Movies
Fantastic Four: First Steps reboots series
Collective strength and the optimism of the 1960s are the driving forces of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, its stars Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby say. Helmed by WandaVision director Matt Shakman, the movie reboots the Fantastic Four film series, which is based on the Marvel Comics super-team.
It comes 10 years after the last Fantastic Four film flopped at the box office and received scathing reviews. With a starry ensemble cast, the retro-futuristic, 1960s-inspired movie introduces Marvel's “First Family” — Pascal’s Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Kirby’s Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm/The Thing. Drawing on their bond and superhero strengths, the foursome must take on the planet-devouring cosmic entity called Galactus, played by Ralph Ineson, and his herald, Silver Surfer, played by Julia Garner. “It’s about family. It's about caring for humankind. It's about protecting human innocence and knowing that you can’t do it alone. We can only do it together,” said Pascal. Reuters
Broadcast rights
Apple sets sights on Formula One racing
Apple is in talks to acquire US broadcast rights to screen Formula One racing when the contract becomes available next year, the Financial Times reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter. The report follows the strong performance of Apple’s high-octane Brad Pitt-starrer F1: The Movie, which has grossed more than $300m in worldwide box office collection since Wednesday, according to IMDb’s Box Office Mojo.
Walt Disney’s ESPN holds the exclusive US broadcast rights for F1 through the 2025 season. However, ESPN's exclusivity period to negotiate a new contract with F1 expired, sources said in February, opening the door for new bidders. Apple and F1 did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Apple is aiming to capitalise on the sport’s growing popularity in the US which was also driven by the success of Netflix’s hit docu-series Formula 1: Drive to Survive that provided an engaging behind-the-scenes look at the sport. Netflix is also among the contenders for the F1 US broadcasting rights from the 2026 season, according to media reports in February. Reuters
Superhero
New Superman receives praise from fans
Actor David Corenswet feels a connection with the classic DC comic book character Superman that he portrays in the 2025 James Gunn directed film Superman. The character Superman is known in the comic books for his identity problems, namely his double life as both a powerful superhero while also being an awkward reporter named Clark Kent who works at Daily Planet.
Corenswet is the latest actor to don the blue and red suit on the big screen, and he is still processing the weight of his new identity as the superhero. “As far as the moments of it hitting me that I'm playing Superman, I think saying the sentence out loud is the closest I get,” he said. “But it still just sounds so ridiculous to me to say it out loud that, you know, it doesn’t quite compute,” he added. Superman, which arrives in US movie theatres on Friday, follows Superman as he gets drawn into international politics as well as crossing swords with his billionaire nemesis Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult, monsters and other superpowered beings. The film has received high acclaim from early reviews on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes with a 88% rating. Reuters
Animation
Chinese film translated to English
A24 and CMC Pictures are teaming up to bring an English-language version of the globally successful Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 to theatres in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand on August 22, the companies said last week.
The animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 overtook Pixar’s Inside Out 2 in February to become the highest-grossing animated film globally, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan. Ne Zha 2 amassed a total box office of 12.3-billion yuan ($1.71bn) including presales and overseas earnings, making it the eighth highest box office film worldwide.
The English-language cast will include Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh. No other voice actors have been announced so far. “I'm honoured to be part of Ne Zha 2, a landmark in Chinese animation and a powerful reminder of how universal our stories can be,” the Malaysian actor said in a statement. The sequel film follows the first Ne Zha film from 2019 and is based on Chinese mythology. The story follows Ne Zha, a rebellious young boy, who is feared by the gods and born to mortal parents with wild, uncontrolled powers. He is faced with an ancient force intent on destroying humanity and must grow up to become the hero the world needs. Reuters
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