” seems to have watched the show, based on the number of viewers available on YouTube. It also received very little promotion.
“I don’t really give a shit if Sean Duffy and his wife want to become the next Duggars or Jon and Kate [Gosselin] or Alec and Hilaria Baldwin,” Oliver said, citing other families who’ve starred in reality TV shows. “What’s concerning is them doing it on the back of the Department of Transportation because it feels ethically dubious on so many levels, which may be why at this point everyone involved in The Great American Road Trip seems like they’d rather just sweep it under the rug.”
He continued: “[H]aving watched all three hours of this god-awful show, from gender reveals to the Duffys renewing their vows for no clear reason, it feels less like the country’s been taken on a road trip by Sean Duffy and a lot more like we’ve all been taken for a fucking ride.”
