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Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles emerged in 2000 during the Star Wars revival sparked by The Phantom Menace. A side-scrolling action game, it allowed players to control Jedi characters like Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi through levels inspired by the film. Players initially received the game with mixed reactions, yet it gained recognition as a memorable gaming experience.

In 2025, Aspyr released Jedi Power Battles on new gaming platforms with a port based on the Dreamcast version. The release maintains the game’s original structure while offering updated graphics and refined controls.

The port keeps the game’s original challenging elements and cooperative gameplay, creating an experience that will resonate with longtime fans. Priced at $20, the game targets players who remember the original release, though its straightforward mechanics and limited gameplay might feel outdated for players accustomed to contemporary Star Wars video games.

Gameplay Mechanics and Combat

Star Wars Episode...

Jake Lloyd, known for playing Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, has shared his experience with schizophrenia. His struggle with the illness made him leave acting soon after the movie came out in 1999.

Lloyd recently spent 18 months in a mental health facility in Southern California. He says he’s now feeling “pretty good” and is continuing treatment at a center where he has more freedom.

[I’m feeling] pretty good, considering these 20 years of time that have come to an end. I can now accept taking on continued treatment, and therapy, and my meds. Everyone’s been very supportive.

Source: Variety

Lloyd expressed gratitude for the support he’s received, which has helped him stay committed to therapy and medication.

Lloyd shared that he once reached what he called “rock bottom,” but he sees it as a turning point that helped him fully commit to treatment. He explained that consistently taking his medication keeps him stable,...

Jake Lloyd, who starred as the rebellious, podracing soon-to-be-padawan Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace,” has opened up about his struggle with schizophrenia that, in part, caused him to step away from acting shortly after the “Star Wars” prequel released in 1999.

After a recent 18-month stint in a Southern California inpatient mental health facility, Lloyd said he is feeling “pretty good”. He is still receiving care from a different treatment center, but can come and go from there as he pleases.

“[I’m feeling] pretty good, considering these 20 years of time that have come to an end,” Lloyd said. “I can now accept taking on continued treatment, and therapy, and my meds. Everyone’s been very supportive.”

Lloyd emphasized that “good things” have come from his time in rehabilitation. Although he at one point hit “rock bottom,” he feels it was a necessary step to “honestly take part in treatment, honestly take your meds,...

Spoilers ahead for the finale of "What We Do In the Shadows."

"What We Do In the Shadows" is one of the best TV comedies of the past few years and an all-time great TV show based on a movie. For six seasons, it gave us delightful, weird, horny stories that looked at the dull immobility of immortality and mined comedy from the fact that the series' centuries-old vampires are so carefree due to their existence that they basically waste their lives away, oblivious of anything happening beyond their house and uninterested in anyone but themselves. In a sense, it's the anti-"Frieren: Beyond Journey's End," because rather than look at the fleeting nature of time and find melancholy in it the way that anime does, "What We Do In the Shadows" simply has its cast of lovable buffoons ignore all that willingly.

This is not to say that the...

Catherine Zeta-Jones talked about the welcome impact of winning an Oscar for best supporting actress in 2003 for Chicago on Friday while during an informal conversation at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“It’s actually the beginning, because there’s the precedent, with your name being preceded with the Academy Award winning Catherine Zeta-Jones,” she told the festival. Zeta Jones was also pulled in two directions in having to choose between winning an Oscar and a best actress Tony, and which was more satisfying.

“To be acknowledged by the Broadway lights, that was wonderful. But the Academy Award was something that was totally unexpected. It blew my mind,” she insisted. But now aged 55, Zeta-Jones talked about stepping back and into an indie film world, well away from the commercial demands of a Hollywood she mastered as a film and TV star.

“I can’t talk about it right now,...

There’s nothing more disheartening for a movie fan than when you go see a movie with a bunch of your friends, and while you absolutely love the movie, when the lights come on, and you walk out, you realize your friends absolutely Hated it. Sometimes this is justified, such as when my group of buddies rightly accused me of being insane for loving Die Another Day. At other times, they’re dead wrong, such as when one of my best friends tried to convince me Rushmore was bad (believe it or not – this also happened at The Matrix – but with a different friend). Another time I was totally disheartened by the reaction of a group of friends was back in the fall of 2004 when a group of us went to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow on opening night.

Wait a second, some of you might be asking.

When not out searching for treasure or sticking it to the "Kooks", Kie from Outer Banks has had an interesting romantic history through the show's first few seasons. Premiering on Netflix in 2020, Outer Banks follows a group of working-class teens (known as the "Pogues") who live in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina and fight against the wealthy summer residents known as "Kooks" while also searching for lost treasure. The series gained immediate attention for its multi-faceted storytelling and the way it deftly blends teen romance, social commentary, and action-adventure into one accessible package.

Critics gave Outer Banks modest praise (via Rotten Tomatoes), and the over-the-top melodrama was largely balanced out by the adept interpersonal stories and summer vibes. Netflix's best teen series represent an obvious push by the streamer to beef up its young adult content, and Outer Banks represents the culmination of that idea. Kiarra "Kie" Carrera...

Thanks to the work of creatives like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the 1980s were an immensely lucrative time for adventure movies. Whether it was a genre pastiche like Indiana Jones or a time travel comedy like Back To The Future, there was no denying the staying power that many of these 1980s adventure movies had. As the decade wound down, however, their production would slow with an increasing tide of action movies and indie films filling up room.

Adventure films in the 1990s which weren't big-budget spectacles had to adjust their output, appealing to smaller demographics in order to achieve success. This led to a lot of riskier choices, leading to a decade full of odd and underrated attempts to popularize ideas both new and old. Ideas that were deemed impossible for a long time were revitalized for a new era by new technology and changing attitudes. Adventure looked...

While George Lucas' sequel trilogy never came to fruition, the villains he planned to use have been brought to life by an exceptional Star Wars cosplay. Following the conclusion of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Lucas was initially adamant that there was no Episode VII and that he would never allow another filmmaker to continue his saga. However, Lucas changed his mind when he sold the franchise to Disney in 2012, who quickly set Lucasfilm to work on the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Lucas had even developed his own treatments with Darth Maul and Darth Talon as the main villains.

Instagram cosplayer ray_shreider has posted many impressive photos of a live-action Darth Talon, and one of the best is a gorgeously lit shot of her and Darth Maul:

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Ray (@ray_shreider)

The makeup perfectly captures Maul's design from the movies and...

Exclusive: Billy Zane has joined the cast of supernatural indie thriller The Evilry.

The Titanic and Dead Calm actor will join the likes of Brec Bassinger, Elena Kampouris, Dylan Walsh, Marissa Reyes, Evan Ross, Tony Pierce, and Teri Polo in the film, which is written and directed by Alexander Garcia.

There’s no information about Zane at this stage, as the film’s logline remains under wraps though we know it’s a coming-of-age story centered on a visiting relative who is harboring a dark secret. Last month, we told you Final Destination star Bassinger had been tapped as the lead.

Zane’s recent roles include playing Marlon Brando is Waltzing with Brando, while his existentialist dark comedy Int.Hallway/Night was acquired by Buffalo 8 during the Cannes Film Festival this year. He wrote and directed the pic. Further back, he starred in Titanic and had roles in Twin Peaks,...

The Lego Group and Star Wars have had quite an impressive year in 2024. Having celebrated both the 25th anniversary of Lego Star Wars and the 25th of The Phantom Menace specifically, Lego has released some pretty cool models and minifigures to celebrate both occasions. To that end, there are only three sets left that have yet to be released in 2024.

Lego has released a handful of updated models to celebrate The Phantom Menace such as Darth Maul's Sith Infiltrator (75383), a large-model Droideka (75381), a Mos Espa Podrace Diorama (75380), and more. They've also included exclusive characters who've never been minifigures with various new 2024 Star Wars sets as part of The Lego Group's own 25th anniversary with Star Wars in general, including Saw Gerrera, Nien Nunb, Cal Kestis, and more. However, here are the last three Star Wars Lego sets coming in 2024 (and when they're expected to be released).

Imperial Dropship Vs...

300 continues to endure due to its exaggerated, thrilling action, and as a classic tale of a brave protagonist fighting against insurmountable odds. As a heavily fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae, 300 sees Leonidas, the King of Sparta, leading an army of 300 Spartans against the Persian tyrant King Xerxes and his army composed of more than 300,000 soldiers. 300 is still widely regarded as one of the best projects in Zack Snyder's career that was well-suited to his directing and writing styles.

While 300 is heavy on action and the spectacle it creates, the film's cast is equally important to cementing its legacy. Many of the 300 actors' careers were transformed due to the film's success, paving the way for future roles in a variety of projects. Without these performances that provided the necessary dramatic weight and occasional humor to the story, Snyder's creative vision for 300 would not have worked,...

Superman faces Phantom King in the Phantom Zone in Action Comics #1071. The Phantom King has a long comic history and will be joined by Aethyr in the upcoming arc. Xadu, a key player in previous stories, aims to gain Aethyr's powers as the Phantom God.

The upcoming Action Comics #1071 will see Superman trapped within the Phantom Zone and brought face to face with the dreaded Phantom King. The DC Universe is full of dangerous places, but few are as dangerous as the Phantom Zone. But despite the Phantom King's intimidating moniker, he actually has a fairly goofy history.

This isn't Superman's first time trapped in the Phantom Zone, but the new Action Comics creative team is pulling out some old characters that newer fans might not be familiar with. The Phantom King has been around since the days of the original Clark Kent Superboy, and he's gone through a lot...

The Acolyte stirred up controversy in Star Wars by revisiting the divisive concept of midi-chlorians. Despite fan backlash over the scientific approach to the Force, The Acolyte doubled down on measuring one's power with midi-chlorians. The show's focus on Force sensitivity and m-counts suggests a potential shift in how Star Wars approaches these concepts in the future.

The Acolyte just made this one controversial Star Wars concept introduced in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace even more complicatedand that probably isn't a good thing. The Acolyte received criticism and backlash before it even premiered, as have many Star Wars movies and TV shows, sadly. However, The Acolyte was particularly on the hot seat because it is set 100 years before The Phantom Menace, in the High Republic Era.

Because it was inevitably going to introduce brand-new concepts due to its place in the Star Wars timeline, audiences were at...

If you’re a fan of the Star Wars franchise and were offline last week, you missed a lot of drama. The recent release of ‘The Acolyte’ episode 4 has stirred up significant controversy within the fandom.

‘The Acolyte’ was already a highly controversial show before its release, with part of the fandom reacting negatively to its female-led premise. Statements made by the cast and crew have further agitated an already tense fanbase.

Things took a turn for the worse when the show was released. Fans were disappointed with the low-quality production and found parts of it nonsensical. The show introduced the Witches of Brendok, non-traditional Force users who created twins, Osha and Mae, by manipulating the Force without a male partner.

Episode 4 further fueled the controversy with a brief cameo of Ki-Adi-Mundi, a character from ‘The Phantom Menace.’ This appearance puzzled fans, as Ki-Adi-Mundi, who was in his 60s during the movie,...

The ghost who walks. The man who cannot die. That’s right – it’s Billy Zane! Well, The Phantom, but it sounds much cooler with Billy Zane directly attached. And he might not mind, either, considering it’s one of his favorite endeavors of his career.

Speaking with The A.V. Club, Billy Zane declared that Kit Walker aka The Phantom stands as “one of my favorite characters.” But the movie itself was a flop, with the June 7th, 1996 opening weekend finding it opening at #6, despite only one other title that week being a new release. As Zane remembered, “It got a lot of stick early on because it wasn’t edgy at a time when all those movies were going dark. I’ve always held a torch for what I saw as a dying genre, which was adventure. I was raised on adventure, and I think it’s so easily...

Zack Snyder’s 300 told a fictionalized version of the Battle of Thermopylae and saw Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas leading 300 Spartans into battle against an army of about 300,000 soldiers. The film is based on the namesake limited comic book series created by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. 300 had its own ups and downs while it received mixed reviews from critics and a few awards, it also was also criticized for its historical inaccuracies.

Gerard Butler in 300 (2006) | Warner Bros.

Gerard Butler played the hell out of his character but there was a time when he almost did not get the role. A Warner Bros. executive was unsure about the actor’s casting as King Leonidas but agreed to give him the job on one strange condition – Gerard Butler had to stop smoking.

Gerard Butler Gave His Word to Warner Bros. Executive Zack Snyder’s 300 | Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.

This incredible Darth Maul cosplay looks straight out of the Star Wars movies, embodying a real-life Sith Lord with every detail. Despite not being the most powerful Sith, Darth Maul's impact on Star Wars is undeniable, from taking down Qui-Gon Jinn to his remarkable character arc. Revealed to have survived after being chopped in half, Darth Maul's return in The Clone Wars shocked and thrilled audiences, solidifying his legacy.

One incredible Star Wars cosplay of fan-favorite Sith apprentice Darth Maul looks as though it was taken right out of Star Wars movies and TV shows and may be the closest thing possible to a real-life Sith Lord. Darth Maul was introduced as Darth Sidious' apprentice in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, and while he isn't high on the list of Star Wars' most powerful Sith, he's plenty terrifying. He also managed to do a significant amount of damage,...

Had Luke and Leia been sent to live with Padm's family, they could have grown up on Naboo, knowing about their mother's history. Growing up in a different culture would have reshaped Luke and Leia significantly, although especially Luke. While the decision would have been a bigger gamble, it would have been the closest the twins could have come to being raised by their mother.

Star Wars would have been considerably different if Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa had been sent to live with their only biological aunt. At the end of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Luke was sent to live with Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, and Leia was adopted by Bail Organa and his wife Breha, the Queen of Alderaan. Separating them and sending them to their respective adoptive families was meant to protect them, as they were both in danger if Darth Vader...

Padm Amidala's death in Revenge of the Sith was a missed opportunity for a more meaningful departure. The manner of Padm's death contradicted her character's strength. Padm's legacy could have been enhanced if her storyline included starting the Rebellion, giving her a lasting impact.

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith may be my favorite Star Wars movie, but I still believe Padm Amidala's death was a mistake. Revenge of the Sith is largely considered one of Star Wars' best movies; however, that doesn't mean it isn't without its flaws. In fact, despite its popularity among Star Wars movies and TV shows, Revenge of the Sith made several key mistakes, and some of them have had a lasting impact on the Star Wars galaxy.

Padm's death is one such mistake. Although the original Star Wars trilogy already confirmed that Padm had died earlier in the Star Wars timeline,...

The Acolyte is an upcoming series created by Leslye Headland, which will take place during the High Republic era of the Star Wars universe. Ripe with fresh storytelling opportunities the series marks the first live-action depiction of the era which will take viewers roughly a hundred years before the events of The Phantom Menace.

The Acolyte will take place roughly 100 years before The Phantom Menace (Credit: Lucasfilm).

During a recent interview, Headland spoke about the show’s setting and revealed the reason she decided to make the series a prequel to The Phantom Menace. Headland had a surprisingly simple answer when she was asked about the show taking place during the High Republic era as the showrunner explained why the period was perfect for the story she wanted to tell.

The Acolyte Creator Leslye Headland Reveals Why the Star Wars Show Is Set Before The Phantom Menace

The Acolyte starring...

The Phantom Menace marks the start of the prequels era of the Star Wars franchise and the film recently completed 25 years. Despite its mixed reception, the film is remembered for its villains, particularly the Sith Lord Darth Maul, who eventually became a fan-favorite character through an expanded focus in the spin-off media.

Darth Maul was first introduced in The Phantom Menace (Image Credit: Lucasfilm).

During the early stages of the film’s development, actor Benicio del Toro was in talks to play the role of Darth Maul. However, del Toro had to eventually drop out, leading to Ray Park playing the role. As a result, fans must be curious to learn why del Toro exited the project, and here is everything you need to know about the casting choice for Darth Maul.

Marvel Star Benicio del Toro Almost Played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace

Actor Benicio del Toro is...

Warning! This post contains Spoilers for Darth Maul Black, White & Red #1

The Sith seek power and control in the name of order. The Force cult known as The Final Occultation seeks to bring absolute chaos and galaxy-wide anarchy. Darth Maul concentrates on the Sith's core principles in his new Black, White & Red series, putting him in direct opposition with the Final Occultation.

Darth Maul's new Star Wars series confirms a core truth about the Dark Lords of the Sith and their use of the dark side of the Force. In the established canon, the Jedi and Sith are not the only two games in the galaxy when it comes to groups of Force wielders (though they're certainly the biggest/most prominent). However, Darth Maul's encounter with a brand-new Force cult confirms some very important facts about the Sith.

In Marvel Comics' new Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #1 by Benjamin Percy and Stefano Raffaele,...

It’s May 4th, and you know what that means. In honor of the annual “Star Wars” fan holiday (“May The Force”), Lucasfilm has revealed the new trailer for “The Acolyte,” and if you were maybe a bit underwhelmed by the secretive nature of the first teaser, well, this trailer rips off the mask, unveils secrets and looks pretty damn great. The suspenseful new live-action “Star Wars” series, which seems to have a lot of connections to “The Phantom Menace” era of conspiracy, lies, and hidden truths, premieres on Tuesday, June 4, with the first two episodes exclusively on Disney+.

Continue reading ‘The Acolyte’ Trailer: Lucasfilm Reveals More Secrets In Terrific New May The 4 Teaser at The Playlist.

Warning! This post contains Spoilers for Star Wars: The Living Force by John Jackson Miller

The Jedi withdrew from the galaxy before The Phantom Menace, leading to an increase in criminal activities in many regions. People felt abandoned by the Jedi closing outposts, turning toward bitterness and resentment due to their perceived absence. The Jedi's entanglement with the Republic Senate and Clone Wars further distanced them from the galaxy, making it easy for being to forget about their legacy after Revenge of the Sith and Order 66.

19 years after Revenge of the Sith's release and the tragedy of the Jedi Purge, Star Wars is finally revealing why it was so easy for the galaxy to turn on the Jedi who remained and forget their legacy altogether. After all, the Jedi were all but myth only 19 years after the end of the Clone Wars and the Fall of the Jedi Order. To that end,...

Anakin's fear of losing Padmé led him to the dark side, fueled by Palpatine's manipulation and promises of dark powers. The ability to heal with the Force, as seen in The Rise of Skywalker, stems from balance rather than light or dark sides. Anakin's potential to use Force heal could have saved Padmé, preventing his fall and her tragic death.

Star Wars made Padmé Amidala's death all the more painful with one key reveal in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Despite Anakin Skywalker being one of Star Wars' most powerful Jedi throughout Star Wars' movies and TV shows, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith saw him confronting his limitations in a brutal way. Specifically, after being unable to save his mother, Anakin seemed to realize that he was not all-powerful, and that meant he wasn't fully able to protect those he loved.

Ultimately, Palpatine preyed...

The Phantom Menace was vital for Anakin's character development and set up the downfall of the Jedi Council, but it still had its flaws. Characters like Darth Maul were underdeveloped, but found redemption in later Star Wars movies and TV shows. Elements such as midi-chlorians in The Phantom Menace went unexplained and felt out of place.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace is rapidly approaching its 25th anniversary, but upon rewatching it, there are some aspects that are incredibly hard to overlook. While the movie introduced a whole new cast of characters and a new era of a galaxy far, far away, it was critically panned by critics and viewers alike when it was released. While the prequel trilogy as a whole was negatively regarded for some years, opinions have begun to shift, and to many the Star Wars prequel trilogy are some of the most beloved movies.

David Barrington Holt, longtime manager of the Jim Henson Company’s Creature Shop in L.A., died March 13 of complications from cancer, his son, Chris Holt, announced. He was 78.

After receiving a BA in industry design with honors from London’s University of the Arts in 1963, Holt began his illustrious 30-year career as a creator, quickly building his reputation as a skilled photographer, designer, engineer and model maker.

In 1986, Holt began collaborating with the Jim Henson Company, a partnership that would span over two decades. He started in the U.K. as deputy supervisor of the Creature Shop before being moved up to creative supervisor. In 1993, he moved across the world to Los Angeles to assist in starting the Henson Company’s first creature shop on the West Coast in preparation to produce the characters for Disney’s 1991 jurassic sitcom “Dinosaurs.” At the Creature Factory, Holt oversaw creative oversight of shop operations,...

David Barrington Holt, who established and ran the first Creature Shop on the West Coast for The Jim Henson Company during his two-plus decades with the firm, has died. He was 78.

Holt died March 13 of complications from cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his son, Chris Holt, announced.

Holt started out with the Henson Co. in 1986 as deputy supervisor of its Creature Shop in the U.K. and was promoted to creative supervisor. He moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to set up a Creature Shop and produce the 1991-94 Disney-abc series Dinosaurs.

In L.A., Holt had creative oversight of shop operations including puppetry, animatronics, effects, performers, administrative matters and R&d, with developments in the field of real-time 3D CG animation.

He was instrumental in the creation of the Henson Performance Control System, which allowed a single performer to operate complex, computer-driven puppets in the same manner as though they were physical.

David Barrington Holt, who was instrumental in development of the ground-breaking Henson Performance Control System, which allowed a single performer to operate complex, computer-driven puppets, died March 13 from cancer complications.

His credits included George of the Jungle, The Phantom, Dr. Dolittle, and Scooby-Doo, among other productions.

Born in England in June of 1945, he received his BA in Industrial Design with honors from London’s University of the Arts in 1963.

Over the next 20 years, he built a reputation as a designer, photographer, modelmaker, and restorer of mechanical antiquities. His clients included the London Science Museum, the Greater London Council, the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, and numerous other businesses and private individuals in England and abroad.

In 1984, he founded Hero Models, which supplied models, miniatures, and hero effects for the TV, film, and commercial industries. One such project including re-creating the fly-past of the spacecraft Giotto and Halley’s comet for the film Children of the Dust.

The vision for the ninth annual Platino Awards is coming into focus with the announcement of the night’s musical performers.

Ana Guerra, Ana Mena, Ángela Aguilar, David Bisbal, Diana Hoyos, Gerónimo Rauch, Májida Issa, Mariaca Semprún and Monsieur Periné are set to take the stage at the Gran Tlacho theater at Xcaret Park in Riviera Maya on April 20.

Per intel from event organizers, the ceremony will feature original compositions for the occasion like one performed by Hoyos and Rauch to a score by composer Lucas Vidal. The roster of talent is meant to spotlight the richness of Ibero-American stars and music. Guerra, Mena and Bisbal hail from Spain, Aguilar from Mexico, Hoyos, Issa and Monsieur Periné from Colombia, Rauch from Argentina, and Mariaca Semprún from Venezuela. Traditional Mexican music will have a prominent place in the ceremony thanks to Guerra, Issa and Semprún. Mena is on deck to pay tribute to Rocío Dúrcal,...

Qui-Gon Jinn sensed Darth Maul's Sith presence through his extraordinary combat skills and malice. Other dark-side users who use red lightsabers do exist, but their presence in the Force isn't as powerful as a Sith's. Darth Maul's goal to reveal the Sith's survival led him to break the Order's secret by engaging in a duel.

Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn’s duel on Tatooine in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace revealed the Sith Order’s survival to the Jedi after 1,000 years of secrecy, with Jinn somehow concluding that Maul was a Sith Lord. After the seeming destruction of the Sith, Darth Bane and his apprentice, Darth Zannah, reinvented Sith Lordship through the creation of the Rule of Two. Not only would the Sith Lords reduce their numbers to only two (mitigating their inevitable backstabbing), but they would also operate secretly, plotting their revenge against the Jedi and the Galactic Republic.

The Acolyte connects to Attack of the Clones with various Jedi lightsaber colors, honoring Mace Windu's impact on Star Wars lore. The Acolyte introduces yellow lightsabers, potentially explaining their significance and historical absence in the prequel trilogy. By featuring yellow lightsabers, The Acolyte sets a pattern for Rey's new Jedi Order, establishing continuity and direct connections to upcoming Star Wars content.

Star Wars: The Acolyte, Star Wars' upcoming Disney+ TV show, is honoring Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones in the best way, 22 years after it was released. The Acolyte is set in the High Republic Era, the golden era of both the Republic and the Jedi Order, approximately 100 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Although updates on The Acolyte remain ongoing and slightly under wraps, the show is already set to be one of the most exciting of Star Wars' upcoming TV shows.

Treat Williams' role as Lenny Ross in Blue Bloods was small but significant, earning him a proper farewell in the upcoming episode. Viewers and colleagues honored Williams after his passing, recognizing his captivating onscreen partnership with Tom Selleck's character, Frank Reagan. As Blue Bloods nears its end with season 14, Williams' tribute is a fitting acknowledgment of his impact on the show and its viewers.

New images and story details for Blue Bloods’ forthcoming episode, which will pay tribute to the late Treat Williams, has been revealed. First airing on CBS in 2010, this long-running police procedural drama follows the Reagan family, an Irish-American household who have a strong footing and are deeply involved in New York’s criminal justice system. The show featured a talented ensemble cast including a host of recurring characters like the veteran actor Treat Williams who sadly passed away.

According to TVLine, the talented actor who played Lenny Ross,...

This year celebrates 25 years since the final year of the 1900’s. A year that brought about such classics as The Matrix, Fight Club, American Pie, and Office Space as well as my personal favorite movie of all time: Arlington Road. The year was so successful that 20 years later it would inspire a book titled Best Movie Year Ever.

With a vast cannon of films ranging from highly anticipated block busting prequels (Star Wars: Episode 1- The Phantom Menace) to that years’ eventual Best Picture winner American Beauty and a movie that changed the meaning of twist endings forever (The Sixth Sense) 1999 truly was a year for the ages.

I will be honest, after compiling last weeks list for Best Movies from 1994 and now this list, I have to say 1994 was far more deserving of its own book! But that isn’t to say that 1999 doesn’t have a number of...

Created in 1938 by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman may not have been the first costumed crime fighter of the comics world (Lee Falk's "The Phantom" hit the funny pages two years earlier), but he quickly became the exemplar of the American superhero — due in large part to the timing of his arrival.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor compelled the United States to officially enter World War II, kids were desperate to believe the world wasn't on the verge of becoming a fascist hellhole; and people were well aware that, to avoid this outcome, hundreds of thousands of young Americans were going to get blown to pieces on foreign soil. So what was the harm in occasionally escaping to a fantastical alternate reality in which a morally righteous alien (i.e. immigrant) continually thwarted the will of evildoers like Lex Luthor?

One of the most...

Luis R. Conriquez is tapping the best of the best on the fourth edition of his Corridos Bélicos albums.

On Wednesday, the Mexican singer revealed the track list for Corridos Bélicos Vol. IV, out Jan. 4, with Rolling Stone. The Project features star-studded collaborations, including duets with El Fantasma, Peso Pluma, Gabito Ballesteros, Gerardo Ortiz, Natanael Cano, and Fuerza Régida.

“I’m grateful that so many of my talented colleagues agreed to collaborate with me on this album,” the Sonora-born singer tells Rolling Stone. “I’m blessed to call all...

Listen to the music of the night…

Happy holidays, horror fans, and welcome to the saddest Universal Classic Monster ever! A tortured tale with gondola rides through the sewers of Paris, snowy sword fights with a masked madman, and (of course) an organ solo so gothic and haunted it could raise the dead!

Join us as we rock out with our- uh, opera out? Phantom mania continues on this week’s bonus episode of Nightmare on Film Street as we say au revoir to The Phantom and celebrate the legacy of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s immortal musical through Joel Schumaker’s theatrical adaptation The Phantom of The Opera (2004). That’s right! We’re talking about musicals on this week’s edition of Graveyard Smash but also: Patrick Wilson with a ponytail, Gerard Butler’s singing abilities, whether or not “rose-colored-glasses” also cover the smell of a stinky sewer, and (naturally...

Phantom of the Auditorium was originally published in October 1994 (Spine #24) and the series adaptation aired on Friday, December 1, 1995 (runtime: 22 minutes).

For over a century, the world’s stage has been haunted by a mysterious, masked phantom. From the pages of Gaston Leroux’s 1909 novel to Lon Chaney’s unnerving performance that would inspire countless screen versions over the coming decades, The Phantom of the Opera has emerged from the depths of the theater to shock, awe and embody the depressing, torturous truths of show business’ fickle refrain.

While big, bold, romantic tragedy starring the likes of Herbert Lom or Claude Rains seems far flung from the Goosebumps milieu, R.L. Stine carried the well-worn tale of the scarred phantom and his jilted passion to the pages of his paperbacks with aplomb. Trading the opera house stage for the middle school auditorium, Stine’s phantom forgoes the disfigured musical genius and embraces...

When Zoya Akhtar was approached some years ago by Graphic India to see if she was interested in adapting American comic The Phantom, her first question was whether the Archies comics were available for adaptation.

Like many Indians of her generation, she had been an avid reader of the comics as a child: “I remember cycling to the library to get the double digest, then would come back home and nobody could get a word out of me, I was just reading that comic,” Akhtar tells Deadline.

She says the appeal of the comics is that they were a portal into the West at a time when India was still not totally liberalized and there was no cable and satellite TV to provide a window into the wider world. “It showed us everything about Western culture – how people dressed, what they were listening to, what food they were eating, so...

While Superman and Batman may be famous for launching the world of costumed heroes, they weren't technically the first. And they weren't alone, as the wave of the first superheroes who followed are what turned a novel idea into an entire genre of comic book storytelling.

Comic books introduced a superhero for the first time in 1936 and changed pop culture forever. Nobody could have predicted the successful and powerful industry that superheroes would eventually become, but 86 years later they are more relevant than ever.

The Phantom (1936) First appearance: King Features Syndicate on February 17, 1936 Close

The Phantom was created by Lee Falk and debuted in a newspaper strip in 1936, and although there had been previous magazines about other heroes in the past, The Phantom was the first of its kind and definitely paved the way for other iconic superheroes to be published.

Falk came up with characteristics that other superheroes would pick up on,...

Universal's classic monster movies featured iconic performances and boosted the careers of horror actors like Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Lon Chaney Jr. came very close to playing all of Universal's classic monsters, as he played the Wolf Man, Frankenstein's monster, the mummy, and Count Dracula. Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee also played multiple classic monsters, but no actor has played all six monsters, making Chaney Jr.'s record hard to break.

Universal’s classic monsters have been adapted to various movies for decades, and though there have been actors who have played more than one, only one legendary actor came very close to almost playing all the monsters. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Universal Pictures released a series of horror movies based on different monsters. The success of the films and the popularity of the characters led Universal to market them under the brand name Universal Studios Monsters,...

When George Lucas and his special effects house Industrial Light and Magic finished shooting "Star Wars" back in the late 1970s, they boxed up all of their props and widgets -- then stored in the San Fernando Valley -- and moved their operation north, just north of the San Francisco Bay. While most of the "Star Wars" props made the trek undamaged, at least one of the X-wings models remained behind by accident. "Star Wars" fans will instantly note X-wings as the single-occupancy, biplane-like spacecraft that the film's heroes used to attack the Death Star in the film's climax.

One of the more forwardly visible models used to shoot the Death Star sequence -- the Red Leader X-wing -- was 20 inches long and was equipped with lights and servos to control the "expanding" of the ship's four wings. It was massively detailed and was painted to look like it had seen some action,...

The Acolyte will be the first onscreen Star Wars story from the Sith's perspective, offering a unique and compelling new approach. The show will focus on the Sith working to undermine the Jedi, showcasing morally ambiguous characters and expanding on Sith-centric ideas. The Acolyte has the potential to recontextualize moments in the Star Wars timeline and create one of the most distinctive and thrilling Star Wars stories to date.

The Acolyte is set to be the Star Wars franchise's first onscreen story from the Sith's perspective. There have been Star Wars books told from the perspective of the Sith, such as Drew Karpyshyn's Darth Bane trilogy, but never a movie or TV show. This exciting premise will offer a unique Star Wars experience that will expand the saga through a compelling new approach.

A few Star Wars movies and TV shows have come close to telling the story from the Sith's perspective,...

Summer isn’t over yet but HBO and its streaming arm Max are already moving on to fall. With its list of new releases for August 2023, Max is focusing on football! The American kind, mind you, not the actually footy kind.

August 2023 sees the release of two major football documentaries on HBO and Max. The first is the premiere of Hard Knocks on Aug. 10. The new season of long-running NFL training camp docuseries will center on the New York Jets, new employers of legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers. On Aug. 23, Max will air the aptly named Bs High. The doc tells the stranger-than-fiction story of high school football team Bishop Sycamore, which pulled off one of the more notable sports scams you’re likely to ever hear about.

Not of the football variety but in keeping with the North American sports theme will be season 2 of Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on Aug.

DeVaughn Nixon, Quincy Isaiah, and Delante Desouza in ‘Winning Time’ season 2 (Photograph by Warrick Page/HBO)

Hard Knock‘s new season focusing on the New York Jets and the second season of the original drama Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty join Max’s August 2023 lineup, along with Tracy Morgan’s latest comedy special. August’s schedule also includes the season finales of And Just Like That… and Warrior.

Rap Sh!t season two premieres on August 10th, and the new half-hour young adult animated series Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake arrives on August 31st.

Series & Films Arriving On Max In August 2023:

August 1

A Hologram for the King (2016)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child...

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is set to commence from July 20 through August 9, 2023, taking place at the Concordia Hall Cinema, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée.

After two packed waves of programming, the festival unveils its third wave of programming this morning, bringing exciting world premieres and the announcement of Nicolas Cage as this year’s Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award recipient.

From the press release:

We Are Zombies

The 27th edition of the festival will end on an especially riotous note with the World Premiere of We Are Zombies, the latest from internationally beloved Quebecois cult collective Rkss (Summer Of ’84) – François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell. Based on the comic Les Zombies Qui Ont MANGÉ Le Monde (The Zombies that Ate the World), the film is set in a society where zombies, referred to as “living-impaired,” roam among us...

The search for Arachnophobia and Warlock star Julian Sands has come to a tragic end. The English actor went missing on January 13 while hiking in the Mount Baldy region in the San Gabriel Mountains. After eight different search and rescue missions took place in the following months, human remains were discovered in the area on June 27.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, those remains have now been positively identified as Sands. The late actor would have been 65 years old, as the hike began fewer than two weeks after his birthday. The exact nature of his death is still being investigated by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department.

The Onscreen Legacy Julian Sands Leaves Behind

An English actor, Sands was largely known in the U.S. as something of a character actor. Perhaps his most notable role in a Hollywood production was playing the notorious titular son of Satan in 1989's Warlock, in...

The creators of the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will take on cancer in National Geographic documentary “The Cancer Vaccine” (working title).

The documentary will follow Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci – the husband-and-wife team who built German biotechnology giant BioNTech – as they and their team race competitors, skeptics, governments and cancer itself to create an entirely new class of medicines that use the body’s own defenses to defeat cancer.

The documentary posits a world where a cancer diagnosis – even the most aggressive kind – no longer means brutal chemotherapy or a death sentence and a world where every individual cancer patient gets a bespoke drug, individually tailored to the unique genetics of their tumor, which could keep patients cancer-free for the rest of their lives. It aims to take viewers to the frontlines of breakthrough science alongside the scientists, researchers and patients at the heart of this endeavor.

The film begins...

National Geographic has announced a documentary special with the working title of “The Cancer Vaccine.”

The documentary special will follow Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci – the husband-and-wife team who built German biotechnology giant BioNTech and created the Pfizer BioNTech Covid Vaccine — as they compete in the race to find a cure for cancer.

The film will chronicle Şahin and Türeci’s creation of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine, which came out of mRNA technology that, for years, had been considered useless. The couple has their own team, with whom they face competitors, skeptics, government officials and the disease itself. The solution may lie in using the body’s defenses to create medicine that can disarm the disease that has killed so many.

Early patient trials have yielded hopeful results, with half of those in BioNTech’s Phase 1 trial showing no sign of relapse after being treated for pancreatic cancer, which kills...