Wuthering Heights is expected to reach a huge box office milestone today, with the film set to pass the $100 million mark worldwide. Emerald Fennell's new film is the first title of 2026 to reach those heights, which means that it's currently the highest-grossing title of the year.

Despite mixed reviews and several controversies ranging from the casting to the costume choices, the film has recouped its reported production budget of $80 million in less than a week, and is expected to keep growing – albeit likely at a slower pace – during its second weekend in cinemas.

Adapted from Emily Brontë's Gothic novel of the same name, Wuthering Heights sees Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi play Cathy and Heathcliff, "whose forbidden passion for one another turns from romantic to intoxicating in an epic tale of lust, love and madness," according to the official logline.

Described as "a bold and original imagining of one of the greatest love stories of all time," the film also stars Shazad Latif as Edgar Linton, Alison Oliver as Isabella Linton, Charlotte Mellington as Young Cathy, and Adolescence star Owen Cooper as Young Heathcliff.

At the time of writing, Wuthering Heights stands at 60% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the Critics Consensus reading: "Liberally adapting Emily Brontë's classic story with a heavy dose of carnality and chic stylization, Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights might not be the stuff of high literature, but it is a visually vibrant pleasure."

At GamesRadar+, we also defended some of the filmmaker's choices, writing: "Fennell has done exactly what she set out to do: bring her own version of the novel to the screen. She has distilled the essence of Catherine and Heathcliff's relationship as she sees it and used it to conjure up this dream version of the story that can either enchant or repulse, depending on your perspective."

Wuthering Heights is now out in theaters. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2026 and beyond, or check out our list of movie release dates.

Despite mixed reviews and polarizing fan reactions, Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights is set to debut with $70 million at the global box office – nearly topping its $80 million budget.

According to Deadline, the film is set to premiere in 18,000 theaters around the world. Netflix initially offered $150 million for the budget, but Fennell ultimately chose Warner Bros (which will soon be owned by Netflix anyway). The film stars Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw, who, as the classic Emily Brontë story goes, falls in love with an orphan boy named Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi). The cast includes Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes, and Ewan Mitchell.

At the time of writing, Wuthering Heights stands at 72% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, though the audience score, aka the Popcornmeter, remains to be seen. Many critics have praised Robbie and Elordi's chemistry, but can't seem to agree on whether or not the film counts as a true adaptation... something Fennell herself has been playing around with, as much of the advertising for the film depicts the title as "Wuthering Heights" in cheeky quotation marks.

The earliest known live-action adaptation of the novel came about in 1920, with 1939's Wuthering Heights starring Laurence Oliver and Merle Oberon becoming a classic. Director Andrea Arnold's interpretation hit theaters in 2011, with Kaya Scodelario as Catherine and James Howson as Heathcliff.

Wuthering Heights hits theaters on February 13, 2026. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2026 and beyond, or check out our list of movie release dates.

Official reviews of Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights are in, and the new romantic drama is dividing critics.

At the time of writing, Wuthering Heights stands at 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is by no means a bad score. However, this is Fennell's lowest-scoring movie yet, with the director's debut, Promising Young Woman, coming in at 90%, and 2023 thriller Saltburn scoring 72%.

The new movie, which adapts Emily Brontë's classic novel of the same name, is dividing critics, with many unhappy with Fennell's take on the sacred story. "This is Emily Brontë reinterpreted by Lord Flashheart," said Robert Hutton from The Critic, and IGN's Hanna Flint said, "It all feels too forced, like a sales bin, smutty romance novel come to life, working too hard to hide the erasure of Brontë's far more complex ideas about the hell of societal convention."

Others add that Fennell was not able to achieve the level of intensity possible, as Kristy Puchko from Mashable likens Wuthering Heights to "an incoherent collage of teenage lust and rebellion, the kind better suited to a high school locker than a movie theater." Robert Kojder from Flickering Myth says the movie is "emotionally flat and possibly afraid to live and die on the edge of bold," like Fennell's past features.

However, other critics are celebrating the movie for its daring take on the beloved story. Gabriella Geisinger from Digital Spy describes Wuthering Heights as "a visual and aural feast that, though at times frustrating, stirs at the very heartstrings that Brontë surely intended," and NYC Movie Guru's Avi Offer calls it a "sexy, exhilarating and visually stunning adaptation."

Many are praising Margot Robbie's performance, with Esquire's Henry Wong writing, "What Robbie brings to the role is a kind of active longing. Such a character can sometimes feel either totally mean or totally passive."

Set in 18th-century England, Wuthering Heights follows an orphan boy named Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) who is taken in by a wealthy family and begins to fall in love with their daughter, Catherine Earnshaw (Robbie). But when Heathcliff returns years later, tragedy follows the star-crossed lovers.

Wuthering Heights hits theaters on February 13, 2026. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or skip right to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.

Todd Haynes' gay romance drama De Noche may see the light of day after all, with Fantastic Four's Pedro Pascal reportedly circling Joaquin Phoenix's former role.

According to Deadline, those behind the title are trying to "work around" the Marvel actor's busy schedule in the hopes of shooting in early 2026 in Guadalajara.

The film, which follows two men who fall in love in 1930s Los Angeles before setting a course for Mexico, actually kicked off principal photography in August 2024, but after two weeks of alleged on-set no-shows from Phoenix, the Joker star officially departed the project – and it looked to be derailed entirely. Captain America: Brave New World's Danny Ramirez, who is still attached, would've played Phoenix's romantic interest.

"Pretty much what happened is what's out there for you to read. I don't know any more than that. I would gossip if I had anything to gossip about," producer Christine Vachon explained at the San Sebastian Film Festival the following month, before noting that it was Phoenix who originally pitched De Noche to Killer Films, a production company known for championing LGBTQ+ fare.

"I consider [Todd Haynes] one of the most extraordinary film artists of his generation," Vachon, who has worked with the filmmaker on the likes of Far From Heaven, I'm Not There and Carol, continued. "The idea that his time was wasted and a movie is not the result of all that time working with Joaquin is a tragedy to me."

Whether or not Pascal actually winds up signing on to the project, cinemagoers will still see him share the screen with Ramirez in 2026, in upcoming Marvel flick Avengers: Doomsday. The former will return as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic as Earth's Mightiest Heroes take on Robert Downey Jr's Doctor Doom, while Ramirez will be back as Sam Wilson's right-hand man, Joaquin Torres/Falcon. The pair recently appeared together in The Last of Us season 2.

For more, check out our picks of the most exciting upcoming movies heading our way.

The Love Hypothesis movie has found its male lead, and it's a seriously meta casting.

Per Deadline, Tom Bateman has been cast as Dr. Adam Carlsen in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Ali Hazelwood's novel.

Now, you might be wondering why this is so noteworthy. Well, The Love Hypothesis isn't just a romance novel. It actually started life as a Reylo fanfiction – Reylo, of course, referring to the couple name of Adam Driver's Kylo Ren and Daisy Ridley's Rey from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Bateman is actually none other than Daisy Ridley's real-life husband. So, he's playing the love interest of a fictional character inspired by Ridley's most iconic fictional character. Our heads are spinning.

Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis is a bestseller that follows Olive – played by Lili Reinhart in the movie – who is a Ph.D. candidate in need of a fake relationship. She kicks one off with a professor named Adam (get it?), who will be played by Bateman. As you might expect, things don't stay fake for too long.

Ridley even shared the casting to her Instagram story, though she hasn't said anything about the situation just yet.

Claire Scanlon directs, and Sarah Rothschild penned the script. Amazon MGM Studios is behind the adaptation.

As for Star Wars, next up for the saga is The Mandalorian & Grogu, which releases next May. Ridley's Rey is also due to return in another movie, though updates are scarce on that project. Who knows, it might launch another bestseller?

You can keep up to date with the galaxy far, far away with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

As a world leader who looked remarkably like Hugh Grant once said, love actually is all around us. Because of that, romance stories can find inspiration from other adored tales of love and heartbreak, like the latest one from director Celine Song, starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans. Materialists marks Song's latest love story following her Oscar-nominated movie, Past Lives, and guarantees to be just as emotional.

In the lead-up to the film's release, A24 revealed a syllabus for the movies that inspired Materialists, which sees Johnson as a matchmaker, Lucy, caught in the one place no one ever wants to be—a love triangle. Just as she meets financier Harry Castillo (Pascal) at a wedding of a couple she got together, she gets a blast from the past in the form of her ex-boyfriend, John (Evans), who is working as a caterer at the event. Naturally, sparks fly in all the right and wrong places, putting Lucy in a big predicament. Well, how would you choose between Captain America and Mister Fantastic?

The syllabus includes some classic love stories, including Pride and Prejudice and The Graduate, which give you an idea of Lucy's decision-making process. Other treasures include Atonement, A Room with a View, and Broadcast News. Some movies involving matchmakers get honorable mention, including Jerry Maguire and Moneyball.

It's a lengthy list to get through before seeing Materialists, making us wonder if you'll be all cried out when you sit down to see it. Judging by the fantastic reviews the film has had so far, though, we can only imagine it'll certainly be worth the wait.

Also, if your heart is still beating for more romance, check out our list of the best rom-coms from the 2000s here.

Phoebe Dynevor is set to join Jake Gyllenhaal in a new supernatural romantic thriller from M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks.

According to Deadline, Shyamalan and Sparks have collaborated on an original story and are independently writing a screenplay and a novel, respectively, based on said story. Both projects will be based on the same concept and set of characters, of course. The filmmaker previously told Deadline that he would "keep fighting" for "more original storytelling" in the industry as the focus seems to be on big, money-making IP.

There are no other details at this time but Shyamalan has had an interesting career turn recently, with Trap, starring Josh Hartnett, being a bit different from his usual horror steeze. The man who crafted The Sixth Sense linking up with the man who wrote The Notebook was not on my 2025 bingo card. This will mark Shyamalan's 17th feature film, the first being 1992's Running with Anger.

Dynevor is best known for her role as Daphne in seasons 1 and 2 of Netflix's hit romantic period drama Bridgerton. She currently has three movies in post-production: survival thriller Beneath the Storm, the Diane Lane-led thriller Anniversary, and A24's Famous opposite Zac Efron. She also recently joined the cast of Richard Eyre's The Housekeeper, starring opposite Uma Thurman and Anthony Hopkins.

For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond, or, skip right to our list of movie release dates.

Writer-director Drew Hancock has opened up as to why The Boys' Jack Quaid and Yellowjackets' Sophie Thatcher were the perfect co-leads for his twisty romance horror Companion.

From the studio that brought you The Notebook and "the unhinged creators of Barbarian" (as the wild trailer states), the movie is shrouded in mystery. The minute-long clip, which is the only footage we've seen so far, opens on a couple sharing a romantic dinner, before things take a turn and it's revealed that Thatcher's character is actually handcuffed to her chair. (If you look closely, the anonymous chef preparing their meal also has blood spatters on his white T-shirt).

What follows is a montage of dark, increasingly violent scenes, before Thatcher's character says via voiceover, "I know it's going to sound cheesy but, the moment we locked eyes, there was just a... spark." It ends with Quaid's character smiling menacingly as he forces Thatcher's seemingly paralyzed woman to hold her hand over a candle, setting her arm on fire.

"Taking someone with a baby face and giving them moments of aggression and anger, it's the contradiction that makes it so much scarier," the filmmaker says of Quaid in the new issue of SFX magazine, which features Star Trek spin-off movie Section 31 on the cover and hits newsstands on December 31.

"[Sophie] makes the movie," Hancock goes on. "I can't imagine anyone else in that role. I knew before we started rolling that it was a really tough part to cast. We started auditioning so many good actresses – I don't want to undersell the quality of actresses – but there's the emotional journey she goes on which many struggled with.

"Five seconds into Sophie's performance, my heart was pounding so fast because I was thinking about a future where this movie didn't have her."

Not a subscriber to SFX? Then head on over here to get the latest issues sent directly to your home/device!

If there's one thing for certain about Companion, it's that viewers need to gear themselves up for a genre-bending thrill ride. According to Hancock, it's "ultimately the story of a guy and a girl breaking up", but as the teaser suggests, this is far from a straight-forward, heartstring-tugging drama.

"We're selling this as a horror-ish movie, but it's six different genres," Hancock says. "I would actually put horror fourth or fifth down the list." To discuss the story's predominant genre would give half the story away. "We showed the film to two focus groups," he adds. "One where people didn't know anything about it and one where they knew the twist. For the people who didn't know, it was like cotton candy. They did not see it coming. You could just hear collective awe."

Also starring Lukas Gage (Smile 2), Megan Suri (It Lives Inside), Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows), and Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Companion releases on January 10 in the US, before reaching UK theaters on January 31.

Read more in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features Star Trek spin-off movie Section 31 on the cover and hits newsstands on Tuesday, December 31.

Keira Knightley has addressed the long-standing controversy around the cue card scene in 2003's Christmas rom-com Love Actually, and she actually agrees that the moment is "quite creepy".

The scene sees Andrew Lincoln's character showing up at Knightley's character's door to confess his love for her though cue cards. She just got married to his best friend (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), who is inside the house thinking his wife is talking to some door-to-door carol singers.

Although meant to be romantic, the scene comes across as stalker-ish, and has been the subject of debate among fans for two decades.

When asked about the scene in an recent interview with LA Times, Knightley acknowledges its "creep factor" and recalls her own reaction on set.

"The slightly stalkerish aspect of it — I do remember that. My memory is of [director] Richard [Curtis], who is now a very dear friend, of me doing the scene, and him going, 'No, you’re looking at [Lincoln] like he’s creepy,' and I’m like [in a dramatic whisper], 'But it is quite creepy'. And then having to redo it to fix my face to make him seem not creepy," she said.

The actress also pointed out she was only 17 at the time, which only made the whole thing even creepier. "I mean, there was a creep factor at the time, right? Also, I knew I was 17. It only seems like a few years ago that everybody else realized I was 17," she added.

Knightley was also 17 when she worked on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which was also released in 2003. "It's very brutal to have your privacy taken away in your teenage years, early '20s, and to be put under that scrutiny at a point when you are still growing. Having said that, I wouldn't have the financial stability or the career that I do now without that period," she said in the interview.

The British actress is now the star of Netflix's new hit show, Black Doves, a six-episode spy thriller that follows an undercover agent seeking revenge for the death of her boyfriend. Co-starring Ben Whishaw and Happy Valley's Sarah Lancashire, the show has already confirmed a season 2 is coming.

If you're looking for your next obsession over the Christmas break, check out our guide of best Netflix shows.

Despite fans being ready to have the time of their lives once again after Dirty Dancing 2 was revealed over four years ago, the sequel has long been delayed. But it looks like it may be coming soon as star Jennifer Grey gives a cryptic yet slightly promising update on the delay. 

"I can't tell you much about Dirty Dancing as I'm not going to make promises," says Grey speaking to GamesRadar+ and other journalists at the BFI London red carpet premiere of her new movie A Real Pain. "I'm just waiting for them to really nail it down as it has to be right. We can push that aside until we next time we speak when it hopefully will all be ironed out."

The sequel was announced in 2020 and originally slated for a 2024 release. However, due to Hollywood strikes, the movie was pushed back to the summer of 2025, despite landing a director in Warm Bodies helmer Jonathan Levine in 2022. But that 2025 window is looking less likely as the project hasn't received an exact release date with no production start time confirmed and no further update has been given, until now. If the star thinks the sequel’s unknown issues will be "ironed out" the next time she speaks to the press, does that mean it will be pretty soon? We hope so.

Released in 1987, Dirty Dancing follows  Frances "Baby" Houseman (Grey) who meets and falls in love with a rebellious yet very charming dance instructor (Patrick Swayze) whilst on holiday with her family. But their budding relationship meets disapproval from her father due to their differing social standings. The film is considered one of the best ‘80s movies and has many memorable lines as well as a legendary soundtrack. 

Although an official synopsis is yet to be revealed, Grey teased the sequel’s plot in August 2022 in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying that the film will follow Baby’s return to Kellerman’s resort for another summer of dancing and romance. However, with so much time passed and Grey now stating that she is waiting for "them" to "nail it down," we wouldn't be surprised if the film saw a few script changes. 

As for cast members, we do know that Grey will reprise her role and that the film will pay tribute to the late Swayze who played Johnny Castle. "There will never be another Johnny. There will never be another Patrick," said Grey in an interview with The Express. The star has also expressed her wish on The Drew Barrymore Show for musician and Don’t Worry Darling actor Harry Styles to join the project. Could Styles be Kellerman’s new all-singing-all-dancing instructor? We will have to wait and see.

Dirty Dancing is available to watch for free on ITVX in the UK. For more, keep up to date with upcoming movies heading your way soon. 

The first reviews of We Live in Time, a new movie starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, are in after the movie premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, and critics can't get enough of the duo's performances. The R-rated A24 romantic drama debuted to a Rotten Tomatoes score of 80%. 

Garfield and Pugh play Tobias and Almut, who meet by chance after Almut hits Tobias with her car. What follows is a decades-spanning romance, told in a non-chronological order that posits the early sparks of romance side-by-side against the tragedy of the couple's later lives.

"It’s such a joy to watch two such assured and natural performers allowed the room to exercise both movie star and actor muscles as well as showcase their ease with both comedy and drama," reads The Guardian's review, while Loud and Clear writes that the film features "a central duo with charm in abundance." 

"With Pugh and Garfield leading this tremendous love story, We Live in Time becomes one of the best movie romances in years, and proves that few filmmakers can present the power of love quite like Crowley can," Collider echoes.

Other critics had their gripes with the film, however, with Screen Daily writing that "ultimately, We Live In Time views Tobias and Almut as abstractions, and by jumping back and forth in time, it never makes them very present," while Variety notes that "take away the sequencing gimmick, and you’re left with just another run-of-the-mill cancer drama, albeit one with a dream cast." 

We Live in Time arrives in US theaters on October 11 and UK cinemas on January 1. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other biggest upcoming movie release dates at a glance.

A story involving domestic violence and coercive control comes with an incongruously glossy sheen in this Boston-set adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel, a vehicle for The Shallows’ Blake Lively that sees that pic’s shark recast as a handsome yet volatile neurosurgeon (Justin Baldoni, also director here).

While Lively’s Lily is deeply taken by Doctor Ryle’s bedside manner, warning signs blare like klaxons. The first time they meet, for example, he is furiously kicking a chair. Fortunately for her she has a white knight in Atlas (Brandon Sklenar), the homeless kid she took a shine to back when they were high schoolers (portrayed by Isabela Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter) in Maine.

With its glam couture and sumptuously curated interiors, and a high-end mentality that extends from Lily’s fancy flower shop to Atlas’s upscale restaurant, Baldoni’s lush melodrama has a surface superficiality that is all too mockable. When it comes to the assaults its heroine endures though, it is admirably astute, not least in its depiction of partner abuse as a pattern of behavior passed down through generations.

Hoover’s novel drew on her personal experience of watching her father ill-treat her mother, so it’s hardly surprising this element carries a ring of emotional truth. For the most part, however, screenwriter Christy Hall is rather too content to wallow in consumerist fantasy – a foible most apparent in the scene where Lily strides into an equestrian-themed birthday party thrown by her boyfriend’s scatty sister (Jenny Slate) in a pair of sequin-studded heeled boots.

It Ends With Us is released in UK cinemas and US theaters on August 9. 

For more on what is coming out this year, check out our guide to the upcoming movies you need to know about.

Do movie stars exist anymore? This question has been plaguing Hollywood over the past few years, with the sentiment being that the industry is no longer producing actors who can draw in an audience on their name alone. This goes hand-in-hand with the feeling that we are getting less and less films that are considered to be 'star vehicles' for the actors involved.

Director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, the Before Trilogy) can understand where this is all coming from, but doesn't necessarily completely agree with the arguments. During a recent interview about his new film Hit Man,  which releases on Netflix later this week, GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast asked for the filmmaker's thoughts on the matter, given that his latest work stars Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell in the lead role - an actor who seems to be booking new roles every week at the moment.

A thoughtful Linklater pauses before replying, explaining that he does indeed think there has been a shift due to the types of movies now dominating the industry: "Hollywood - these kind of sexless, childish movies - they don't make movie stars as you are playing a role that is like a pre-existing character from some universe. That's not what makes stars. What makes stars is a strong charismatic personality that you follow them in whatever they do. Like Denzel Washington, Robert Redford, Meryl Streep - you want to watch whatever they do."

He continues suggesting that a part of himself believes this is good news to some Hollywood executives: "There's probably a lot of dynamics that have changed that and some paranoid part of me thinks that the industry would love stars to go away - so you don't have to pay them so much. Like 'Tom Cruise has a little too much power, let's just have AI play those parts that would probably be ideal'."

Despite the above, Linklater does also believe that there is still some coming out of Hollywood, citing Powell as being a perfect example of one saying "he is absolutely a movie star".

The pair have worked together since the actor was a teenager, appearing in 2006's Fast Food Nation then reuniting on 2016's Everybody Wants Some. But with Powell now being the man of the moment booking gigs left, right, and center - are there plans for them to reunite for a future project soon? Whilst there's nothing in the works right now, Linklater hopes there is soon.

As he concludes: "The good thing is that Glen is like an old-fashioned movie star who kinda came up through his hard work and his roles - he’s not a part of some franchise yet. I think he’s a smart guy, kinda an old-school Warren Beatty, a smart actor who will partner with the right people - I hope that’s in his future. 

"Certainly we would like to work together again - we don’t have anything just yet but I’m sure something will evolve. Glen is a good, smart guy - everybody wants to work with him for that reason."

Hit Man will be available to stream on Netflix from June 7. We also spoke to Linklater about the catchphrase from the movie and how it's his answer to a "sexless" Hollywood. Also keep your eyes peeled for our full chat with the director on the upcoming episode of the Inside Total Film podcast.

For more films to add to your watch list, here's our guide to the upcoming movies to keep an eye out for this year.

Over the past couple of years within Hollywood, three topics have been dominating conversation - AI, movie stars, and sex. Numerous questions have been raised such as how does AI impact filmmaking going forward, do movie stars exist now, and is cinema sexy anymore? With his latest film Hit Man, which releases on Netflix later this week, director Richard Linklater (School of Rock, the Before Trilogy) hopes to answer the last two points.

In the movie - which is loosely based on a true story - Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell stars as Gary Johnson, a part-time staffer with the police who stumbles into a role posing as an undercover hitman. Everything changes for Gary when he becomes dangerously entangled with potential client Maddy, portrayed by Andor's Adria Arjona.

The chemistry between Gary and Maddy is electrifying, as they awaken new passions within each other. Which means yes, this movie is seriously sexy featuring intimate sex scenes with the pair. For Linklater this is his response to what he describes as a now "sexless" Hollywood, as he told GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast in a recent interview.

As the filmmaker revealed, he's frustrated by what he sees as a change in attitude to sex in cinema within the industry, which is particularly affecting films aiming for mainstream audiences. Linklater explained: "It's been this slow infantilization of cinema. I remember when I was a kid, they didn't make films for me so much so I was watching adult movies imagining - I didn't get everything but it was an intriguing world. That's how it should be, aspirational - I couldn't wait to be an adult and experience fun things like sex and freedom."

He continued: "But somewhere along the way it became 'just stay a kid forever, keep reading comic books, we will keep catering to your youth, don't think about things like sex or the complexities of adulthood. Let's simplify everything down.' But adult things are complex - that's what makes them adult and intriguing - and they are complex in different ways to different people. The more childlike you can be the simpler it is and the easier it is to sell. That's Hollywood!"

This was certainly on Linklater's mind during the making of Hit Man, with the director realizing that he was producing a more "old-fashioned" type of film - one Hollywood rarely sees any more. As he concluded "I guess it's kinda an old-fashioned movie - whilst making it it felt like an '80s movie with the characters really having sex, being driven by something.

"The two think-pieces that have been going on the past years - does Hollywood not produce stars anymore and they no longer have sex scenes in movies, all these superheroes don't have genitals apparently - it's all so sexless and starless. I'm like well, my old-fashioned movie to trying to address both of those points. Here's my answer to that."

Hit Man will be available to stream on Netflix from June 7. We also spoke to Linklater about the catchphrase from the movie and keep your eyes peeled for our full chat with the director on the upcoming episode of the Inside Total Film podcast.

For more films to add to your watch list, here's our guide to the upcoming movies to keep an eye out for this year.

Director Richard Linklater's (School of Rock, the Before Trilogy) new film Hit Man is already - if you will excuse the pun - a hit with audiences thanks to its festival run and short theatrical release. This week it will finally be hitting Netflix, therefore introducing more people to the wild true story of Gary Johnson. Well, as the title card at the start reads, "a somewhat true story".

Loosely inspired by a real-life tale, Hit Man stars Top Gun: Maverick's Glen Powell as Johnson, a part-time contractor with the police who stumbles into a role posing undercover as a hitman. From there the new Netflix film diverts from the true story as Powell's Johnson falls in love with Adria Arjona's Maddy, with the pair becoming dangerously entangled.

Whilst the film does indeed take that diversion, it's pretty surprising what is directly taken from the true story. In fact, the very catchphrase used by Powell's fake hitman was actually used by the real Johnson, as Linklater himself revealed in an interview with GamesRadar+ and the Inside Total Film podcast. 

The director divulged that he heard Johnson use it on surveillance tapes he watched for research, then knowing that it had to be featured: "The line in the movie - ‘all pie is good pie’ - people ask me who made that up but it’s a Gary Johnson line. You can hear the people go like 'oh, we are going to meet at this little diner, how will you know it’s me, I’ll be eating pie in the corner, come ask me how’s the pie, I’ll say you know…' They think they are in a crime movie, that everybody is playing a role, that it’s a secret code, that they are dealing with the real deal here."

Watching these real-life tapes of cases Johnson worked on was eye-opening for the filmmaker, who was fascinated by the various people searching for a hitman. As he told us, he finds the belief in this "myth" very strange: "It's this myth - I think movies invented hitman, this character we have created as a culture that just doesn't exist. People seem almost saddened or offended that they don't exist, we are all invested in it for some reason. It's so sad as we want to believe this stuff - we really should be relieved!"

He continued: "I also find it darkly comedic, the desperate people. I've listened to all these surveillance tapes, I've watched the sting operations, a lot of bad '80s and '90s videos - it's so bizarrely funny the way the clients start acting like they are in a crime movie."

And that's exactly how the situations play out in the movie, with clients approaching Powell's Johnson acting like they are in a Martin Scorsese gangster flick - it's all very amusing. 

However, one question remains - is all pie really good pie? A joyful Linklater's answer is definitive: "No! There's a lot of crappy pie in the world!"

Hit Man will be available to stream on Netflix from June 7. Keep your eyes peeled for more from our interview with Linklater, including the full chat on the upcoming episode of the Inside Total Film podcast.

For more films to add to your watch list, here's our guide to the upcoming movies to keep an eye out for this year.

Anne Hathaway signed on for Michael Showalter's age-gap rom-com The Idea of You because she deserves to have fun, gosh darnit.

"For some reason, we talk about coming-of-age stories as being something that happens to you in the earliest part of your life, and I don’t know about you, but I feel like I keep blooming," Hathaway said at the film's March 16 premiere (via Vulture). "I don’t want to be pigeonholed and don’t want to be placed in a box of what type of films I have to be making because of my age, gender, and because I won an Oscar. I want to have fun, dammit. It speaks to me."

The Idea of You, based on the novel by Robinne Lee, stars Hathway as Solène Marchand, a 40-year-old divorced mother who strikes up a love affair with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine), the lead singer of One Direction-esque boyband August Moon. The cast includes Ella Rubin, Reid Scott, Annie Mumolo, and Perry Mattfeld.

Hathaway has two more projects coming out in 2024, including the psychological thriller Mothers' Instinct which co-stars Jessica Chastain, and Mother Mary, an epic musical melodrama produced by A24 and co-starring Hunter Schafer. From playing The Grand High Witch in the 2020 remake of Roald Dahl's The Witches to starring in heist movies like Locked Down and Ocean's 8, we're all for the actor taking on supremely fun roles that speak to her.

The Idea of You is set to hit Prime Video on May 2. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond, or, check out our list of the best Prime Video movies to add to your streaming queue right now.

Just days after hitting the streamer, Lindsey Lohan’s new movie Irish Wish has shot up the Netflix top 10 rankings, but despite the views, the movie has left audiences divided.

Released on March 15, the movie follows one unlucky-in-love woman named Maddie (Lohan) who puts her feelings aside to be a bridesmaid at her best friend's wedding in Ireland. As per the Netflix synopsis, "Days before the pair are set to marry, Maddie makes a spontaneous wish for true love and finds herself in an alternate reality where a chance encounter shows her that sometimes you need to be careful who you wish for. With her dream seeming to come true, Maddie soon realizes that her real soulmate is someone else entirely."

As of March 18, Irish Wish is the second most popular movie worldwide on the streamer, losing first place to fellow Netflix original Damsel starring Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown. But despite its impressive ranking, Irish Wish is leaving audiences and critics divided, which is reflected in its 34% score and 42% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Many critics have pointed out the movie’s stereotypical commentary on Irish culture as Wendy Ide from The Guardian puts it, "There are no leprechauns in this abysmal romantic comedy. Otherwise, though, pretty much no theme-park Ireland cliche is left unturned,". Whilst Roger Moore from Movie Nation adds, "Saints preserve us, one and all wasted a good trip to Ireland on this."

However, many are seeing the pot of gold at the end of the rather lackluster rainbow so to speak, concluding that Irish Wish is so bad, it’s kind of… good. "It’s genuinely terrible, but also oddly watchable," says Kevin Maher from The Sunday Times, and fans seem to agree as one tweets, "Irish Wish is like if they made My Best Friend’s Wedding in Ireland and it was bad… by which I mean it is an instant classic."

Alongside the Mean Girls star, the cast also includes Star Trek: Picard’s Ed Speleers, Versailles Alexander Vlahos, Jane Seymour, Elizabeth Tan, and Ayesha Curry.

Irish Wish is available to stream on Netflix right now. For more, check out the best Netflix movies, or keep up to date with upcoming movies heading your way in 2024 and beyond.  

Whether it's Valentine's Day or you're just in the mood for love, it's always a good time to get stuck into one of the best LGBT romances in movies. Grand gestures on the big screen aren't just the remit of traditional heterosexuality – the canon of queer cinema is full of gems, from foreign-language flicks to heartbreaking dramas and heartwarming comedies.

If you're looking to expand your watch list, we've got you covered with a ranking of the 10 best LGBT romances to hit the silver screen, featuring movies from directors like the Wachowskis, Barry Jenkins, and Céline Sciamma. Whether you're a romantic at heart or a bit of a cynic, there should be something here for you.

10. Anything's Possible 

Billy Porter's directorial debut centers Kelsa (Eva Reign), a trans girl navigating her senior year of high school and a crush on the guy her best friend likes. Part rom-com and part coming-of-age movie, this is a sweet, warm story about learning to open up your heart and feel comfortable in your own skin. A decidedly modern and Gen Z-esque take on the rom-com, the chemistry between the two leads makes the film a worthy addition to the genre. 

9. Imagine Me & You 

Lesbian movies have a reputation for unhappy endings, but that's not always the case. '00s rom-com Imagine Me & You is a fun and frothy affair, with just the right amount of tension. Rachel (Piper Perabo) doesn't believe in love at first sight, but sparks fly when meets florist Luce (Lena Headey) for the first time – but it just so happens to be on her wedding day, when she's marrying a man (Matthew Goode). The pair strike up a friendship and try to ignore their burgeoning connection – but how long can they pretend there's no frisson between them?  

8. Ammonite 

Ammonite, Francis O'Connor's follow-up to God's Own Country is a fictionalized take on the real life of Mary Anning (Kate Winslet), a self-taught paleontologist who works on the English coast in 1840s Lyme Regis. Charlotte, played by Saoirse Ronan, is brought to stay with Mary by her husband after suffering a personal tragedy – he hopes the sea air will be good for her. Mary reluctantly agrees to take her in, and the film charts their relationship as they learn to overcome their conflicting personalities and social backgrounds.  

7. Orlando 

Based on Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel of the same name, director Sally Potter's movie adaptation follows the genderfluid, ageless protagonist in life and love across four hundred years of history. Tilda Swinton plays the titular character, an Elizabethan nobleman offered land and a castle by the dying queen on the condition that he does not grow old. Orlando keeps his promise but, after a couple of hundred years and travels in the Ottoman Empire, transforms into a woman. While not strictly a romance movie, Orlando's rich, centuries-spanning life encompasses plenty of love and lust.

6. Bound 

The Wachowskis sisters' directorial debut, Bound, was released in 1996. The movie follows Violet (Jennifer Tilly), a woman trapped in a relationship with her mafia boyfriend (Joe Pantoliano) who has an affair with an ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) after she's hired to renovate the apartment next door to theirs. Violet longs for freedom, and the pair hatch a plan to steal $2 million of mob money in Caesar's care. This slick, funny crime thriller has action and sensuality in equal measure.   

5. All of Us Strangers 

Andrew Scott is a lonely writer in All of Us Strangers, the latest movie from director Andrew Haigh. He plays Adam, who's trying to use his memories of his dead parents (killed in a car accident when he was 12) to pen a new screenplay. Seeking inspiration, he travels back to his childhood home, only to encounter his mother and father exactly as he remembers them. Meanwhile, he strikes up a romance with his mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal), seemingly the only other resident of their London tower block. A word of warning from us: don't wear mascara to watch this one.

4. God's Own Country 

Josh O'Connor plays Johnny, a young farmer in the north of England with a penchant for binge drinking and casual sex, in God's Own Country, Francis Lee's directorial debut. Johnny's life is changed irrevocably with the arrival of Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), a Romanian migrant farm worker. Intense feelings ignite between the two, rocking Johnny's world and setting him on a new path. The movie marked a breakthrough role for O'Connor when it was released in 2017 – and for good reason.

3. Brokeback Mountain 

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star as cowboys Ennis and Jack in Brokeback Mountain, which charts their relationship over the course of two decades. After being hired to take care of a farmer's sheep through the summer, charismatic Jack eventually wears down Ennis' gruff exterior and the two begin a passionate affair. As the years go by, the pair meet sporadically on so-called fishing trips in order to spend time together, but Ennis' refusal to leave his wife (Michelle Williams) results in ongoing tension between the pair. Jack can't quit Ennis, though, for better or worse. 

2. Moonlight 

Barry Jenkins' Oscar-winning coming-of-age movie features a reserved and tender romance between Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) and his childhood friend Kevin (André Holland). Bullied in childhood for being perceived as gay, Chiron also struggles with his relationship with his mother, who struggles with addiction, but finds comfort as a teenager in his friendship with Kevin. One night, the pair share an intimate moment on the beach, but teenage bravado prevents anything from progressing further. As an adult, Kevin reaches out to Chiron, and their eventual reunion is a truly beautiful moment. 

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire 

Céline Sciamma's 2019 period drama follows Marianne (Noémie Merlant), an artist sent to a remote French island to act as a companion to aristocrat Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). That's not really why she's there, though –  Héloïse's countess mother has hired her to secretly paint her marriage portrait, which she refuses to sit for. As Marianne spends more and more time with Héloïse, however, a tentative bond starts to form between the pair and romance begins to blossom, all the while with Héloïse's impending marriage hanging over their heads. Set against a backdrop of Brittany coastline, this gorgeous, heartbreaking love story will have you swooning and crying in the same breath.  

Not feeling so romantic? Check out our guide to the best anti-Valentine's Day movies.

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke has some thoughts on who she would cast to play Bella and Edward if Twilight was ever remade. The names on her wish list? Oh, just two of the biggest rising stars today... 

During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the director touched on a possible retelling of the 2008 movie. When asked if Wednesday's Jenna Ortega and Euphoria's Jacob Elordi could play Bella Swan and her vampire lover Edward Cullen respectively, Hardwicke replied, "Oh, that would be perfect." Referencing Elordi specifically, she added: "I mean, he's amazing. He probably would be Edward today."

Although it seems as though Hardwicke was talking about a remake in hypothetical terms, it looks like she has had a much easier time casting the reimagining compared to the original. In celebration of the movie's 15th anniversary, she sat down with Total Film to talk about the making of the iconic teen film and the difficulties the team faced when casting Bella and Edward. "Finding Kristen and Rob was certainly a great challenge," remembered Hardwicke, later mentioning that the team originally wanted Emily Browning and Henry Cavil to play the love-struck pair until she found Kristen Stewart. 

Casting Edward was a lot harder, with the filmmaker having explained: "Edward was this amazing creature that's lived almost 100 years. He's mysterious and Byron-esque, so how do you find this kid? Most of the guys that auditioned looked like a cute guy in your high school and that didn't take it to the level of mystery, intrigue, death, and angst that Edward needed. It was super challenging." 

For now, a remake is not in the works, but a Twilight series is on the way from Lionsgate, although little is known about the project at this stage. 

Twilight is available to rent on Prime Video. For more see our guide on how to watch the Twilight movies in order, or check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond. 

A new trailer for the upcoming movie Anyone But You has been released, and we're digging the classic rom-com vibes.

Ben (Glen Powell) and Bea (Sydney Sweeney) have a great first date, but quickly realize that they can't stand each other. After they unexpectedly end up at a destination wedding, they make a plan to pretend to be the perfect couple to keep up appearances. Ben wants his ex-girlfriend back, and Bea wants to get away from another man on the trip who wants her. It's the perfect plan...right? We love a classic enemies-to-lovers story.

Will Gluck (Easy A, Friends with Benefits) directs from a screenplay penned by himself and Ilana Wolpert (High School Musical: The Musical). The cast includes Alexandra Shipp (Tick, Tick... Boom!), Hadley Robinson (Little Women), Michelle Hurd (Star Trek: Picard), Darren Barnet (Never Have I Ever), Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under), Bryan Brown (Peter Rabbit), rapper GaTa, and romantic comedy icon Dermot Mulroney.

Sweeney is also starring as Spider-Woman in another upcoming Sony pic Madame Web, alongside Dakota Johnson. The actor recently wrapped production on Immaculate, a psychological thriller directed by Michael Mohan, and is currently filming Echo Valley alongside Julianne Moore and Domhnall Gleeson.

Powell both stars in and co-wrote the screenplay for Richard Linklater's action comedy Hit Man, which is set to hit Netflix at a later date. He's also currently filming Twisters, a sequel to the 1996 disaster film Twister, alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Anyone But You hits theaters on December 22, just in time for the Christmas holiday. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond.

Olivia Colman has set her next movie – and she's starring alongside Dev Patel in an, uh, unconventional romance.  

The official logline reads: "On the outskirts of a village by the sea, lives a Fisherwoman (Colman); smelly, single, and perpetually ridiculed. One day, fed up with her stuffy, small-minded neighbors, she commissions herself a husband to be made from wicker (Patel). In an otherwise conservative town, this unconventional romance sparks outrage, jealousy, and chaos." Neither actor is a stranger to offbeat stories, having worked with directors like Yorgos Lanthimos and Wes Anderson between them.

Based on The Wicker Husband, the short story by Ursula Wills-Jones, Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson are directing. The pair previously helmed Save Yourselves!, a sci-fi comedy starring Search Party's John Reynolds and GLOW's Sunita Mani that was released in 2020 and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at that year's Sundance Film Festival. 

Colman has a few other movies in the works, including dark comedy Wicked Little Letters alongside her The Lost Daughter co-star Jessie Buckley, Wonka, and Paddington 3 (officially titled Paddington in Peru). 

Patel, meanwhile, most recently starred in Anderson's Roald Dahl short films on Netflix, and he's set to make his directorial debut with Monkey Man, an action-thriller that he'll also star in. The cast also includes District 9's Sharlto Copley, and John Wick producer Basil Iwanyk is on board behind the scenes.

Wicker doesn't have a release date yet. While we wait, check out our guide to the other biggest upcoming movies on the way in 2023 and beyond.

Sandra Oh wants to return for Princess Diaries 3. The actor played Vice Principal Gupta in the first movie – you might remember her iconic scene that sees her answering the school's phone and learning the queen of Genovia is on the way. 

"I am ready for the queen," Oh told Entertainment Weekly, referencing that moment. "Call me! I'm dying to see how Gupta has moved up in the world."

As for the cultural impact of the scene, Oh isn't quite sure why it's taken off. "I have no idea!" she told the publication. 

"I feel it's like your generation that hit when you were all very young," she added. "I remember it was like 2015, I was walking down the street in Chicago, and there [was] a young person, who at that point in 2015, was not my usual demographic, which was like a college-aged, straight white guy. He passed me and then he ran back up to me and did the line: 'Uh huh. Uh huh. Uh huh. The queen is coming.'"

A third Princess Diaries movie was reported to be in the works back in November 2022, and it's set to be a continuation rather than a reboot. No actors are confirmed to be returning just yet – including Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews – but here's hoping Oh gets to make another appearance. 

The Princess Diaries movies are based on the series of novels by Meg Cabot, and see Mia Thermopolis (played by Hathaway in the films) discover she's actually heir to the throne of Genovia, with her grandmother (Andrews in the movie) the current queen. There's no word just yet on what the third movie might cover. 

While you wait for The Princess Diaries 3, check out our guide to the best movies on Disney Plus to fill out your watchlist. 

When making Carmen, the new romantic drama from French choreographer-turned-director Benjamin Millepied, Melissa Barrera saw the chance to redefine movies about the immigration experience and ran with it – or rather, pas de bourée couru with it. In the movie, which features more dance numbers than it does English-Spanish dialogue, Barrera plays the titular young woman, who runs into Paul Mescal's tortured ex-Marine Aidan while crossing the border between Mexico and the US. 

When her mother is brutally killed by a dangerous drug cartel, Carmen sets a course for Los Angeles in the hopes of reuniting with family friend Masilda (Rossy de Palma) at her soul-soothing La Sombra nightclub. Carmen and Aidan wind up making the long journey together, finding quiet but passionate solace in one another along the way. 

"All of the themes of the movie are so close to my heart. It's a reality that a lot of people are living right now, and they're dehumanized by the media, and are treated like a nuisance," Mexico-born Barrera tells GamesRadar+. "We see all these stories told over and over and over. We've seen them in TV shows and movies, and it's always very tragic and violent. It's always about the danger and how they're poor and dirty, how they're suffering. When I saw that there was going to be a romance involved in this and that there would be dance, and hope, and beauty, I was like, 'Maybe this is a way, like, I don't know… a Trojan horse to talk about it.' You don't even really know that you're watching a story of an immigrant," she continues. "You forget, because of everything that happens, that you are watching this movie about a Mexican immigrant who had to cross the border illegally because her life is in danger.

"I hope that [people] enjoy [Carmen] for the unique piece of art that it is but I also hope that, maybe, it sparks a conversation or two of like, 'wow, that was really beautiful, and at the core of it is a story about immigration'. It's not, like… you don't get to see a lot of it. We don't ever talk about it in the movie, really. You just kind of see it and then, you know, she's on the go. That's it, and that's how it is in life. It's this unspoken monster that's always chasing. But yeah, I think it's a very special and different way of telling a story we've heard so many times."

Accompanied by a moody, majestic score by Nicholas Britell, the musical maestro behind Moonlight, Succession, and more, Carmen, which is loosely based on Prosper Mérimée's 1845 novella of the same name, feels like an extended music video – and that's no criticism, given the innate charisma both Barrera and Mescal possess. At one point during their trek north, Carmen and Aidan stumble across an abandoned fairground, kicking off a dream-like sequence filled with neon lights, tango moves, and backing dancers drifting in and out. It also features, well, no words.

"The first script that I read was very different to the script that we ended up using," Barrera reveals. "In 2018 it was more of a straightforward script but over those next three years, Benjamin just started stripping it. I think Benjamin is such a visionary because the the movie is so intentional, and he made the movie exactly how he wanted. He's such an interesting storyteller that I think a lot of people don't understand. But people that are, you know, dancers specifically, or anyone that's a little bit more emotional really gets it."

Having already appeared in Broadway film adaptation In the Heights, survival series Keep Breathing, and two Scream movies, Barrera isn't afraid of physically demanding roles. As a matter of fact, she seeks them out; admittedly drawn in by the idea that writers and actors don't always have to use speech to express the way a character is feeling on screen. Carmen, however, was perhaps her most challenging of the type yet.

"I like doing things that force me to train in some way, or learn a new skill. [This] was hard for me because I'm playing a character that is supposed to be a natural born dancer. She's just this free, wild, naturally talented person that I am not," she explains. "Finding the balance of me as Melissa working really hard to learn all of these steps and then getting to a point, once I knew everything, of relaxing into them so that it didn't feel like I was doing a complicated bit of choreography was difficult."

It was made even more tricky, too, due to Millepied's love of capturing each dance in one take, as if the actors were performing live on stage. "He choreographs the camera's movements so it's all part of the dance," recalls Barrera. "I personally love oners. When I'm watching a film, when I see a good one, I'm like, 'That's brilliant.' Because it's really hard. But when you're dancing, it's extra hard, especially as a non-dancer. 

"If you make a mistake, you ruin the take or it's going to end up in the movie, you know, because there's no cut around it? There's nowhere to hide," she adds. "That was something that had me very nervous and stressed throughout the whole process. But I think in the end, all the hard work paid off."

While she put pressure on herself, Barrera insists that "collaborative" Millepied, who joined the New York City Ballet when he was 18 years old, never made a fuss over her fumbles. "When I met Benjamin for the first time after I read the script, we just chatted. Then he called me back in and my team was like, 'He wants to see you dance now,'" she remembers. 

"That day I was worried because I was like, 'I hope he doesn't expect me to be any good because he should know that I'm not a trained dancer.' They were like, 'He knows he seen videos of you, it's fine.' And then I went in and immediately felt relaxed because he's not judgmental at all. He's very collaborative and he sees the beauty in everything, even in my mistakes. To him, it made Carmen feel more real and emotional, and he was open to changing certain moves to suit me."

The fact that Mescal, her co-star, was in a similar boat helped, too. Not just to put Barrera at ease, but also with creating a bond between the pair of them that translates on screen. "It was a learning process for both of us and we both kind of felt inadequate in the beginning," she says. "I think because we were on the same journey of like, 'We need to do this together and it's going to be us and so we just became a team and supported each other.'

"I think it really fed the connection that you feel between Carmen and Aidan; their unspoken, almost spiritual thing they have going on. It's meant to feel like they know each other from before, you know? It's meant to feel like they're meant to find each other, from past lives or something. 

"We'd been spending a lot of time together, going out to dinner, talking on FaceTime, freaking out about being in quarantine in Australia," recalls Barrera. "It was a lot of hours of getting to know each other – and the best way that you can get to know a person is in a setting like a dance rehearsal room, because you're getting to know not just their utmost vulnerabilities, but also the way they move, what they do when they're uncomfortable, how they take up space. It all informed us when we got to set. We were like, 'we're in this together.'" Just like Carmen and Aidan.

Carmen, from Dazzler Media, releases in select cinemas on June 2. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies heading our way in 2023 and beyond.

Joaquin Phoenix has set his next project – and he's collaborating with director Todd Haynes on a gay romance set in Los Angeles in the '30s. 

"The next film is a feature that’s an original script that I developed with Joaquin Phoenix based on some thoughts and ideas he brought to me," Haynes told IndieWire. "We basically wrote with him as a story writer. Me and Jon Raymond and Joaquin share the story credit. And we hope to be shooting it beginning early next year. It’s a gay love story set in 1930s LA."

Jon Raymond is an author and screenwriter who previously worked on Haynes' HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce and the scripts for several Kelly Reichardt movies, including First Cow and Meek's Cutoff. The director added, "Joaquin was pushing me further and going, 'No, let’s go further.' This will be an NC-17 film."

Haynes is no stranger to queer romance, having directed Carol, which starred Cate Blanchett and Phoenix's real-life partner Rooney Mara. His latest film, May December, recently premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival and stars Natalie Portman as an actor who travels to the home of a real-life woman, played by Julianne Moore, who she's set to portray in a film.

Phoenix, who most recently starred in Ari Aster's latest movie, Beau is Afraid, has several other upcoming projects in the works – he'll play the titular character in Ridley Scott's Napoleon Bonaparte biopic, as well as reprising the title role in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the 2019 movie that earned him an Oscar. 

While we wait for Phoenix and Haynes' next movie to arrive on the big screen, check out our picks of the other best upcoming movies on the way in 2023 and beyond. 

Bridgerton prequel Queen Charlotte has hit Netflix – and critics are calling it the best of the franchise yet. 

The new show follows a young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio in the past and Golda Rosheuvel in the present timeline) and her arranged marriage to King George III (Corey Mylchreest), as well as depicting the Great Experiment, AKA the reason the world of Bridgerton is so diverse. The cast includes Michelle Fairley, Adjoa Andoh, Arsema Thomas, and Ruth Gemmell, with Julie Andrews back as the voice of Lady Whistledown. 

Reviews for the new Bridgerton show have been mostly glowing, with critics praising the central love story and the performance of Amarteifio as the young queen. We've rounded up a selection of reviews below to give you an idea on the verdict (and it's all spoiler free, so you can read whether you've seen the new show or not). 

Variety – Alison Herman

"Queen Charlotte Is the Best Bridgerton Yet… In the hands of the master [Shonda Rhimes] who gave us Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, the Bridgerton universe becomes the best version of itself: a sexy, escapist love story with a maturity and substance that only adds to its eroticism. Bridgerton was already a phenomenon. It still takes Queen Charlotte to unlock the premise's full potential."

The Guardian – 4/5 – Lucy Mangan

"The series is a rare exception to the rule of prequels (generally substantially worse than the originals and undermining all previous endeavours) and will hopefully set many of its younger stars on the road to success. Amarteifio does especially well, shouldering the bulk of the show's burdens and showing in embryo all of the Charlotte we know. But it's with an innocent energy and unjaded intelligence that shows us something new too. Oh, and there's plenty of sex throughout. Enjoy."

The Hollywood Reporter – Angie Han

"Inherent to Queen Charlotte is the tension between the cotton-candy fantasy that's made Bridgerton so beloved with the thornier ground already laid out for the central couple by the core series (and real-life history). And while the series doesn't always land on a perfect balance between the two, the challenge ultimately yields a spin-off that's richer and more complex than the flagship series, but no less delectable in its romance."

AV Club – C – Mary Kate Carr

"This series wants to be many things: a rumination on different forms of widowhood and sexuality for older women, a drama about balancing duty with passion, an exploration of social issues through a semi-historical lens, and a coming-of-age and coming-to-power tale for young women raised in a society that would reject them. There may be a version of this show that can do it all, but not in just six episodes. (NB: The streamers' preference for abbreviated seasons is one of the issues at stake in the Writers Guild of America strike.) Bridgerton fans will likely find Queen Charlotte breezy, sexy fun, but any attempt to go deeper sadly comes up short."

The Independent – 4/5 – Nicole Vassell

"With classical renditions of pop hits aplenty and no shortage of steamy bedroom romps, Queen Charlotte delivers everything a Bridgerton fan could want, with touches of social commentary that feel refreshing, rather than preachy. If this series is an indicator, the Bridgerton-verse will continue to top the Netflix ratings – and for good reason."

Entertainment Weekly – B+ – Kristen Baldwin

"There are lavish balls and passionate love scenes; luxurious period fashions and poignant personal tragedy. It could all feel very Bridgerton Lite, but Rhimes – who writes or co-writes five of the six episodes – uses the prequel to explore deeper issues than just romance and heartache. On Bridgerton, the integrated 'ton is a novelty, the origins of which are barely discussed. Queen Charlotte reveals the struggle that came first, as Lady Danbury and her peers scramble and strategize to secure the equality they deserve."

Queen Charlotte is streaming on Netflix now. If you're up to date, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best Netflix shows. 

Heartstopper season 2 is coming this summer.

Netflix has set a premiere date of August 3, along with a short video from the cast of what fans and viewers can expect.

Based on the popular graphic novel by Alice Oseman, the British coming-of-age series about teen friendship and young love follows Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) who are forced to sit together in class. The pair begin to form a friendship – and something more for Charlie, who develops a crush on Nick.

Season 2 sees Nick and Charlie navigate their new relationship; Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) face unforeseen challenges, while Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney) work out if they can ever be more than just friends. Per the official synopsis, "With exams on the horizon, a school trip to Paris, and a prom to plan, the gang has a lot to juggle as they journey through the next stages of life, love, and friendship."

The cast also includes Sebastian Croft, Tobie Donovan, Rhea Norwood, Jenny Walser, Cormac Hyde-Corrin, and Olivia Colman.

Season 1, written and developed by Oseman, has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and reached No. 1 in over 54 countries, prompting the streamer to renew the rom-com for a second and third season. Oseman will return to write season 2 and 3, with a fifth installment of the graphic novel having been released earlier this year.

While we wait for Heartstopper season 2 to hit Netflix, check out our list of the best Netflix shows that you can watch right now.

Stephenie Meyer's best-selling book series Twilight is getting its own TV show, more than a decade after the fifth and final film installment premiered in theaters.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Twilight TV series is still in the very early stages of development, and as such doesn't yet have a writer attached. Lionsgate Television, which owns the rights to the franchise, reportedly plans to head up development on the series before looking around for a home network or platform. The first order of business, however, is finding a writer to adapt the books for TV.

THR's sources say Meyer is expected to be involved in some capacity, but it's unclear to what degree. Wyck Godfrey and former Lionsgate exec Erik Feig, who bought the rights to the Twilight books while he was at Summit Entertainment, will both executive produce the small screen adapt.

The story of Twilight spans four novels, two companion novels, a novella, and five feature-length movies, but if you aren't familiar, it focuses on Bella Swan, a high-schooler who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the moody forest town of Forks, Washington, where she falls in love with a 100-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen. A central conflict is set up when Jacob Black, a member of a family of werewolves, develops feelings for Bella and she's left to choose between her friendship with Jacob and her romantic relationship with Edward.

There's no release window for the Twilight series just yet.

For what to watch now, why not catch up on the best TV shows of 2022?

Netflix’s new steamy drama series Obsession stars Richard Armitage as a surgeon who starts an affair with his son’s fiancée Anna (played by Charlie Murphy). However, when their romance blossoms into an obsession, it begins to impact all areas of their lives. 

Reviews for the new show have been pretty mixed so far, but the series has been proving popular on the streaming chart. Despite its low Rotten Tomatoes score, it’s comfortably sitting in Netflix’s Top 10 most-watched series. 

So whether you loved it and are looking to watch some similar steamy shows, or you loathed it and are instead hoping to explore other series in the genre, you’re in the right place. We’ve compiled a list of five shows that you might enjoy next, as well as sharing where you can stream them now.

Sex/Life

Where to watch: Netflix

Sex/Life was one of the first raunchy dramas to hit the streaming platform, paving the way for more genre-based shows on Netflix. The first season focuses on Billie Mann (played by Sarah Shahi) who lives in suburban Connecticut with her family. Feeling unfulfilled by her family life, she begins to fantasize about her ex-boyfriend Brad Simon (Adam Demos). While it leans less into the thriller elements of Obsession, the show explores intimacy and romance in many of the same ways. There are two seasons in total of the show, with the second being announced as the final outing soon after it aired. 

Anatomy of a Scandal

Where to watch: Netflix

British drama Anatomy of a Scandal shares some tonal similarities with Obsession as a tense limited series. Based on the novel by Sarah Vaughan, the Sienna Miller-led drama follows the story of Sophie Whitehouse whose husband is embroiled in a political and emotional scandal. The six-part drama also stars Michelle Dockery, Rupert Friend, and Naomi Scott.

The Affair

Where to watch: Showtime/Now

The Affair set the groundwork for a complex, intimate, and tense take on an extramarital relationship. The series ran for five seasons from 2014 until 2019 on Showtime and starred Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, and Joshua Jackson. Exploring the emotional effects of the relationship, each episode told the events from different perspectives. Several time jumps and dramatic twists take place during the series too, which heads in some interesting directions as it continues into the later seasons. 

Tell Me Lies

Where to watch: Hulu/Disney Plus

Tell Me Lies tackles the complications an intense physical attraction can cause in this 10-part drama. Set across eight years of their lives, the series focuses on Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco from when they first met at college. Things get increasingly tense as their tumultuous and intoxicating relationship begins to impact all aspects of their own lives as well as those around them. Created by Meaghan Oppenheimer and starring Grace Van Patten and Jackson White, the show is well-rated too with an 86% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Normal People

Where to watch: (Hulu/BBC)

On the surface, Normal People doesn’t share many similarities to erotic thriller Obsession. However, its artful handling of intimacy and sex is one of the best explorations in recent years. The show is based on Sally Rooney’s beloved novel of the same name and tells the story of Marianne and Connell from when they first met as teenagers up until the beginning of their adult lives. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal lead the cast of the tender and moving adaptation.

For what else to stream, check out our guides to the best Netflix shows and the best Netflix movies.

Netflix is no longer moving forward with Nancy Meyers' next big rom-com, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie, which was said to be eyeing the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Owen Wilson, and Michael Fassbender to star, would've been The Holiday helmer's first feature-length directing project in almost a decade.

The decision was made, allegedly, after Meyers and the streaming service couldn't settle on a budget that suited both parties, with the former requesting at least $150 million and the platform offering $130 million. $80 million of the proposed budget was to be split between Meyers and the cast.

While either figure would've made the flick, which has been known up until now as Paris Paramount, the most expensive romantic comedy ever made, it's worth noting that Netflix has footed much higher bills for titles such as The Gray Man and Red Notice, which both reportedly cost around $200 million.

Originally announced in April 2022, Paris Paramount was geared up to be semi-autobiographical on Meyers' part, as it charted the rollercoaster relationship of a young writer-director and a producer, who fall in and out of love with one another while regularly crossing paths in Hollywood. Meyers, who has two children with producer Charles Shyer, was on board to write, direct, and produce the project. Her filmography includes It's Complicated, The Parent Trap, Something's Gotta Give, and The Intern.

For more, check out our breakdown of the best Netflix movies available to stream now or our list of the most exciting upcoming movies coming our way across 2023 and beyond.

James Cameron has revealed the results of his scientific study on Titanic – and it turns out Jack might have been able to survive after all. The debate over whether Leonardo DiCaprio's character could've fit on that floating raft alongside Kate Winslet's Rose has raged for years, but these new revelations might finally lay the argument to rest once and for all. 

In the first look at the National Geographic documentary Titanic: 25 Years Later with James Cameron, we see the outcome of a series of tests that involved getting stunt performers physically matching DiCaprio and Winslet and putting them in a seriously cold pool. 

In one case, they both manage to get on the raft together, but it leaves them partially submerged in the icy water, meaning Jack still would've been doomed. But, when both performers manage to get their upper bodies above the waterline, the Jack performer starts to shiver. "Out of the water, that violent shaking was helping him," Cameron says. "Projecting it out, he could've made it pretty long, like hours." 

However, in that scenario, neither performer was as exhausted as Jack and Rose would have been – after all, they'd been on board the sinking Titanic for a considerable amount of time by that point, running up and down the decks, wading through the rising water, getting shot at, and finally clinging to the stern as it plunged into the freezing Atlantic. 

For one last test, the stunt performers re-enact the moment Jack saves Rose from someone who almost drowns her. Then, once both performers are on the raft, "Rose" hands Jack her life jacket as insulation. In that case, again, they both might last until the lifeboat returns looking for survivors. 

"Jack might've lived," Cameron says. "But there's a lot of variables. I think his thought process was, 'I'm not going to do one thing that jeopardizes her,' and that's a hundred percent in character.'" 

Jack is very committed to Rose's safety in the movie, so we have to agree that it seems extremely unlikely that he would've accepted her life jacket – or even attempted to get on the raft a second time, as, in the film, the first time he tries to join Rose, the raft tips upwards and dumps them both back in the fatally cold water. 

Titanic is headed back to theaters to celebrate the movie's 25th anniversary from February 10, while the National Geographic documentary will be released on February 5. In the meantime, check out our roundup of all of 2023's upcoming major movie release dates to plan the rest of the year's theater trips. 

Netflix has announced plans to adapt queer YA novel They Both Die at the End – with Bridgerton's Chris Van Dusen and Bad Bunny are producing.

Written by Adam Silvera, the best-selling book, which was published in 2017, centers on Mateo Torrez, a socially anxious Puerto Rican boy, and Rufus Emeterio, a street-smart Cuban kid, who connect via an app called Last Friend after they both learn that they only have one day to live. Determined to enjoy their final 24 hours to the fullest, the unlikely duo set off an adventure, striking up a sweet romance along the way. A prequel, The First to Die at the End, was released in late 2022.

Silvera shared news of the adaptation on Instagram, posting a screenshot of Deadline's exclusive write-up alongside the caption: "Mateo and Rufus are getting closer to being brought to life for TV, and I'm hyped." 

Yellowjackets executive producer Drew Comins and eOne are also on board.

Latin trap artist Bad Bunny, aka Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, is best known for his music career, though he recently moved over to the world of film and TV, appearing in Fast & Furious 9 and opposite Brad Pitt in action-comedy thriller Bullet Train. He'll next be seen on screen in El Muerto, an upcoming title in Sony's Spider-Man franchise.

Outside of Bridgerton, Van Dusen has worked on titles such as Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, The Catch, and Scandal. 

As it stands, there's no word on when They Both Die at the End might reach Netflix, but we'll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, check out our guide to the most exciting new TV shows coming our way in 2022 and beyond.

Love Actually writer-director Richard Curtis says he feels "a bit stupid" over the lack of diversity among the Christmas movie's cast.

While appearing on the film's 20th anniversary special on ABC News, Curtis said he's glad "society is changing". and that while it's expected a title he made in 2003 would "feel out of date" in moments, the fact that it's a predominantly white production still "makes [him] feel uncomfortable".

"There are things you'd change," he admitted to The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later host Diane Sawyer (via Entertainment Weekly), before going on to acknowledge the fact that many of the romantic storylines had complicated power dynamics at play, too. "You know, I think there are sort of three plots that have sort of bosses and people who work for them."

Elsewhere in the programme, which also features interviews with actors Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Olivia Olson, Hugh Grant, who plays prime minister David in the beloved flick, joked that even though the film "is a bit psychotic" in places, Curtis made it with good intentions.

"The thing is with him, what you have to remember is when he writes about love, he means it," the Notting Hill actor said. "That is quite rare. It comes from the heart – it's true. I did drunkenly watch a bit of Love Actually a few months ago with my wife, and she was the one who said, 'Oh look, it's all about pain; it's all about suffering.'"

The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later aired on ABC on November 29. As it stands, it has not yet announced a UK release date, but there's every chance it might eventually make its way to Disney Plus once it lands on Hulu as planned in the US. For more festive fun, check out our list of the best Christmas movies of all time.

The Princess Diaries is reportedly returning with a third film at Disney. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Reacher and Quantum Leap writer Aadrita Mukerji has been brought in to script a sequel to the Anne Hathaway-led franchise.

This will be a continuation of the film series rather than a reboot. And although Hathaway doesn't yet have a deal to return, the Oscar-winner has previously shared her hopes for a third film in the beloved franchise.

She told Entertainment Tonight in October 2022: "I would more than entertain it, I'm pulling for it. If there's any way to get Julie Andrews involved, I think we would make it work. We would go to where she was and put a green screen behind her and just make it happen."

The Princess Diaries was first released in 2001 and follows American teenager Mia Thermopolis as she finds out she is the heir to the throne of Genovia. Starring Hathaway and Julie Andrews, the first movie charts Mia's culture shock as she deals with her new responsibilities. 

The second movie, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, came out in 2004 and saw Mia return to Genovia after graduating from High School. However, she soon finds out that in order to maintain her royal status, she must marry. Most of the original cast returned for the sequel with Chris Pine joining as Lord Nicholas Devereaux in his film debut.

While we wait for more news on the yet-to-be-titled third installment, check out our guide to the most anticipated movie release dates this year and beyond.

The first trailer for Netflix's new period romance Lady Chatterley's Lover is here. Set against a moody backdrop of early 20th Century English countryside, Emma Corrin plays the titular Lady, while Jack O'Connell is the lover. The trailer hints at the pair's risky affair and a sexual awakening that was taboo at the time.

Based on D.H. Lawrence's classic – and ahead of its time – novel of the same name, Lady Chatterley's Lover follows the life of Connie, a wealthy woman who finds herself married to a man she doesn't love and engages in a passionate affair with a gamekeeper on her new husband's estate. 

The movie was directed by French actor and filmmaker Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre from a script by screenwriter David Magee and also stars Matthew Duckett, Joely Richardson, Ella Hunt, and Faye Marsay.

First published in 1929, Lawrence's book wasn't openly published in the UK until 1960 and it was banned for obscenity in the US, Canada, Australia, India, and Japan because of its frank descriptions of sex.

Corrin is best known for their role as Princess Diana in The Crown season 4 (a role that's been taken over by Elizabeth Debicki for The Crown season 5) and they also star alongside Harry Styles in My Policeman, another historical romance movie that's coming to Prime Video on November 4. 

Lady Chatterley's Lover arrives in select theaters on November 25, before releasing on Netflix on December 2. While we wait, check out our picks of the best Netflix movies that you can stream right now.

Bridgerton season 3 part 1 is now out on streaming with four new episodes for fans to enjoy. However, if you're anything like us and you've already binged them all, you'll be wanting to know exactly when the show will be back for more. We've got four more episodes left in season 3, and based on that cliffhanger, there is a lot left to resolve. 

Below, we get into exactly what goes down in part 1 with Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), as we give you all the details about the Netflix hit's impending return. We've also got release dates, cast news, and the latest quotes from those involved too. Get your quills ready, we're heading back to Regency London.

Bridgerton season 3 release date 

Bridgerton season 3 part 2 will be released on June 13, a month after the first episodes arrived on May 16.

Bridgerton season 3 trailer

The full Bridgerton season 3 trailer is out above, but if you're looking for a specific part 2 trailer, you'll be waiting a little while longer for that to come online. It is, however, available to watch at the end of part 1 on Netflix.

"Colin is engaged to Penelope Featherington," Hyacinth beams as we see the family's first reactions to the news. However, it seems not everyone is so thrilled... Eloise warns Penelope that she must tell Colin the truth about her being Lady Whistledown, or she herself will reveal it. Not only this, but the Queen has issued a reward for the gossiper's identity too. It seems like time is running out for dear Pen...

Bridgerton season 3 plot

Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn's series of eight books, following each of the eight siblings as they find love. The first part of season 3 follows the storyline of Pen's and Colin's book reasonably closely. Following on from their fallout in season 2, the third season begins as the pair reconcile when Pen decides she needs to find a husband to get out from under her family's thumb. 

She enlists Colin's help, and it works pretty well when she attracts the attention of some suitors. However, Whistledown soon outs her plan, leaving her pushed back into the shadows. One evening, Colin comes to visit her and she asks him for a kiss, fearing she may never be kissed if not. He obliges, and it changes everything for Colin who soon finds he cannot stop thinking about her.

Meanwhile, though, Penelope has begun being courted by Lord Debling, who plans to propose to her. On the eve of the ball, Colin shows up and tries to win Pen over, resulting in Debling becoming concerned about their attachment to each other. Pen leaves the ball in tears, getting into a carriage home, only to be pursued by Colin. He admits his feelings for her and things get pretty heated. Bridgerton season 3 part 1 ends with Colin proposing to her. 

Based on the first trailer, it seems part 2 will pick up right from here. However, it seems Pen's secret will hold her back. As both the Queen and Eloise try to force her to reveal she's Lady Whistledown, our heroine looks very overwhelmed. Not good at all for wedded bliss...

Bridgerton season 3 cast

There's been some casting shake-ups in Bridgerton season 3. Netflix confirmed that Francesca Bridgerton had been recast as original star Ruby Stokes had to leave the show. This came after being cast as the lead in Netflix series Lockwood & Co. She's been replaced by Anatomy of a Scandal and Eternals star Hannah Dodd. Daphne star Phoebe Dynevor also doesn't star in the latest season.

As for the rest of the cast, here's who is back:

• Luke Newton - Colin Bridgerton
• Nicola Coughlan - Penelope Featherington
• Jonathan Bailey - Anthony Bridgerton
• Simone Ashley - Kate Bridgerton
• Luke Newton - Benedict Bridgerton
• Ruth Gemmell - Violet Bridgerton
• Golda Rosheuvel - Queen Charlotte,
• Adjoa Andoh - Agatha
• Julie Andrews - Lady Whistledown
• Daniel Francis - Marcus Anderson
• Sam Phillips - Lord Debling
• James Phoon - Harry Dankworth
• Hannah New - Lady Tilley Arnold

While we wait for more information on Bridgerton season 3 part 2, why not check out our list of best Netflix shows to watch right now.

Netflix’s latest foray into romantic drama From Scratch is all about a whirlwind romance in Italy. The mini-series follows Amy (Saldaña) as she takes time out before law school to study art in Florence. Here, she meets and falls in love with a Sicilian chef called Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea).

However, what starts as a love story turns into something more poignant when Lino faces health issues and the couple must rely on their families to navigate a turbulent time. Attica Locke co-created the series with her sister Tembi Locke, whose memoir it’s based on. 

The series, released on October 21, is already climbing up Netflix’s Top 10 lists. In the UK it currently sits at three, while it’s at two in the US, with official Netflix figures showing it racked up 32 million hours viewed in its first three days. The show hasn’t just been popular with viewers either, with critical praise meaning it currently sits at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

"Zoe Saldana and Danielle Deadwyler elevate the material beyond being Hallmark Channel fluff," writes Decider’s Meghan O'Keefe. "From Scratch is a dreamy, steamy, tearjerker that is the epitome of escapism."

TV Guide’s Maggie Fremont praised the lead actors, writing: "In lesser hands, these two characters could easily become over-the-top or melodramatic, but Saldaña and Mastrandrea hit all the emotional notes over the decade or so Amy and Lino are together – the sexiness, the bickering, the deep love, the anger, the heartbreak – at just the right pitch."

Variety’s Caroline Framke called it a "swoony romance" that evolves into "a heartrending story of loss and resilience". "There’s a version of this tale that could focus on the whirlwind nature of it all (and obvious Aperol sponsorship)," she writes. "It could simply emphasize the romance of two people from completely different cultures and backgrounds doing their best to make it work. But even before tragedy befalls them, director Nzingha Stewart takes the time to highlight both the beauty and the bittersweet moments lying in between."

"As a portrait of a late love, From Scratch is about as fond as they come," says The Hollywood Reporter’s Angie Han. "Sincere adoration radiates from every scene, enveloping its central couple and their loved ones even in moments of strife or struggle. The Netflix miniseries comes across as the work of someone savoring their dearest memories."

M.N. Miller of Ready Steady Cut writes: "From Scratch is the kind of elevated romantic escapism that’s difficult to create and too easily dismissed. Seasoned with moments of wonderful humor, beautiful romance, and a few gut punches along the way."

If a romance isn't what you're after, check out our guides to the best Netflix shows and best Netflix movies for what to stream next.

"I thought of Taylor because I’d seen her incredible performance in Trey Shults’ Waves, and I asked to talk to her," Luca Guadagnino remembers. The Call Me By Your Name director's talking to Total Film about Bones & All, his latest feature starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet, in the new issue of the magazine, featuring Enola Holmes 2 on the cover.

"During the call," he continues, "I found out about this beautiful person that is Taylor, and her cunning intelligence. And then after a few days, I called her back, and I said, ‘If you want the role, it’s yours.’ I knew that both people were going to be fantastic on screen together. As long as I am intuitive and I know things like that, I feel that I will be able to perform as a filmmaker. The second I realize that my instincts are not, anymore, strong, then I will retire.”

Thankfully, we're still some way off Guadagnino calling it quits: Bones & All has won rave reviews, with Russell and Chalamet being acclaimed for their performances as two cannibals who fall in love. Originally a YA novel by Camille DeAngelis, what’s described on the page when translated to celluloid can be gory, grubby, and potentially off-putting, as the two crouch bloodily over bodies – ripping, gnawing flesh. It seems a world away from the sun-dappled Italian countryside, torrid romance, and dreamy visuals of Call Me By Your Name. Not so, says the filmmaker.

"Call Me By Your Name has been, for me, very much about the transmission of knowledge. As much as it is about the ‘being born of desire’ in Elio," Guadagnino says. "Elio learns from people. He learns from the father, he learns from the mother. And in this case, I think it’s about the impossibility of the transmission of knowledge within the parameters of such a violent life, and the kind of brutality of the disenfranchised of the Reagan era. I don’t think the subject matter is cannibalism, honestly. It’s loneliness, abandonment, being different, looking for companionship, being left behind. Those were the dynamics I was interested in. I am not there to judge or speculate on something. I am there to tell the story of that person."

• Subscribe to Total Film and make sure you never miss another exclusive first-look

You can read more from the team behind Bones & All - which hits UK cinemas on November 23 - in the new issue of Total Film when it hits stands (and digital devices) this Thursday, October 13. The issue also features our in-depth interviews with the Enola Holmes 2 cast, along with a career retrospective with Daniel Radcliffe and features on The Banshees of Inisherin and Bill Nighy's Living.

And if you’re a fan of Total Film, why not subscribe so that you never miss an issue? You’ll have it delivered to your door before it’s in shops, you’ll save money on the cover price, and you’ll get exclusive subscriber-only covers. Plus, with the current offer you can get a free pair of EarFun headphones worth £55. Head to MagazinesDirect to find out more (Ts and Cs apply).

New Netflix movie Purple Hearts has entered the top 10 most watched movies of all time on the streamer – despite unfavorable reviews and competition in the form of ultra-high budget The Gray Man.

Purple Hearts stars Nicholas Galitzine as a Marine named Luke and Sofia Carson as an aspiring singer called Cassie. The duo have polar opposite political views, but get married for the military benefits. Disaster strikes when Luke is injured in action. As Cassie helps him recover, real feelings begin to develop between them. 

The film has become the seventh most watched Netflix movie of all time, beating The Irishman, The Kissing Booth 2, and The Unforgivable. It didn't manage to best The Gray Man, though, which is the fourth most popular Netflix film. Purple Hearts has a low 29% Critics Score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a massive 70% Audience Score.

"But fealty to an obvious opposites-attract formula doesn’t itself ruin the film. Rather, it's that it lacks any real spark between characters we're meant to root for, compounded by utterly facile political discussions in which she repeatedly capitulates to his point of view, while a number of scenes that are key to the plot happen entirely off screen," says Luke Y. Thompson of AV Club. "In a Claire Denis movie, perhaps, that's a bold and deliberate choice. In one that's a showcase for Sofia Carson and broad, pandering flag-waving, it's either financial corner-cutting or creative laziness."

Bust's Margo Moran also sees problems with the movie: "There's nothing wrong with feel-good entertainment that may not reinvent the wheel, that makes audiences smile and feel content with a cozy happy ending. There is, however, A LOT wrong with Purple Hearts."

But others are finding things to love about the movie. "Purple Hearts tackles everything from differing political opinions to the broken healthcare system to show that we are more alike than we are different," writes Kristen Maldonado of Pop Culture Planet. "Carson and Galitzine have magnetic chemistry together, with complicated yet satisfying character development and story arcs leading into their romance. I literally ugly cried through the entire movie."

"You have to have a heart of stone not to love this film," reads one viewer's review. "Simple plot expertly delivered." Another watcher has equally high praise: "A movie that has a great storyline and makes you want a second movie is the best kind! I'm not a crier and I'm not a big fan of romantic movie but wow!!! Loved this one!"

Purple Hearts knocked The Gray Man off Netflix's weekly top 10 just eight days after the Russo brothers-directed actioner released, and in August Purple Hearts had the highest weekly viewing figure of a 2022 Netflix movie so far. 

You can stream Purple Hearts on Netflix now, or fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best Netflix movies. 

The first trailer for Sam Mendes' Empire of Light is here – and it's got Oscar noms written all over it.

Set in a 1980s English seaside town, Empire of Light is a love story that doubles as a love letter to the magic of cinema – as it takes place at a movie theater frequented by Hillary (Olivia Colman), Stephen (Micheal Ward), and Norman (Toby Jones). The film also stars Tom Brooke, Tanya Moodie, Hannah Onslow, Crystal Clarke, and Colin Firth as Mr. Ellis.

Sam Mendes won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Director back in 2000 for his directorial debut, American Beauty. Mendes would go on to Road to Perdition, starring Paul Newman in his final on-screen role, the Jake Gyllenhaal-led war drama Jarhead, Revolutionary Road, and the James Bond installments Skyfall and Spectre. 1917, a war film inspired by World War I stories told to Mendes by his grandfather Alfred, earned 10 nominations at the 2020 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, taking home Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Sound Mixing. Mendes is set to receive the Ebert Director Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

Empire of Light is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, before going on to screen at the BFI London Film Festival Gala in October. The movie will make its theatrical debut in the United States on December 9, 2022.

For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2022 and beyond.

Netflix has a new number one movie. Look Both Ways is a romcom starring Lili Reinhart as Natalie, a woman whose life diverges into parallel realities after having sex with her friend Gabe (Danny Ramirez). In one, she’s an expectant mother. In another, the pregnancy test is negative – and Natalie continues building her career.

Netflix viewers have fallen head over heels in love with the premise – and have taken to social media to share their opinions on the surprise hit.

"Look Both Ways was one of the most beautiful movies I've seen in a while. It had an amazing message, made my heart feel warm, and I even shed a tear. I highly recommend it for people looking for something to watch on Netflix," a viewer said on Twitter. Another said, "Look Both Ways on Netflix is so uniquely amazing. It just shows that no matter where life takes you, you'll be okay. Such a beautiful movie, 10/10."

"Look Both Ways movie on Netflix feels like the most heartwarming movie I’ve seen this year or in a while," said one. "Look Both Ways on Netflix is so important," declared another viewer during the movie’s first weekend on the streaming service.

Star Lili Reinhart was also the focus of praise. "It has some of the best acting I’ve EVER seen in a Netflix movie," one wrote. "Lili Reinhart ate it up." Another added, "I just watched Look Both Ways on Netflix and not only is Lili Reinhart an extremely talented actress, the movie itself is something that I really needed right now. My heart is happy."

Some, however, have pointed to Look Both Ways’ parallel realities of pregnant/not pregnant as a "cop out".

"Look Both Ways on Netflix could’ve been a powerful story about a woman’s life diverging into two timelines: where she gets an abortion and where she doesn’t, rather than the cop-out that it is, where she’s pregnant and where she isn’t. It’s not just twee, it’s a disservice," writer Sarah Haque said on Twitter.

Look Both Ways is now streaming. For more from the streamer, check out the best Netflix movies you should be watching right now.

Harry Styles is set to tackle his first leading role in My Policeman, sharing the screen with Peaky Blinders' David Dawson and The Crown's Emma Corrin in an adaptation of Bethan Roberts' book of the same name. 

The drama, which will release on Prime Video on November 4 following a limited run in cinemas, is set to feature two timelines. Predominantly, it'll be set in 1950s Brighton, where copper Tom Burgess (Styles) strikes up a romance with teacher Marion (Corrin). Their relationship proves conflicting for Tom, however, due to his affections for museum curator Patrick (Dawson). 

In the latest Total Film magazine, director Michael Grandage reflected on casting the trio, and how it was always a given that their more mature counterparts would be played by different actors. Below, you can check out an exclusive new image of the younger threesome in My Policeman, as featured in the new issue.

In it, Tom, Marion, and Patrick, all dolled up, can be seen entering a swanky venue. Judging by the happy looks on their faces, they're attending some sort of fancy soirée – but given the complicated nature of their relationships, the smiles aren't likely to last.

In the 1990s, trinity are brought to life by Linus Roache, Gina McKee, and Rupert Everett, as their lives become intertwined once again when grown-up Patrick suffers a stroke.

"What is fascinating is, it never, ever came up," Grandage tells Teasers, when we ask if age make-up or digital trickery was considered for the characters' older selves. "It was always clearly written for the idea of two very separate periods of time. And what's fascinating to me is that I couldn't even have conceived [doing it another way], because I don't think we are the same person 40 years later. I'm certainly not. [The film] tries to really investigate how we go on emotional, intellectual journeys over 40 years.

For Grandage, it was essential that the film proved as informative as it did moving – illuminating what it meant to have lived during a time when being gay was not only socially frowned upon but actually illegal. "Particularly in the current climate, now that we know what may happen in America, in the light of Roe v Wade being overturned..." says Grandage. "I think there is a danger for the first time in my life that we could now be going back a little, and this film comes at a point where I think it can be quite educative."

• Subscribe to Total Film and never miss another exclusive

For much more from the cast and crew behind the movie check out the new issue of Total Film, which also features articles on The Woman King, Black Adam, and more.

The magazine reaches shelves on August 18 and will be available to order through this link. Or subscribe and never miss an issue again and receive magazines with exclusive cover images and insider secrets. My Policeman reaches select US theaters on October 21, before being released on Prime Video on November 4.

Stranger Things has been dethroned by Virgin River on the US Netflix chart. The California-set romance drama reached the top spot following the release of its fourth season on July 20. 

According to a report published by Variety, Virgin River season 4 was viewed for 105.4 million hours compared to Stranger Thing 4's 75 million. Since its latest chapter landed on the streaming service on May 27, the latter has occupied the number one slot every week bar one, when The Umbrella Academy season 3 took over towards the end of June. Stranger Things swiftly reclaimed its title when it released its two-part season 4 finale on July 1.

"Despite not knowing whether her baby belongs to her deceased husband, Mark, or Jack, Mel has a sense of optimism. For years she yearned to be a mother, and her dream is one step closer to reality," the synopsis for Virgin River's newest installment reads. "While Jack is supportive and excited, the question of paternity continues to gnaw at him."

Elsewhere, Hope is still healing from the brain injury she sustained from the car accident, Brie finds herself growing closer with Mike, and Preacher strikes up a romance while still hoping he'll reunite with Christopher and Paige.

Over on the movie chart, the Russo Brothers' action flick The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, looks to have beaten out all competition. One of the platform's most expensive movies to date, the film was viewed for 88.6 million hours during its first three days of availability after premiering on July 22. Just a few days after its release, Netflix confirmed that a sequel and a spin-off are in development.

Watched all of the above and aren't sure what to tune into next? Check out our list of the best Netflix shows available to stream now for some viewing inspiration.

Dakota Johnson has opened up about problems filming Fifty Shades of Grey. The film was released in 2015 and was followed by sequels Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. The series focuses on the relationship between Johnson's Anastasia Steele, a college graduate, and Jamie Dornan's Christian Grey, a wealthy businessman. 

"I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making," Johnson told Vanity Fair, explaining difficulties arose from a "combo" of factors – including the books' author E. L. James. 

"She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen," Johnson said. "There were parts of the books that just wouldn't work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn't work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always. When I auditioned for that movie, I read a monologue from Persona and I was like, 'Oh, this is going to be really special.'"

Johnson revealed that she, director Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Dornan made attempts to include elements of the original script, worked on by Patrick Marber, which James scrapped after original Christian Grey actor Charlie Hunman dropped out of the project. "We'd do the takes of the movie that Erika [James] wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make," she said. "The night before, I would rewrite scenes with the old dialogue so I could add a line here and there. It was like mayhem all the time." According to Johnson, one scene from that script ended up in the film, which sees Anastasia and Christian negotiate their relationship contract. "And it's the best scene in the whole movie," she commented. 

Still, though, Johnson doesn't regret the experience. "No. I don't think it's a matter of regret. If I had known…" she said. "If I had known at the time that's what it was going to be like, I don't think anyone would've done it. It would've been like, 'Oh, this is psychotic.' But no, I don't regret it."

Johnson can next be seen in Netflix's Persuasion, which releases this July 8. Until then, check out our roundup of the best Netflix movies streaming now to fill out your watchlist. 

Bridgerton season 3 finally has its leads as Netflix confirms the third outing will focus on Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington’s love story. This is a divergence from the books written by Julia Quinn – on which the series is based – as these feature Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) story as the third romance. 

The news was announced at Netflix’s FYSEE event by Penelope star Nicola Coughlan. Speaking to Netflix's Tudum beforehand, she explained finding out the news during a phone call with season 3 showrunner Jess Brownell ahead of the second season.

"I feel like if you see Penelope fawning over this boy for another season, you’ll be like, 'Get it together! Come on, move on and get over it,'" Coughlan said. "Jess has talked to Luke and I through the season, and I think people are going to be really obsessed. I think book fans are going to be happy."

Luke Newton, who plays Colin in the show, also shared his excitement about the casting news. He said: "I love Polin. There's so much love for that relationship. Which brings its pressures because there are people that are really excited about this story to come to the forefront – but also it really warms me."

Coughlan also shared the update with her fans on Instagram. Posting an image of her and her co-star Newton, she wrote: "Like Lady Whistledown I’ve been keeping quite a big secret for quite a long time… but I can finally tell you that @bridgertonnetflix Season Three is Colin and Penelope’s Story."

The latest update comes after some new casting was announced among the lead actors. Francesca Bridgerton was recast after the original actor Ruby Stokes had some scheduling clashes following landing the lead role in the Netflix series Lockwood & Co. She’s been replaced by Anatomy of a Scandal star Hannah Dodd. 

Bridgerton season 3 is set to begin production this summer. In the meantime, why not check out our guide to the best Netflix shows.

Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for First Kill, an upcoming TV series that centers on the complicated, teenage romance between a vampire and a monster hunter – and it's giving us major Romeo and Juliet meets Twilight vibes.

Adapted by V. E. Schwab from her short story of the same name, the supernatural show follows Juliette Fairmont (Sarah Catherine Hook, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It), a burgeoning bloodsucker who falls for Calliope 'Cal' Burns (Imani Lewis, Eighth Grade), unaware that the latter comes from a longline of world-renowned slayers. 

In First Kill's universe, killing a human is a rite of passage for all vampires, allowing them to officially become a part of their powerful legacy. It's the same for hunters, too, only they need to take out one of their fanged foes. So it's no surprise that as the girls' lustful affections for one another become common knowledge, their family's aren't best pleased.

"You can't be together, it won't work," Juliette's mother Margot (Elizabeth Mitchell) warns in the dramatic teaser, as Cal's mum Talia (Aubin Wise) states, "I've forbidden you from seeing her." 

Sounds like Cal doesn't listen, though, as Talia declares war on the undead later on in the clip. "Juliette and every Legacy in Savannah dies tonight," she says, as the Burns family gather up their scariest-looking weapons. 

Will Swenson, Jason Robert Moore, Gracie Dzienny, Dylan McNamara, Dominic Goodman, Jonas Dylan Allen, Phillip Mullings Jr., MK xyz, and Roberto Mendez round out the supporting cast, while Felicia D. Henderson acts as showrunner and co-writer with Schwab. Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss are on board as executive producers.

First Kill is set to premiere on Netflix on June 10. While we wait, why not check out our roundup of the best Netflix shows to watch right now for some viewing inspiration.

Bridgerton season 3 has its first bit of casting news as Netflix confirms one of the siblings has been replaced. Francesca Bridgerton, the second youngest daughter, will now be played by Hannah Dodd after original star Ruby Stokes confirmed her exit. 

Stokes’ exit comes after she landed the lead role in Netflix’s upcoming series Lockwood & Co. Scheduling difficulties had meant Stokes already couldn’t appear in much of Bridgerton season 2. She appeared in the opening episodes but didn’t appear later in the season focussing on Anthony Bridgerton's (Jonathan Bailey’s) romance with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). At the time, showrunner Chris Van Dusen explained to TV Line: "I love Francesca, but we lost her midway through Season 2. After exhausting all other options, she unfortunately had to come out due to reasons beyond our control."

The role will now be played by Anatomy of a Scandal star Dodd. She played Young Sophie in the Netflix drama earlier this year, and has also appeared in Eternals and Harlots. She’ll star next in Enola Holmes 2 later this year in an as-yet undisclosed role.

Francesca has been a bit of an absent character so far in the show but, like all of the Bridgerton siblings, she has her own romance story in Julia Quinn’s sixth book When He Was Wicked. While the show has only been renewed for seasons 3 and 4 so far, the showrunners have said they plan on covering all eight stories. And if they follow the pattern they’ve already begun, this will mean introducing elements of each sibling’s story in earlier seasons.

Per Deadline, Bridgerton season 3 is currently casting its new roles ahead of beginning production this summer. While you wait for more, check out our guide to the best Netflix shows available now.

Netflix’s new romantic coming-of-age drama Heartstopper has been getting rave reviews from fans and critics alike. 

The drama is an adaptation of the graphic novel by Alice Oseman which tells the story of teen friendship and love young. The uplifting LGBTQ+ drama focuses on teens Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) at a British grammar school.

After being made to sit next to each other one day in class, their friendship builds as openly gay Charlie develops a crush on his schoolmate. With the help of their friends, Nick and Charlie navigate their burgeoning feelings as they reassess their own identities in the romantic series.

The show has already landed itself a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score from both critics and audiences. Many have been comparing it to dramas like Skins and It’s A Sin as the adaptation is praised for its "perfect" casting.

Digital Spy’s David Opie called the show the most important British drama since It’s A Sin as it "centers queer love, affirming the feelings of young people watching who might be unsure or afraid to speak their truth". The reviewer admits he wishes he’d had this show growing up as he opened up about hopes it can help young queer people learn they don’t have to "fit the mold". 

The Guardian’s Rebecca Nicholson gives it four stars, hailing it as "possibly the loveliest show on TV". While revealing she’s not the show’s target audience, she praised the adaptation’s "wholesome" tone, likening it to a "hug in TV form".

Lovia Gyarkye at The Hollywood Reporter commented on its sincerity and sweetness, pointing out this is its strength. The critic calls this approach "addictive" as she says the viewing experience will "stay with you long after the credits roll".

The show’s casting is also hailed as "perfect" as Decider’s Alex Zalben says Locke and Connor’s "chemistry is off the charts". The reviewer also mentioned how the visuals sit somewhere between Skins and Euphoria, "without the gritty realness of the former, or the pretension and nihilism of the latter".

Viewers have been similarly enchanted by the new series, taking to Twitter to share their joy at its release. Many admitted bingeing the show in one go as one said: "A show has never made me as happy as this one."

Another revealed they were "losing their mind" at how much they loved the drama, commenting "my body was not made to handle so many emotions". A third agreed, admitting: "The way I need to stop the episode every few mins so I won’t squeal and trying to pipe down my uncontrollable smile watching heartstopper."

Others reflected on the show’s importance for teenagers now. A viewer commented: "I’m so happy this generation is growing up with more representation. To anyone out there who is questioning their sexuality and stuff, know you’re not alone and there are people out there just like you. You are amazing, you got this champ!"

Heartstopper is available to watch in full on Netflix now. If you’ve already binge-watched the show, check out our guides to the best Netflix movies and the best Netflix shows.

Netflix is still dominating the streaming charts as Bridgerton continues to break records for the company. The show smashed its own figures as season 2 became the streamer’s most-watched English-language show over its first 28 days. Now, in the latest figures from Nielsen, the romance series was by far the most streamed program from March 21-27.

The figures from Nielsen, per Variety, reveal that the Chris Van Dusen-helmed regency romp was watched for more than 2.5 billion minutes in the week of season 2’s release. This is more than double the next most popular project, which was Netflix’s The Adam Project at 1.19 billion minutes viewed.

Netflix's competition series Is It Cake ranked in third with 1.18 billion minutes, Turning Red on Disney Plus took 977 million minutes, and Netflix’s The Last Kingdom secured 976 million minutes.

This comes amid a difficult time for Netflix after it announced a decline in subscribers for the first time. Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers across the first quarter of 2022, with estimates this will continue into the second quarter. Based on their own projection, it could see a further two million accounts closed. 

Netflix has also not met its targets of new subscribers in its first quarter – they had hoped to gain 2.5 million, but only gained 500,000. The latest figures caused Netflix shares to slump by 35%, wiping more than $50 billion off the firm's market value. It’s believed some of the decline in subscribers was due to increased subscription prices, leaving Russia and competition from rival streaming services.

However, things could be on the up, with numerous major shows returning, including Ozark season 4 part 2, Stranger Things season 4, and, of course, Bridgerton season 3. Check out our guide to the best Netflix movies and best Netflix shows.

Kristen Stewart is set to star in Love Lies Bleeding, a new romantic thriller from A24, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Stewart is set to play one of the leads in the movie, the protective lover of a female bodybuilder. The story is being described as "a romance fueled by ego, desire, and the American dream" while centering on "the extreme qualities it takes to succeed in the competitive world of bodybuilding". 

Love Lies Bleeding will be the second feature film from director Rose Glass, who made her debut with the 2019 psychological horror movie Saint Maud starring Morfydd Clark as a nun who becomes obsessed with one of her patients.

As for Stewart, she recently received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Princess Diana in the biopic Spencer, directed by Pablo Larraín. She's also set to star in David Cronenberg's next movie (the director's first in eight years), Crimes of the Future, alongside Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux. 

A24's recent releases include multiversal action-comedy Everything Everywhere All at Once, slasher X, and sci-fi drama After Yang. Love Lies Bleeding joins a slate of future movies including Men, starring Jessie Buckley and directed by Ex Machina helmer Alex Garland, and Bodies Bodies Bodies, a slasher with an ensemble cast including Borat 2's Maria Bakalova and Shiva Baby's Rachel Sennott.

While we wait for Love Lies Bleeding to arrive on the big screen, check out our list of the other upcoming movies to get excited about in 2022 and beyond.

"Is this Taken?!?” asks a kidnapped Sandra Bullock in The Lost City. It’s not, thankfully. More like Romancing the Stone Redux, as a successful-but-adrift novelist (Bullock’s Loretta Sage) gets swept up in a jungle-based quest for a precious MacGuffin. 

But a key branching-off from Robert Zemeckis’ 1984 breakout (look out for the sly nod here) is that our protag pairs up not with a bird-hunting, wilderness-savvy Michael Douglas, but with an altogether less rugged Channing Tatum.

For it is Tatum’s Fabio-esque (the wig gets some nice comic mileage), out-of-his-depth book-cover-model Alan who stumbles into action when Loretta is “Tooken” by wicked billionaire Fairfax (an avidly petulant Daniel Radcliffe) to a remote island, in hopes that her knowledge of dead languages will help him nab the keys to the titular, treasure-rich kingdom.

One wheelbarrow-assisted rescue later and it’s San ‘n’ Chan versus the jungle, renegotiating their fractious relationship along the way. It’s here, amid scenes of campfire-building, hammock-wrangling, and – most memeable of all – leech-tackling (ahem), that the love/hate gears run smoothest. 

The stars are thoroughly game: Bullock performs pratfalls the equal of Miss Congeniality; Tatum bares enough skin to turn Magic Mike crimson. If only the script served them more snappy repartee on a par with their standout exchange about mansplaining. (Another keeper elsewhere is Bullock’s retort to Radcliffe’s snide ‘cat-lady’ jibes.)

Still, the leads’ chemistry is sturdy enough to ward off disappointment that The Lost City doesn’t, as originally mooted, reteam Bullock with The Proposal’s Ryan Reynolds. Meanwhile, amid a slew of scene-stealing contenders - no-BS publisher Da’Vine Joy Randolph, handy pilot Oscar Nuñez, Randy the goat - the film’s answer to Betty White emerges in the form of Brad Pitt as a soldier of fortune whose special skills do introduce a bit of a Taken vibe, albeit leavened with an explosive dose of farce.

If the film hits its set-piece peak with Pitt, later stages see The Lost City lose some lustre. Sibling helmers Aaron and Adam Nee (who also co-wrote, with Oren Uziel and Dana Fox) attempt to pump up the peril with creepy caves, fathomless depths and volcanic omens.

Yet few of the Romancing/Raiders echoes translate into the sort of seat-edge thrills that might distract from the prosaic revelations and predictable wrap-up. At least, over the course of nearly two hours, the Nees never get too bogged down in plot; this may not be the adventure of a lifetime, but it’s no jungle snooze.

The Lost City is in US theaters now and UK cinemas from April 13. For more, check out the most exciting upcoming movies heading your way soon.