Legendary folk singer and songwriter Joni Mitchell made a rare public appearance in Canada at the Juno Awards on Sunday night, where she received a lifetime achievement award.
Canadian-born Mitchell appeared on stage at her country’s music awards alongside the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, whom she praised. “I’m so glad to be back in Canada. This man is a blessing. You guys are so fortunate,” she added in tribute to Carney while he was at her side on stage in Hamilton, Ontario.
Mitchell, who lives in Los Angeles, added in a note of contrast: “I’m living in the States and you know what’s happening there.” The legendary musician while on stage also recalled a decade earlier when she “had a (brain) aneurysm, which changed my life. Oddly, for the better. I went into a coma, which helped me to quit smoking. And my house filled up with the most wonderful nurses. I was, on the road with men for years and years; now I live with a house full of women. So my life has changed for the better out of a catastrophe like a phoenix.”
For his part, Carney said of Mitchell during his tribute broadcast countrywide on the CBC network: “During a career spanning six decades, Joni drew a map of of Canada. Oh Canada.” Also Sunday night, during a Junos awash in Canadian nationalism, award show host Mae Martin, a non-binary comedian and actor who created and stars in Netflix’s Wayward series, welcomed returning home to Canada after touring her comedy act in the U.S.
“I just feel like I’m with my people, you know, people who care more about which hockey team I support then which gender I am… Coming back to Canada after living in the U.S., it feels like seeing your old friends after you’ve been in a toxic relationship that you just got out,” Martin said when taking a few swipes at Americans to the south.
Martin also pitched while on stage fellow Canadian Nelly Furtado on a video cover of her hit song “Promiscuous,” which she would retitle “Promiscuous They/Them.” “The video could be good. It’s me in sensible jeans, trying to decide which bathroom to use,” Martin added.
Also at the Junos, Canada’s version of the Grammys, The Beaches all-women rock band took home the prize for best group of the year, after winning n the same category in 2024 and 2025. “I promise you all I’ll keep working hard and I’ll stay sober,” Cameron Whitcomb said on stage after winning for breakthrough artist or group of the year with his debut album, The Hard Way, which has lyrics about his addiction and recovery journey.
In other prize giving, the best contemporary R&B recording of the year trophy was picked up by Toronto singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar for “Son of Spergy,” a tun inspired by his father. And the Juno Fan Choice Award went to Canadian rapper Alexander Leon Gumuchian, also known professionally as BBNO$.
In pre-telecast award giving, Tate McCrae, who was a no show at the Junos, won the best album of the year for So Close to What, best artist of the year, best single of the year for “Sports Car” and pop album of the year.
Another emotional high point during the Junos came when “I’m Like a Bird” singer and Latin Grammy winner Nelly Furtado was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, a tribute preceded by a pre-taped video tribute by Drake.
“Being a woman in the music industry, in any era, is something that I have to tip my hat to. The men in this business do not make it any easier. I think what was most impressive to me is the respect that all men had when they spoke about you,” the Canadian superstar said of Furtado.
That was followed a series of hits by the Portuguese-Canadian songstress performed on stage at the Junos by Alessia Cara, Jully Black, Shawn Desman and Tanya Tagaq. When accepting her career tribute, Furtado told the Junos audience: “I’m just really proud to be Canadian. I live in Canada. I make my music in Canada. And I work with Canadian musicians, songwriters and producers because I totally believe in the Canadian dream. Please believe in it, too.”
In other prize giving, the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award to Raquel McIntosh from Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School in Hamilton.
John Oliver kicked off Sunday’s Last Week Tonightby mocking President Trump for his justification of avoiding the use of the word “war” amid the United States’ military operation in Iran.
“The Iran war entered its second month, though Trump tries not to use the word ‘war’ for reasons he probably shouldn’t be saying out loud,” Oliver said, setting up a clip of Trump explaining why he isn’t using the term.
“I won’t use the word ‘war’ because they say if you use the word war, that’s maybe not a good thing to do,” Trump said. “They don’t like the word war because you’re supposed to get approval, so I’ll use the word ‘military operation,’ which is really what it is.”
Responded Oliver: “What? He really just talks like a 6-year-old speaking stream-of-consciousness to a stranger: ‘And my mum says I’m not allowed to talk about my penis with other people, even though everybody has one, well, not her and not my sister, but my dad and I both have penises, but I can’t say that when there are too many people around, even though everyone knows ’cause they have their own penises unless they don’t, but I do.’”
Oliver then said that no matter what word is used to describe the conflict, “it has been chaos.” He recapped recent developments, including Trump threatening to attack Iran’s power grid if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, posting on social media that he’d be “starting with the biggest” power plant first. That “would be a war crime if this was a war, but luckily we now know it isn’t,” Oliver observed.
Oliver continued that Trump then said those strikes would be delayed after fruitful conversations with Iran, which the latter denied have even taken place. Trump then extended the deadline to April 6, though Iran has been bombing U.S. bases and allies. He noted that 2,000 Iranians and 13 U.S. service members have been killed so far, while Trump is reportedly mulling sending another 10,000 troops to the region.
“It sure feels like we’re in an unnecessary war with no endgame, though the president’s supporters will insist that if you just look at things in the right way, it all makes sense,” he said, showing a clip of Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican, giving his take.
“Here’s why we went into Iran: We had no choice,” Kennedy said. “The president didn’t start a war. He … was trying to stop a war.”
Said Oliver: “Oh, I get it. Sometimes you have to start a war to stop a war. The same way you have to ‘spend money to make money’ or ‘fake it ’til you make it’ — you know, any of those things that people say when they’re in way over their heads.”
Mary Beth Hurt, the Tony-nominated actress whose demure demeanor drew moviegoers to her array of emotionally impactful performances in such films as Interiors, Chilly Scenes of Winter and The World According to Garp, has died. She was 79.
Hurt died Saturday at an assisted living facility in Jersey City, New Jersey, her husband, Oscar-nominated writer and director Paul Schrader, told The Hollywood Reporter. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2015, she had until recently been living in another facility in Manhattan, with her husband in another apartment in the building.
Hurt also brought a sophisticated flair to James Ivory’s Slaves of New York with her turn as a gallery owner, and she portrayed a 1950s mom whose quirky behavior convinces her son (Bryan Madorsky) that she and her husband (Randy Quaid) are cannibals in another 1989 film, the Bob Balaban-directed black comedy Parents.
And in Six Degrees of Separation (1993), Hurt played one of the New York socialites who falls into the web of deceit created by a charismatic young man (Will Smith) pretending to be the son of Sidney Poitier.
Hurt appeared 15 times on Broadway from 1974-2011 and in 1982 received one her three career Tony nominations for her turn as Meg Magrath, one of three Mississippi sisters facing trauma in their lives, in the Beth Henley-written Crimes of the Heart. (Jessica Lange starred in the role opposite Diane Keaton and Sissy Speck in the 1986 Bruce Beresford-directed film adaptation.)
“The first thing, above all, is that she is a fine ensemble actress,” said playwright David Hare, who directed Hurt on Broadway in 1989’s The Secret Rapture and praised her in a piece that year for The New York Times in 1989. “She has the best of the English and the best of the American traditions.
“What marks English actors is that they can turn on a sixpence — there isn’t anything technically they can’t do. They’re supple, like musicians, and from the technical facility they acquire freedom. And in Mary Beth’s case, there is a sort of improvisatory gift, a willingness to make the performance fresh every time.”
Her first husband was Oscar-winning actor William Hurt; they married in 1971, separated in 1978 and divorced in 1982.
Raised in Iowa, where one of her babysitters was future actress Jean Seberg, Hurt made her big-screen debut in Interiors (1978), Woody Allen’s first full foray into drama. She made a lasting impression as Joey, a would-be artist outshined by her sisters, successful poet Renata (Keaton) and well-known TV actress Flyn (Kristin Griffith). The daughters come together after their mother (Geraldine Page) suffers a mental breakdown.
Though it was Hurt’s first feature, she more than held her own in a powerhouse cast that included E.G. Marshall, Maureen Stapleton, Sam Waterston and Richard Jordan.
“Miss Hurt is very appealing as the youngest daughter who hates her mother and, thus, goes out of her way to convince herself she doesn’t,” Vincent Canby wrote in his review for The New York Times.
In Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), directed by Joan Micklin Silver, she played the emotionally unavailable romantic obsession of John Heard’s character. And in by George Roy Hill’s The World According to Garp (1982), she took on the pivotal role of Helen Holm, a smart, fiercely independent woman who catches T.S. Garp’s (Robin Williams) eye, marries him, betrays his trust and ultimately becomes a passionate defender of his legacy.
Watch a 1982 interview about her work in Garphere.
Mary Beth Hurt with Robin Williams in 1982’s ‘The World According to Garp.’
Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection
Hurt rarely enjoyed top billing during her career, and that’s the way she preferred it.
“I’ve never been extremely comfortable playing the lead,” she explained in a 2010 interview. “I don’t like the responsibility; there’s a feeling that I have to be good. Besides, I found secondary parts much more interesting, especially when I was younger and the ingénue roles were pretty bland.
“I never felt very beautiful, or incredibly smart or witty, so I was always looking for something about [roles] that intrigued me. And I would sort of twist that character in a way because I remember thinking that an ingénue character doesn’t ever think they’re an ingénue. They think they’re a person, and they have idiosyncrasies. Those idiosyncrasies interested me.”
Mary Beth Supinger was born on Sept. 26, 1946, in Marshalltown, Iowa. Her father, Forrest, had been a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and her mother, Dolores, took her and her sisters to see plays in Des Moines.
“It wasn’t until I saw a play at our high school — I must have been in the eighth grade — that I realized that it was something you could do,” she said.
Before she starred in Otto Preminger’s Saint Joan (1957) and Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960), Seberg used to babysit her.
“She was just a neighborhood kid,” Hurt said. “We lived on Summit Street, which was between 6th and 7th. And the Sebergs lived on 6th Street. Her father was a pharmacist and my grandfather was a pharmacist, so the families had known each other for a while.”
After graduating from Marshalltown High School, she enrolled at the University of Iowa to study drama. In college, she was selected to join the Mortar Board, a national honorary service society for women.
With a bachelor of arts degree, Hurt continued her graduate theater studies at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1969, and she met and married William Hurt while in New York. Her next stop was Ealing, the district in West London, where she performed with the theater troupe The Questors.
Mary Beth Hurt on Broadway in 1974’s ‘Love for Love.’
Van Williams/Courtesy Everett Collection
At Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, she played Celia in a 1973 production of As You Like It for the New York Shakespeare Festival. Her other efforts with the company included roles in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Othello, One Shoe Off and More Than You Deserve before she made her Broadway debut in 1974 by playing Miss Prue in a revival of Love for Love, directed by Hal Prince.
Hurt’s first Tony nom came in 1976 for her turn in a revival of the comedy Trelawny of the “Wells.” Among those sharing the stage with her were John Lithgow, Mandy Patinkin, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Hewett, Michael Tucker and, in her Broadway debut, Meryl Streep.
She originated the role of Meg in the Manhattan Theatre Club’s off-Broadway production of Crimes of the Heart and received an Obie Award, then accompanied the drama to Broadway.
Her third Tony nom came in 1986 for her performance in the Michael Frayn drama Benefactors, about an architect’s attempts to revitalize a run-down London neighborhood. It gave Hurt the chance to work with longtime friend Glenn Close (the two first met on Love for Love andstarred opposite each other in The World According to Garp) and Waterston, who had played her love interest in Interiors.
Hurt’s Broadway résumé included 1974’s The Rules of the Game; 1975’s The Member of the Wedding (where Close was her understudy); 1976’s Secret Service and Boy Meets Girl; 1977’s The Cherry Orchard; 1981’s Twyla Tharp Dance; 1983’s The Misanthrope; 1996’s A Delicate Balance (from Edward Albee); 2008’s Top Girls; and 2011’s The House of Blue Leaves.
She and Schrader married in August 1983 in Chicago, and she appeared in four films he directed: Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), The Walker (2007) and Adam Resurrected (2008).
Mary Beth Hurt with her ‘Chilly Scenes of Winter’ co-star John Heard in 1979.
United Artists/Courtesy Everett Collection
She also worked on the big screen in A Change of Seasons (1980), Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence (1993), D.A.R.Y.L. (1985), the Schrader-penned Bringing Out the Dead (1999), The Family Man (2000), M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water (2006), The Dead Girl (2006), Untraceable (2008) and Change in the Air (2018).
And for television, she starred on the 1988-89 NBC drama Tattinger’s and had a memorable guest-starring turn alongside Henry Winkler on a 2002 episode of Law & Order: SVU.
Survivors also include her children, Molly and Sam.
In the 1989 Times piece, Hurt described her process for the theater. “I try not to think about the play, or the part, until I start rehearsals,” she said. “And then I just try everything that comes to mind, until one thing makes sense.
“You may say, ‘Oh, she’s very selfish,’ and so you add that to the character. And then maybe a few weeks later you say, ‘She’s selfish, but she’s well intentioned,’ which tempers the selfishness. It’s just a process of addition and subtraction.”
Nick Cannon is getting candid about his political views.
The comedian-producer was joined by model Amber Rose on a recent episode of his show, Big Drive, where he called the Democratic Party “the party of the KKK.”
After Rose claimed that Democrats “don’t care about Black people, don’t care about people of color and the Republicans do,” Cannon replied, “I agree with you 100 percent.”
The Masked Singer host continued, “People don’t know that the Democrats are the party of the KKK. People don’t know that the Republicans are the party that freed the slaves. I mean, both of you and I have some conservative views. You’re just a little bit more outspoken than I am. And honestly, I don’t subscribe to either party. I rock with W. E. B. Du Bois, when he said there’s no such thing as two parties. It’s just one evil party with two different names.”
Rose added that she’s “not married to any party” but voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 U.S. presidential election because “we had two options and he was definitely by far the better option for us.”
When she said she mostly agrees with how Trump’s second term is going, Cannon enthusiastically jumped in, saying, “motherfucker’s cleaning house. He’s doing what he said he was gonna do.”
“We got the Gulf of America now,” Cannon added. “He’s like the club. He’s charging a $5 million bottle service fee to get into the country. I fuck with Trump.”
The Wild ‘N Out creator’s claims were partially correct. Regarding who founded the KKK, the white supremacist group was not established entirely by the Democratic Party, but rather by some people who were largely Democrats in the post-Civil War South, the Associated Press reported.
As for the Republican Party, it was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists. Several years later, then-President Abraham Lincoln, a member of the Republican Party, issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing all slaves living in Confederate states who were against the Union. Slavery was officially abolished in the United States when the 13th Amendment was passed in 1865.
Project Hail Mary continues its out-of-this-world performance after rocketing past the $300 million mark at the global box office to rank as the top Hollywood title of 2026 to date, a feat it accomplished in only its second weekend.
In North America, the Ryan Gosling-led movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi pic fell a scant 32 percent to $54.5 million to boast the best hold in recent memory for movies opening in the same range, including Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 2023 and 2024’s Dune: Part 2. Nolan’s pic dropped 54 percent to $46.2 in its sophomore outing, while Dune dipped 44 percent to $46.7 million.
That puts Project Hail Mary‘s 10-day domestic cume at an astonishing $164.3 million. Overseas, its total gross rose to $136.2 million for a worldwide total of $300.8 million in a huge win for Amazon MGM Studios. The movie has become the highest-grossing pic since the e-commerce giant took over the once-storied studio after passing up Creed III‘s lifetime run of $156.2 million domestically and north of $276 million globally.
Opening well ahead of expectations last weekend, the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-directed Project Hail Mary blasted off with a domestic launch of $80.6 million, the best showing of the year to date and the second-best in a decade for a non-sequel or franchise title behind Oppenheimer ($52.5 million). Gosling’s top-grossing film of all time, of course, is Barbie, but Project Hail Mary is his biggest domestic opening featuring the actor in a leading role, not adjusted for inflation. It is also a domestic best for Lord and Miller.
Hail Mary is also performing ahead of expectations overseas, where sci-fi is a notoriously tough genre to sell in certain European countries, as well as key regions in Latin America and Asia. The film launched to $60.4 million from 80 markets at the foreign box office for a global launch of roughly $141 million, also the best start of 2026 so far for a Hollywood title.
And just as in the U.S., Project Hail Mary‘s wit and heartwarming undercurrents are leading to the sort of unanticipated, collective word-of-mouth that comes along once in a blue moon for theater owners and studios. On Friday, for example, the film grossed $11.7 million overseas, up four percent from the previous Friday despite adding more territories, for an international tally of $98.7 million in 86 markets.
The sci-fi epic stars Gosling as an ostracized biologist now teaching high school who is tapped by the head of an international consortium (Sandra Hüller) to help stop the sun from dimming and usher in another ice age. Gosling’s character doesn’t remember any of this upon awaking to find himself alone on a ship hurtling through space. The rest of the crew has died, but he proceeds and discovers an alien life form that is trying to solve the same problem. The craggy-looking alien, who is given the nickname “Rocky,” learns how to use English as their means of communication and the two, working step by step, use their growing bond to solve the problem (the merchandising possibilities are tantalizing, to say the least, should Hail Mary transform into a franchise).
Multiple sources say a franchise is a possibility. Weir has said he has ideas for a sequel to his best-selling novel, but to date, there are no official conversations between the author— who is in the driver’s seat in terms of all things related to Hail Mary — but insiders say a sequel is far from out of the question.
The movie arrives at a defining moment for Amazon MGM, which is on the verge of becoming a major Hollywood studio, just as David Ellison‘s Skydance, which became the new owner of Paramount in August 2025, prepares to add Warner Bros. Discovery to the portfolio. While he says he will keep the two studios separate, no one is sure how that will work. By all accounts, a vertical merger of this size would be heavily scrutinized by Washington regulators, but President Donald Trump is a close ally with Oracle founder and mega-billionaire Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father. Trump has also praised the younger Ellison and supported the Paramount-Skydance marriage after sweeping changes were made at CBS News. Trump is widely expected to exact changes at CNN as well if Ellison succeeds in buying WBD, the owner of the cable channel.
Hail Mary wasn’t the only winning pass driving up year-over-year revenue. In its fourth weekend, Pixar and Disney’s Hoppers became the second-biggest Hollywood offering of 2026 at the global box office with $297 million in ticket sales (Chinese sports comedy Pegasus3 ranks No. 1 overall at $609 million). Domestically, fell only 31 percent to $12.2 million for a domestic tally of $138.6 million as it continues to redeem Pixar’s ability to turn out original fare (Elio‘s entire domestic cume was $72.9 million). Overseas, it earned another $24.8 million for a foreign tally of $159 million
Duking it out for third place are They Will Kill You and two holdovers: Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the latest installment in the Indian action-thriller starring Ranveer Singh; and Universal’s movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him.
The Warners-owned New Line and Skydance’s genre label partnered on They Will Kill You long before talks of a merger, and is reporting an estimated $5 million opening domestically and $9 million globally (rival studios show it coming in lower, so nothing is official until Monday when weekend actuals are tallied).
The new action-horror-comedy follows Satan-worshipping tenants living in a luxury New York City building who perform ritualistic killings on their mostly poor and marginalized staff. Filmmaker Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) directed from a script he co-wrote with Alex Litvak. The film has a decent 79 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 65 percent critics’ score is also in the fresh zone (The critics’ score has been fluctuating, and was in the low 70s several days ago). While solid, PostTrak exits aren’t spectacular either.
From Universal, Reminders of Him took in an estimated $4.7 million domestically and $4.9 million overseas for an early worldwide tally of $69.5 million. Like Hail Mail and Hoppers, the female-fueled pic also enjoyed a great hold of 41 percent.
More to come.
This story was originally published March 28 at 12:59 p.m.
The Ryan Gosling-led movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi pic fell a scant 32 percent to $54.5 million to boast the best hold in recent memory for movies opening in the same range, including Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 2023 and 2024’s Dune: Part 2. Nolan’s pic dropped 54 percent to $46.2 in its sophomore outing, while Dune dipped 44 percent to $46.7 million.
That puts Project Hail Mary‘s domestic cume at an astonishing $164.3 million as it races toward the $300 million worldwide in a huge win for Amazon MGM Studios. In just 10 days, the movie has become the highest-grossing pic since the eCommerce giant took over the once-storied lion after passing up Creed III‘s lifetime run of $156.2 million.
Opening well ahead of expectations last weekend, the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-directed Project Hail Mary blasted off with a domestic launch of $80.6 million, the best showing of the year to date and the second-best in a decade for a non-sequel or franchise title behind Oppenheimer ($52.5 million). Gosling’s top-grossing film of all time, of course, is Barbie, but Project Hail Mary is his biggest domestic opening featuring the actor in a leading role, not adjusted for inflation. It is also a domestic best for Lord and Miller.
Hail Mary is also performing ahead of expectations overseas, where sci-fi is a notoriously tough genre to sell in certain European countries, as well as key regions in Latin America and Asia. The film launched to $60.4 million from 80 markets at the foreign box office for a global launch of roughly $141 million, also the best start of 2026 so far for a Hollywood title.
And just as in the U.S., Project Hail Mary‘s wit and heartwarming undercurrents are leading to the sort of unanticipated, collective word-of-mouth that comes along once in a blue moon for theater owners and studios. On Friday, for example, the film grossed $11.7 million overseas, up four percent from the previous Friday despite adding more territories, for an international tally of $98.7 million in 86 markets.
The sci-fi epic stars Gosling as an ostracized biologist now teaching high school who is tapped by the head of an international consortium (Sandra Hüller) to help stop the sun from dimming and ushering in another ice age. Gosling’s character doesn’t remember any of this upon awaking to find himself alone on a ship hurtling through space. The rest of the crew has died, but he proceeds and discovers an alien life form that is trying to solve the same problem. The craggy-looking alien, who is given the nickname “Rocky,” learns how to use English as their means of communication and the two, working step by step, use their growing bond to solve the problem (the merchandising possibilities are tantalizing, to sau the least, should Hail Mary transform into a franchise).
Multiple sources say a franchise is a possibility. Weir has said he has ideas for a sequel to his best-selling novel, but to date, there are no official conversations between the author— who is in the driver’s seat in terms of all things related to Hail Mary — but insiders say a sequel is far from out of the question.
The movie arrives at a defining moment for Amazon MGM, which is on the verge of becoming a major Hollywood studio just as David Ellison‘s Skydance, which became the new owner of Paramount in August 2025, prepares to add Warner Bros. Discovery to the portfolio. While he says he will keep the two studios separate, no one is sure how that will work. By all accounts, a vertical merger of this size would be heavily scrutinized by Washington regulators, but President Donald Trump is close allies with Oracle founder and mega-billionaire Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father. Trump has also praised the younger Ellison, and supported the Paramount-Skydance marriage after sweeping changes were at made at CBS News. Trump is widely expected to exact changes at CNN as well if Ellison succeeds in buying WBD, owner the cable channel.
Hail Mary wasn’t the only winning pass driving up year-over-year revenue. In its fourth weekend, Pixar and Disney’s Hoppers became the second-biggest title of 2026 at the global box office with $297 million in ticket sales behind Chinese sports pic Pegasus 3 ($609 million). Domestically, fell only 31 percent to $12.2 million for a domestic tally of $138.6 million as it continues to redeem Pixar’s ability to turn out original fare (Elio‘s entire domestic cume was $72.9 million). Overseas, it earned another $24.8 million for foreign tally of $159 million
Duking it out for third place are They Will Kill You and two holdovers: Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the latest installment in the Indian action-thriller starring Ranveer Singh; and Universal’s movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him.
The Warners-owned New Line and Skydance’s genre label partnered on They Will Kill You long before talks of a merger. The new action-horror-comedy follows Satan-worshipping tenants living in a luxury New York City building who perform ritualistic killings their mostly poor and marginalized staff. Filmmaker Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) directed from a script he co-wrote with Alex Litvak. The film has decent 79 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 65 percent critics’ score is also in the fresh zone (The critics’ score has been fluctuating, and was in the low 70s several days ago). While solid, PostTrak exits aren’t spectacular either.
Another problem for They Will Kill You: Searchlight Pictures’ horror-comedy Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is only in its second weekend after opening to a somewhat better $9.1 million domestically.
More to come.
This story was originally published March 28 at 12:59 p.m
The Ryan Gosling-led movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi pic fell a scant 32 percent to $54.5 million to boast the best hold in recent memory for movies opening in the same range, including Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 2023 and 2024’s Dune: Part 2. Nolan’s pic dropped 54 percent to $46.2 in its sophomore outing, while Dune dipped 44 percent to $46.7 million.
That puts Project Hail Mary‘s domestic cume at an astonishing $164.3 million as it races toward the $300 million worldwide in a huge win for Amazon MGM Studios. In just 10 days, the movie has become the highest-grossing pic since the eCommerce giant took over the once-storied lion after passing up Creed III‘s lifetime run of $156.2 million.
Opening well ahead of expectations last weekend, the Phil Lord and Christopher Miller-directed Project Hail Mary blasted off with a domestic launch of $80.6 million, the best showing of the year to date and the second-best in a decade for a non-sequel or franchise title behind Oppenheimer ($52.5 million). Gosling’s top-grossing film of all time, of course, is Barbie, but Project Hail Mary is his biggest domestic opening featuring the actor in a leading role, not adjusted for inflation. It is also a domestic best for Lord and Miller.
Hail Mary is also performing ahead of expectations overseas, where sci-fi is a notoriously tough genre to sell in certain European countries, as well as key regions in Latin America and Asia. The film launched to $60.4 million from 80 markets at the foreign box office for a global launch of roughly $141 million, also the best start of 2026 so far for a Hollywood title.
And just as in the U.S., Project Hail Mary‘s wit and heartwarming undercurrents are leading to the sort of unanticipated, collective word-of-mouth that comes along once in a blue moon for theater owners and studios. On Friday, for example, the film grossed $11.7 million overseas, up four percent from the previous Friday despite adding more territories, for an international tally of $98.7 million in 86 markets.
The sci-fi epic stars Gosling as an ostracized biologist now teaching high school who is tapped by the head of an international consortium (Sandra Hüller) to help stop the sun from dimming and ushering in another ice age. Gosling’s character doesn’t remember any of this upon awaking to find himself alone on a ship hurtling through space. The rest of the crew has died, but he proceeds and discovers an alien life form that is trying to solve the same problem. The craggy-looking alien, who is given the nickname “Rocky,” learns how to use English as their means of communication and the two, working step by step, use their growing bond to solve the problem (the merchandising possibilities are tantalizing, to sau the least, should Hail Mary transform into a franchise).
Multiple sources say a franchise is a possibility. Weir has said he has ideas for a sequel to his best-selling novel, but to date, there are no official conversations between the author— who is in the driver’s seat in terms of all things related to Hail Mary — but insiders say a sequel is far from out of the question.
The movie arrives at a defining moment for Amazon MGM, which is on the verge of becoming a major Hollywood studio just as David Ellison‘s Skydance, which became the new owner of Paramount in August 2025, prepares to add Warner Bros. Discovery to the portfolio. While he says he will keep the two studios separate, no one is sure how that will work. By all accounts, a vertical merger of this size would be heavily scrutinized by Washington regulators, but President Donald Trump is close allies with Oracle founder and mega-billionaire Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father. Trump has also praised the younger Ellison, and supported the Paramount-Skydance marriage after sweeping changes were at made at CBS News. Trump is widely expected to exact changes at CNN as well if Ellison succeeds in buying WBD, owner the cable channel.
Hail Mary wasn’t the only winning pass driving up year-over-year revenue. In its fourth weekend, Pixar and Disney’s Hoppers became the second-biggest title of 2026 at the global box office with $297 million in ticket sales behind Chinese sports pic Pegasus 3 ($609 million). Domestically, fell only 31 percent to $12.2 million for a domestic tally of $138.6 million as it continues to redeem Pixar’s ability to turn out original fare (Elio‘s entire domestic cume was $72.9 million). Overseas, it earned another $24.8 million for foreign tally of $159 million
Duking it out for third place are They Will Kill You and two holdovers: Dhurandhar: The Revenge, the latest installment in the Indian action-thriller starring Ranveer Singh; and Universal’s movie adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s Reminders of Him.
The Warners-owned New Line and Skydance’s genre label partnered on They Will Kill You long before talks of a merger. The new action-horror-comedy follows Satan-worshipping tenants living in a luxury New York City building who perform ritualistic killings their mostly poor and marginalized staff. Filmmaker Kirill Sokolov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) directed from a script he co-wrote with Alex Litvak. The film has decent 79 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the 65 percent critics’ score is also in the fresh zone (The critics’ score has been fluctuating, and was in the low 70s several days ago). While solid, PostTrak exits aren’t spectacular either.
Another problem for They Will Kill You: Searchlight Pictures’ horror-comedy Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is only in its second weekend after opening to a somewhat better $9.1 million domestically.
More to come.
This story was originally published March 28 at 12:59 p.m
“I would never have approved,” Novak said of Sweeney portraying her, adding that the Euphoria actress “sticks out so much above the waist.”
The publication noted that Novak’s criticism stems from her concern that the film will focus on the sexual side of their relationship rather than the fact that they had “so much in common.”
“There’s no way it wouldn’t be a sexual relationship because Sydney Sweeney looks sexy all the time,” Novak continued. “She was totally wrong to play me.”
Reps for Sweeney did not respond to The Hollywood Reporter’s request for comment at the time of publication.
Last year, Sweeney spoke with THR’s executive editor of awards, Scott Feinberg, on his Awards Chatter podcast about bringing Domingo on board. The pair previously co-starred on Euphoria, and Sweeney also serves as a producer on Scandalous!
“When I was putting the package together, we were circling different directors. There was one previously attached and I just felt like the story really needed to have a different voice,” she said. “The entire time I was like the only person who would really be able to tell this story and to the degree that it needs to be beautifully told is Colman Domingo.”
The Anyone but You star continued, “So I called him up and I was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know if you even want to direct, but there’s a script that I’d really love to send you. And if you like it, it’s yours. If not, I won’t be offended,’” she said. “He read it within like a few hours and he called me back and he was like, ‘This is exactly what I’ve been telling my team I want to find.’ We’ve been putting it together and raising financing — it’s been a labor of love.”
When asked if she’s met Novak, Sweeney didn’t answer directly but noted: “Colman and her have a really beautiful relationship. They’ve been talking. We connected them, so it’s been really cool.”
Bestselling writer Andy Weir criticized modern Trek shows while on the Critical Drinker podcast last week, and even revealed he pitched a Trek show that was shot down by Paramount.
The topic began with the podcast’s host, Will Jordan, saying how refreshing the box office hit Project Hail Mary has been, especially for audiences who grew up on Star Trek and now suffer from “a lack of” such sci-fi efforts nowadays.
“Yeah, I saw a … I forgot who it was — I wish I could remember who it was who said it, some analyst — he said something like: ‘All modern science fiction TV shows and movies have been heavily influenced by the original Star Trek — except for the current batch of Star Trek shows,’” Weir said.
Marsden replied, “Yes!” and they both laughed.
At first, Weir left that comment open to interpretation, but then added, “I’m Gen X, so my sci-fi was like original series Star Trek reruns and Lost in Space reruns. And there wasn’t really much in the way of [new] sci-fi that was airing — where people are off in space doing cool things — until we got to [Star Trek: The Next Generation].”
Later, Marsden brought up the divisiveStar Trek: Starfleet Academy, which Paramount+ recently confirmed will end after its already-shot second season.
“I think we can probably safely never talk about it again,” Marsden quipped.
“It’s gone baby!” Weir cheerfully agreed. “It’s all gone.”
Marsden said his advice to Paramount is to de-canonize everything Star Trek from Enterprise onward.
“Okay, you’re a little more severe than I am,” Weir said. “I’ll give you my opinion and I’m just a consumer. I like Strange New Worlds. I think it’s pretty good. I didn’t hate Enterprise. I thought it was kind of weird. Lower Decks I thought was entertaining and fun. All the others, they can go. And here’s another thing: I pitched a Star Trek show to Paramount and I was in Zoom with the showrunners with all the shows and spent a lot of time talking to [executive producer Alex Kurtzman]. I don’t like a lot of the new Trek. He, as a person, is a really nice guy. But at the same time, those shows are shit. He is a nice guy. But they didn’t accept my pitch so, you know, fuck ’em.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Paramount for comment.
Paramount+’s Star Trek efforts are seemingly taking a break in Spacedock. For the first time in many years, there are no current Trek projects in production, though there are two more years of Strange New Worlds left and another season of Starfleet Academy left to air.
There is also speculation surrounding Alex Kurtzman’s future with the franchise, who has lead Paramount’s Star Trek TV revival. His deal with CBS Studios goes through the end of 2026; Paramount+ is currently in talks with Kurtzman and his Secret Hideout production company about renewing or extending his deal.
When news of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s cancellation broke, Kurtzman, alongside EPs Noga Landau and Gaia Violo, released an open letter that addressed some of the criticism surrounding the show.
The letter reads, “Whether you’re working on Star Trek or part of the marvel that is Star Trek fandom — its very heart, soul, and conscience — the joy comes from adventuring across boundaries of time, space, and the humanly possible in service to [Gene] Roddenberry’s transformative vision of the future. That incomparable vision was fueled by an inexhaustible optimism. Star Trek places its bet on the best in human nature. It dares to imagine a society of ‘infinite diversity in infinite combinations,’ free of war, hate, poverty, disease, and repression, and dedicated to the spirit of scientific inquiry and respect for all life, whether carbon or silicon-based, green-skinned or blue.”
“But make no mistake: Gene Roddenberry wasn’t some starry-eyed dreamer. He was a decorated Army bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater. He had seen first-hand the grim consequences of the worst of human nature. And his vision of the future wasn’t just a promise of hope. It was also a warning. In a fraught, frightening time of intolerance and violence, Star Trek said: Look! We made it! But just barely. First, we had to put all those ancient scourges behind us. It said that what makes us glorious as a species, and gives us hope for the future and the galaxy is inextricably linked to what makes us dangerous to each other, to this one world we presently inhabit, and to ourselves. That dual message — of hope and of warning — isn’t just a pretty dream but a call to action, to think about who we are in a different way,” the letter continued.
After a confusing swirl that included “fake news” denials from the White House communications team, Bill Maher offered some clarity about being picked to receive the 27th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center.
The veteran host leaned into this week’s big news during Friday night’s episode of Real Time With Bill Maher on HBO Max by addressing it in the opening minutes of his monologue as he recognized there’s been “a lot of back and forth” about whether or not he was actually going to get it. “We have reached a compromise. The compromise is that I am going to get it and then I’m going to give it to [President Donald Trump],” he joked. “Everybody’s happy. I just want things to work out.”
Looks like they are now after the Kennedy Center confirmed Thursday that Maher would receive the 27th Mark Twain Prize for Humor at a ceremony scheduled for June 28 (and streaming on Netflix at a later date). The honor “recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in the same vein as Mark Twain,” and the organization’s vp public relations Roma Daravi praised Maher for “influencing American discourse — one politically incorrect joke at a time.”
The official confirmation came a week after the Atlantic published a report citing multiple sources that Maher had been selected to receive the prize and fielded an offer but the stamp of approval could be complicated due to his history with President Trump, who has oversight of the Kennedy Center. President Trump slammed Maher in February as a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT” in a Truth Social post, which detailed his White House dinner with the comedian that he called “a complete waste of time.”
After the Atlantic published its story, Trump’s communications deputies shot it down. “This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Literally FAKE NEWS,” White House communications director Steven Cheung added. It’s unclear how it went from “fake news” to being very real when the Kennedy Center confirmed it this week and whether or not Trump gave it his stamp of approval.
Maher addressed the spokesperson denials on Friday night, but added that he just wants to say thank you. And he’s “not looking for a fight” nor is he mad at Trump for the back and forth. “Me and the president, we have a complicated relationship that goes back to the orangutan lawsuit,” Maher quipped, referencing a 2013 lawsuit which found Trump suing Maher for comments he made during an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Maher challenged Trump to provide a copy of his birth certificate to prove he’s not “spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.” Trump later withdrew the suit.
“This has been going on a long time, so him trying to block me from getting it — I respect the move. I respect the move. Keep the game going, baby, OK, I’m all about engagement. Disengagement gets you nothing. You got to engage,” continued Maher, who then turned his attention to the insults Trump has lobbed at him on Truth Social. “We’re back to him calling me a ‘jerk’ and I’m a ‘lightweight ratings loser.’ Get it off your chest, big man, OK, I’m totally fine with that.”
Maher even said he was “proud of these last insults” Trump tossed in his direction, and he added them to a long list that he brought with him to the White House. A split screen then showed an image of a sheet of paper with a White House logo and a long list of insults, many of which Maher read aloud.
“So I would just like to say as a low ratings lightweight and a rather dumb guy and a pathetic, bloated sleaze bag, a dummy, a terrible student, a nervous, failing comedian and someone who was sick, insane, very sad, totally shot in, a crazy maniac, I am honored to accept the Mark Twain Prize. Thank you very much,” he said. “I will be there, Don, and I hope you will be too. I mean, the place is named after you now, you really should show up. You could show up. You could thank me in person for being one of the few people on the lunatic left who’s glad you hit Iran and is hoping we win that one.”
Maher’s newest episode featured a one-on-one interview with U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official. His panel hosted CNN’s Laura Coates and ESPN star Stephen A. Smith, who hosts Straight Shooter with Stephen A. and The Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM and YouTube.
