“Wild,” the five-track offering led by the singles “Pinky Up” and “Hootie Frutti,” bows at the chart’s summit with 170,000 equivalent album units, marking their biggest week by that metric and by pure album sales with 145,000. Katseye‘s latest is the fourth No. 1 album by an all-woman group this decade after Twice’s “With You-th,” NewJeans’ “2nd EP ‘Get Up’” and Blackpink’s “Born Pink.” It also has the largest pure album sales week for an all-woman group in more than three years.
Katseye previously reached a high of No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 2025’s “Beautiful Chaos.” Their debut, “SIS (Soft Is Strong),” was released in 2024 and peaked at No. 98.
Behind “Wild” sits Phoebe Bridgers‘ “Lost Weekend,” bowing at No. 2 with 118,000 equivalent album units earned. It marks her first solo project to reach the top 10 and becomes her best week ever by units. The singer-songwriter previously made the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with Boygenius, her trio with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, when their 2023 album “The Record” peaked at No. 4.
Stray Kids’ “This & That,” which debuted at No. 1 last week, slides to No. 3, followed by Olivia Rodrigo’s “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love” at No. 4 and Ella Langley’s “Dandelion” at No. 5.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 are Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” (No. 6), Ariana Grande’s “Petal” (No. 8), Drake’s “Iceman” (No. 9) and Olivia Dean’s “The Art of Loving” (No. 10).
Two prominent Jewish advocacy groups have called out Mark Ruffalo for spreading “antisemitic tropes.”
“Words matter, and so does the willingness to draw a line when legitimate debate gives way to antisemitic tropes,” said Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
“We commend Paramount for speaking clearly and refusing to allow prejudice to masquerade as political or corporate criticism. At a time when antisemitism is too often minimized, rationalized, or repackaged in more socially acceptable language, this kind of moral clarity matters.”
Ari Engel, executive director of Creative Community for Peace, also said in a statement: “Mark Ruffalo’s rhetoric has increasingly crossed the line from criticism of Israel into extremist and antisemitic messaging.”
Their intervention comes after Paramount issued a rare statement of condemnation against Ruffalo on Friday, in which the company said it is “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute.”
That statement was in response to the actor’s Instagram re-posting of a year-old video clip featuring Jewish Paramount Skydance board member Safra Catz speaking on a panel. In text accompanying the clip he told his 20 million Instagram followers it showed Catz “revelling” in a “genocide” powered by tech company Oracle, understood to be a tacit reference to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Catz is the former CEO of Oracle, which was co-founded by Larry Ellison, father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.
Paramount Skydance is in the process of acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery. Ruffalo has been one of the most vocal critics of the deal.
In his latest social media screed, Ruffalo said Larry Ellison was funding his son’s acquisition of Warner and that he would own “most of” the company if the deal, which is currently mired in legal tangling with 12 state attorneys general, went through.
Larry Ellison has reportedly committed up to $46.7 billion of the $111 billion deal, with a trio of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, comprised of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, also committing at least $24 billion.
Ruffalo, who is believed to have earned millions from his role as Hulk in the Marvel films, also called Ellison Sr. a “classic Oligarch” who is “crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance” in his commentary. He also accused the Ellisons of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”
After Paramount issued its statement condemning his post, the Marvel actor fired back on X, saying the accusation of antisemitism “is appalling and fundamentally dishonest.”
However, at least two Jewish orgs appear to agree with Paramount’s assessment. “Invoking Israel in an issue where it is completely irrelevant is a textbook case of obsession and demonization,” Berk, the Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO, continued in his statement. “Paramount was right to call it out. More leaders and institutions should have the courage to call antisemitism what it is, regardless of who is spreading it.”
Meanwhile CCFP’s Engel, noted: “Ruffalo now says accusations of antisemitism against him are ‘fundamentally dishonest.’ Intent does not erase impact. Repeatedly amplifying inflammatory falsehoods and rhetoric that mirrors historic antisemitic tropes helps normalize the violent anti-Jewish hatred we are seeing take hold once again around the world, regardless of how he chooses to describe his own motives.”
“Every time, you are vulnerable,” Scott said when asked to identify a through line in his work. “Also, I never want to repeat myself and all my films have been on the money. I’ve been ahead of the game frequently and, if you’re ahead of the game, you’re an influencer. So I’m not a filmmaker, I’m an influencer.”
Scott, a three-time Oscar-nominated director, has certainly flexed his influence throughout his years in Hollywood with immortal classics like “Blade Runner,” “Alien,” “Thelma & Louise,” and “Gladiator.” Earlier in the sit-down, he noted there are things he has yet to cross off his career checklist.
“I’ve never done a Western,” he said. “I have cast Hugh Jackman for my ‘Treasure Island’ adaptation. I want to do a musical and, also, have a marvelous film about the African elephant.”
Scott’s next film is “The Dog Stars” with Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin. He deemed his leading man Elordi “a big star” and said they “got on great.” He went on to imply that the reason he directed “The Dog Stars” was because he sensed tedious sameness in the type of stories coming out of Hollywood.
“Look, everything now is about a murdered girl in the woods, or an FBI agent who is better than anyone else — or a superhero,” Scott said. “Fuck me! There have to be other stories to tell.”
Scott will soon receive an honorary Oscar at November’s Governors Awards. Other recipients include Glenn Close and Disney’s first Black animator, Floyd Norman.
Norwegian actors Anders Danielsen Lie and Anne Marie Ottersen were inducted into the Haugesund Walk of Fame..
The unveiling taking place during the first weekend of this year’s Norwegian Intl. Film Festival Haugesund, Danielsen Lie and Ottersen were recognized for contributing to “building the professionalism and high standards of Norway’s acting community, both on the theatre stage and in the film and television industry,” noted the committee. They join the ranks of Liv Ullmann, Pål Sverre Hagen and Renate Reinsve.
“Do I look back? I haven’t had much time to reflect on this yet because my life is so hectic at the moment. But I do remember releasing [his 1990 acting debut] ‘Herman’ in Haugesund more than 30 years ago, so it feels full circle to receive this honor here,” Anders Danielsen Lie told Variety.
“I think I dreamed of becoming a great actor when I was a young adult, but I abandoned that dream when I started med school. It was Joachim Trier’s first film that restarted my career,” he said.
“I think there are several ‘before’ and ‘after’ moments in my career, with the first being ‘Reprise’. If it weren’t for that film, I would never have worked as an actor.”
While “Oslo, August 31st” was probably “the biggest turning point” in his career, smash hits “The Worst Person in the World” and “Sentimental Value” – also directed by Trier – introduced him to an even bigger audience.
“It’s always hard to say exactly why a film is loved by the audience, but they both tell stories that are relatable to many people. They are very entertaining films, but they also have an almost therapeutic quality to them,” he noted, adding: “I’m a bit surprised I have an international career, because I’ve always been ambivalent about acting – but hopefully that adds an extra layer of complexity to my work!”
Following “Sentimental Value’s” Oscar win – and nine nominations – Norwegian films definitely have an international momentum at the moment, he noted.
“I think there are several reasons for that. One is that we have great funding opportunities for films with limited commercial potential. I think Norwegian cinema as a whole has much more self-confidence now, which has been built up over many years. What we see now is the end result of a long evolution.”
Anne Marie Ottersen was surprised by the recognition.
“It was totally unexpected, but [it made me] very happy. In theater, most of what we do is gone with the wind once the performance is over. But now I’m written in stone, and that will last almost forever,” she said.
Ottersen joined the National Theatre in 1970, and won the Amanda Award for “Wives – Ten Years Later.” Her latest film, “The Pension Heist” directed by Gunnbjörg Gunnarsdóttir, will be released in October.
“The best thing I can say about my career is that I have been lucky to do so many different things. There have been difficult periods, of course, but I have the best job in the world, and I’m still working. I’m so happy about that.”
The Walk of Fame was established in 2015, when actors Kristoffer Joner and Ane Dahl Torp became the first recipients.
The Norwegian Intl. Film Festival Haugesund runs Aug. 22-28.
Martin Short is having quite a unique Emmy season, and he knows it. His name is all over this year’s nominations, via three very distinct projects: As an actor, he’s nominated for outstanding comedy lead via Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” (He also has a comedy series nom for the show as an executive producer.) As a game show host, he landed a nod for ABC’s “Match Game.” And then he’s the subject of director Lawrence Kasdan’s Netflix documentary “Marty, Life Is Short,” which scored three noms this year.
Short isn’t actually a part of the production team on “Marty, Life Is Short,” so he won’t get an Emmy if it wins for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special. But he gave the film, and Kasdan — whom he’s known for 40 years — his full support.
“[Kasdan] phoned and said that he and Ron Howard and Imagine would love to do this documentary on me, and I kind of went, ‘I don’t know, I’ve written a book, I’m Canadian, we’re a little more reserved, let me think about it,’” Short says. Kasdan then left an eight-minute message explaining why Short’s story — about celebrating life, using humor to work through grief and more — was an important one to share.
Kasdan also knew Short had a ton of material to mine: “Through all these years, I’ve always had a camcorder,” Short says. “With all my kids, I would just film. And I’d have them transferred to DVD. Because of my relationship and trust with him, I was able to take these shelves of movies and just say, ‘here you go.’”
Not only that, but Steven Spielberg also sent over a ton of home movies he had made with Short in them. “So Larry had a great little treasure trove of stuff,” Short says.
When Short’s daughter Katherine died in February, Kasdan told the star that Netflix could hold back the documentary’s release if the star wasn’t comfortable with it at that moment. But Short told them that they should proceed.
“We met at his home a few weeks after, and he said, ‘Netflix will do whatever you want and I will do whatever you want,’” Short says. “And I thought, this really could be called ‘Love, Loss and Survival.’ As I’ve said in the past, my daughter had mental health struggles. And it’s a disease. Some diseases are terminal, whether they’re cancer or mental health. And so, I said, ‘I think we should proceed.’ And he said, ‘I think we should too.’”
And since the film premiered globally in May, Short says he’s heard from many folks on how they appreciated seeing how he navigated through such tremendous loss in his life.
Coincidentally, Short is also seen quite a bit in the Amazon doc “John Candy: I Like Me,” about his pal and “SCTV” co-star, which is competing against “Marty, Life Is Short” in this year’s Emmys documentary or nonfiction special category. Short says it was Candy who inspired him to start his home video habit. “In 1981, I got a VHS machine, and I went, ‘what am I doing? John has Betamax. We can’t exchange movies! So I went back and traded my VHS for Beta. You don’t even want to know my LaserDisc collection.”
As for “Match Game,” Short says there are no future seasons in the works for him, but “never say never.” And he’s tightlipped on what to expect for next season’s “Only Murders” other than its move to London and a new batch of A-list guest stars.
But he’ll be back in L.A. next month for sure, given his tremendous showing as an Emmy nominee. “Let’s do the cliché, it’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by your peers,” he says. Then he adds with a smile, “I am Mr. Emmy this year!”
GRAMADO, Brazil — “Our Secret” (“Nosso segredo”), the first feature from Grace Passô, nabbed the best feature film Kikito award at the Aug. 22 closing ceremony of the 54th Gramado Film Festival. The feature also scooped cinematography (Wilssa Esser) and art direction (Lucas Osório) plaudits.
Passô, an established playwright and also actress, directed and wrote the feature that tells the story of a Black family trying to rebuild its routine after a recent loss. As family members avoid grief, the youngest son keeps a secret that may lead them to confront the roots of their pain.
Vitrine Filmes, the distributor of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” will release “Our Secret” in local theaters Aug. 27.
‘Gugu’s World’
Courtesy of Gramado Film Festival
Allan Deberton’s “Gugu’s World” (“Feito Pipa”) took home the audience award, plus director, actress (Teca Pereira) and supporting actor (Lázaro Ramos) Kikitos.
Carlos Segundo’s “Milk Powder” () walked off with the critics’ jury award for Brazilian feature film, screenplay (Segundo and Rafael Copel) and sound design (Waldir Xavier).
In the acting categories, José Loreto, for “Chorão: Só os Loucos Sabem,” and Christian Malheiros, for “Justino: Nos Bastidores do Reino,” shared the actor prize. Naruna Costa, for “Pele de Rinoceronte,” nabbed the supporting actress Kikito. The jury granted honorable mentions for 11-year-old Yuri Gomes (“Gugu’s World”) and Onna Silva (“Justino: Nos Bastidores do Reino”).
André Finotti and José Eduardo Belmonte took the editing Kikito for “Justino: Nos Bastidores do Reino” and Otávio de Moraes received the original score award for “Chorão: Só os Loucos Sabem.”
Susanna Lira’s “Gonzaguinha, da Maior Liberdade” won the doc feature Kikito, while “Empeleitada” received an honorable mention in the doc category.
The jury was comprised of actress Cris Vianna, director and screenwriter Fábio Meira, actress Helena Ranaldi, researcher, film critic and curator Kênia Freitas and actor Marcelo Serrado.
The critics’ jury consisted of journalist and doc filmmaker Flavia Guerra, journalist and professor Pâmela Eurídice, doc filmmaker and critic Rafael Valles, journalist and director Simone Zuccolotto and researcher and critic Victor Souza.
During the fest, actor Marcos Caruso received the Troféu Cidade de Gramado; producer Renata Almeida Magalhães was honored with the Troféu Eduardo Abelin; Selton Mello and Maria Fernanda Cândido accepted the Troféu Kikito de Cristal; and Andrea Beltrão took the Troféu Oscarito.
Gramado Fest winners:
Best Film: “Our Secret,” by Grace Passô
Best Documentary Feature: “Gonzaguinha, da Maior Liberdade,” by Susanna Lira
Documentary Honorable Mention: “Empeleitada”
Audience Award for Best Film: “Gugu’s World,” by Allan Deberton
Critics’ Jury Award for Best Film: “Milk Powder” (“Leite em Pó”) by Carlos Segundo
Best Director: Allan Deberton for “Gugu’s World”
Best Actress: Teca Pereira for “Gugu’s World”
Best Actor: José Loreto for “Chorão: Só os Loucos Sabem” and Christian Malheiros for “Justino: Nos Bastidores do Reino”
Honorable Mention: Yuri Gomes for “Gugu’s World”
Honorable Mention: Onna Silva for “Justino: Nos Bastidores do Reino”
Best Screenplay: Carlos Segundo and Rafael Copel for “Milk Powder”
Best Cinematography: Wilssa Esser for “Our Secret”
Best Supporting Actor: Lázaro Ramos for “Gugu’s World”
Best Supporting Actress: Naruna Costa for “Pele de Rinoceronte”
Best Sound Design: Waldir Xavier for “Milk Powder”
Best Original Score: Otávio de Moraes for “Chorão: Só os Loucos Sabem”
Best Art Direction: Lucas Osório for “Our Secret”
Best Editing: André Finotti and José Eduardo Belmonte for “Justino: Nos Bastidores do Reino”
Dr. Dre, the legendary hip-hop producer and performer, sees AI as another tool in the music-tech toolbox akin to synthesizers — and asserted that only people “who have trouble creating” are afraid of AI.
Dre, founder of the Aftermath record label and co-founder and CEO of Apple’s Beats, said that he doesn’t see AI “as a threat,” in an interview alongside his longtime business partner Jimmy Iovine, which was published Sunday by the New York Times. “I think the only people that see it as a threat are the people who have trouble creating.”
“I had a discussion with a few people a few days ago,” Dre said. “They were against AI and I’m like, ‘OK, you sound like the person that would have been against the drum machine when it came out.’ Or synthesizers, right? It’s a new tool for creativity. Some people are afraid of learning new things.”
Dre said he’s using AI tech in music “as a tool to see what it would do with what I just did.” Iovine added, “So is Timbaland — another brilliant producer. By the way, there’s a lot of closet AI producers out there.”
Asked what he most recently asked an AI chatbot, Dre said his query was, “How do you put on muscle and lose fat at the same time? That’s it.”
In the music industry, AI remains controversial and the subject of ongoing legal disputes. For example, last week indie music publisher Round Hill Music sued Suno and Anthropic, accusing the two AI companies of copyright infringement by illegally scraping hundreds of its songs to train their models without permission. Suno has been sued by all three of the major labels — Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music — though it settled with WMG last year. In addition, Suno recently struck a licensing agreement with BMG (which sued Anthropic this year for allegedly using its recordings to train AI models in what it called a scheme of “widespread and systematic infringement”).
Meanwhile, Apple Music said it will begin labeling songs derived from AI platforms later this year, following Spotify’s decision to label the profiles of artists that appear to be AI-generated as “AI Personas.” Last month, a coalition including the RIAA, IFPI, the Grammys and SAG-AFTRA united to advocate for a new industry labeling program for AI-produced songs similar to labels flagging explicit content.
GRAMADO, Brazil — “Seduction” (“Sedução”), a feature set in the Amazon Rainforest region and helmed by Zelito Viana and Marcos Palmeira, will have its world premiere on Sept. 11 at the 30th edition of the Inffinito Brazilian Film Festival in Miami.
H2O is also releasing in local theaters Miguel Faria Jr.’s doc, “Tom Jobim – Esse Seu Olhar,” in the week of Jan. 25, which marks the celebration of the 100th birthday of the legendary composer of “The Girl From Ipanema,” who died in 1994, said Jorge Peregrino, member of the board of H2O Films, the distributor of both films.
Tom Jobim
Courtesy of Ana Jobim
H2O hosted a panel during the Gramado Film Market at the 2026 edition of the Gramado Film Festival, in Southern Brazil.
“Seduction” marks the debut as a helmer of Marcos Palmeira, a major actor who starred in dozens of telenovelas, series and films in Brazil over the past 50 years. He toplines and co-directs the pic along with his father Zelito Viana, a vet producer of Cinema Novo classic films and director of several features, such as “Villa-Lobos: A Life of Passion.”
In the plot, Paulo (Palmeira), a renowned actor, when he learns of his father’s death in the Amazon Rainforest, embarks on a journey to settle his father’s unfinished affairs, faces the rough reality of the region and undergoing a radical transformation.
“In my opinion it is the best film of Zelito Viana, even better than ‘Villa-Lobos: A Life of Passion,’” Peregrino told Variety. “And it is fair to say, and I believe Zelito will agree with me, that Marcos’ direction work brought a freshness to the film.”
Peregrino stressed the high production value of the pic, lensed in Alter do Chão, in the Amazon region, along the Tapajós River. The pics deals with local issues, such as illegal land grabbing.
“Seduction” also features two Brazilian film and television stars: Camila Morgado plays Sara Teixeira and Dira Paes portrays Maria Rita Martins in the film.
The Inffinito Brazilian Film Festival is the largest Brazilian film fest held abroad and a pioneer in the promotion and dissemination of local pics in the international market. It takes place in several cities, such as Miami, NYC, London, Vancouver, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Shanghai.
“Tom Jobim – Esse Seu Olhar” marks the new documentary by Faria Jr, recognized as a top Brazilian director of feature-length docs about music composers. He has helmed the critically acclaimed “Vinicius” (2005), about Vinicius de Moraes, which had a strong box office performance, and “Chico: Artista Brasileiro” (2015), about Chico Buarque, another legend of Brazilian music.
“Tom Jobim – Esse Seu Olhar” is an Arpoador Audiovisual and Urca Filmes production which is co-produced by Globo Filmes. Peregrino and Leonardo Edde are producing. Diana Vasconcellos co-wrote the doc’s screenplay along with Miguel Faria Jr. and also serves as the film’s editor.
“Miguel Faria Jr. conducted extensive archival research. He gathered interviews with Tom Jobim from television and other media and edited them in such a way that 70% to 80% of the documentary is narrated by Tom himself,” Peregrino said.
MoreThan Films has acquired Colombian filmmaker Sebastián Múnera‘s film “Meteorite,” which will have its world premiere in Venice Critics’ Week (Sept. 2-12).
The film follows Tefa and Nia, who live in a small town near the Magdalena River, where they raise Nia’s young nephew. Nia persuades Tefa to join her in smuggling cellphones into the regional prison. Their journey leads them through an extravagant amusement park built on the grounds of a drug lord’s former estate.
“As they wander among water slides, verdant paths, and concrete dinosaurs, disquieting memories whisper in the summer heat. In a landscape where violence lingers beneath every surface, Tefa is drawn toward an inevitable encounter,” according to the synopsis.
Queralt Pons Serra, managing partner at MoreThan Films, said, “What excited us about ‘Meteorite’ from the beginning was the strength and singularity of Sebastián’s gaze. You can really feel his artistic background in the way he approaches images, spaces and textures, creating a world that is incredibly cinematic, beautiful and also deeply emotional. There is something very immersive and atmospheric about the film that stayed with us long after watching it.”
Múnera is a Colombian visual artist and filmmaker. He was a resident at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, invited by the Centre Georges Pompidou. His films have been selected at festivals such as IFFR Rotterdam, DOK Leipzig and FICCI Cartagena. He has received distinctions including the Humberto Solás Cine en Construcción Award and the International Symposium on Auteur Cinema Altiplano Incuba Award.
“Meteorite,” his first fiction feature, was awarded at work-in-progress programs in Málaga and Cartagena.
The producers are Sebastian Martinez, Mauricio S. Burckhardt (Haus Kino), Valeria Mejia, Sebastián Múnera (Entre Acto), Abel Villa Romero, Deimer Quintero Vertel (Archipiélago Sonoro) and Rodrigo Ramos (Pos[T] La Casa).
Netflix has added four to the cast of “One Piece” Season 3, casting the roles of Koza, Toto, Pell and Chaka.
Emilio Sakraya (“Rheingold”) will play Koza, Omid Abtahi (The Mandalorian”) will play Toto, Jamie Ward (“The Gentlemen”) will play Pell and Nabeel Khan (“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”) plays Chaka.
Returning for the third season, which is officially titled “One Piece: The Battle of Alabasta,” are Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy, Mackenyu as Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp, Taz Skylar as Sanji, Charithra Chandran as Miss Wednesday, Mikaela Hoover as Chopper, Joe Manganiello as Mr. 0, Lera Abova as Miss All Sunday and Sendhil Ramamurthy as Nefartari Cobra.
Season 3 newcomers include Cole Escola as Bon Clay, Xolo Maridueña as Portgas D. Ace, Daisy Head as Miss Doublefinger and Awdo Awdo as Mr. 1.
Following the events of the show’s sophomore season, war is brewing for Monkey D. Luffy and the Straw Hat gang in Alabasta, Princess Vivi’s homeland. Per the series logline, “a rebellion threatens to tear the nation apart, fueled in secret by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the ruthless Sir Crocodile, and his underground syndicate Baroque Works, who seek to conquer Alabasta for themselves. In a season defined by unbreakable bonds and impossible choices, the Straw Hats must face a brewing civil war and a powerful warlord to save Vivi’s kingdom before it crumbles into the sand.”
Joe Tracz and Ian Stokes serve as co-showrunners, writers and executive producers. “One Piece” was created in partnership with Shueisha and produced by Tomorrow Studios and Netflix.
Executive producing are Eiichiro Oda, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements through Tomorrow Studios, Tetsu Fujimura, Chris Symes, Christoph Schrewe and Steven Maeda. Production for Season 3 of the pirate adventure has wrapped in Cape Town, South Africa
