Welcome to our 2026 coverage of new films, television shows, music and the pop culture that we are all obsessing over.In this live blog, we’ll cover everything related to awards season, from the Golden Globes to the Grammys to the Oscars. We will also talk about must-see television of the year, the streaming films that get us all talking, and the new buzzy trailers that hope to woo us over to the movie theaters.This will be your hot spot for all things entertainment and pop culture.See below for updates on celebrity news, the new content popping up on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and your other favorite streaming services and the big talkers that are going viral on social media.George Santos Joins Upcoming Season Of Reality TV Competition After Prison ReleaseFormer U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is set to compete in the upcoming season of Fox’s reality competition series “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.”“This was an experience out of my element and which I was absolutely not in shape for!” Santos wrote in an Instagram post. “I’m proud of this experience. That changed how I view myself and take care of my body soul and mind. @specialforcesfox.”The series enlists several celebrities and notable figures to “endure some of the harshest, most grueling challenges.”“Recruits must adapt to uncomfortable conditions, unpredictable terrain and harsh jungle warfare tasks, including a claustrophobic, high-pressure search of an underground bunker to find crucial military weapons; a supply load retrieval while suspended 300 feet above the jungle floor; endure a barrage of chemical gassing while retrieving coordinates of an enemy vessel; and much more,” reads a statement from Fox.Santos was released from prison in October 2025; Trump commuted his sentence. He had been convicted of 23 counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in August 2024. “Special Forces” premieres on Sept. 24.Read more on People below.Latest Live UpdatesRichard Gere’s New Romance Drama Sparks Controversy Over His Nearly 50-Year Age Gap With Co-StarRichard Gere is set to star opposite Diana Silvers in the upcoming romantic film “Asymmetry,” based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Lisa Halliday.The actors were caught shooting the film in New York this week, and it’s caused quite the controversy online. The story is about a 70-year-old author Ezra (Gere) who falls for a young editorial assistant Alice (Silvers).“Their one moment of eye contact sparks a connection that leads them both down a life-changing rabbit hole, where they create a private world just for two,” the film’s logline reads. “Ezra, famous for his audacious work, finds someone with whom he can be openly vulnerable, and Alice finds the courage to explore her own aspirations as a writer. Until it is all put at risk when their secret relationship is exposed.”People online called out the huge age gap between Gere, 76, and Silvers, 28.“We truly don’t need another film about predatory age gaps,” one person commented, per The Daily Beast.In real life, Gere is married to a woman who is 33 years younger than him.'The Odyssey' Just Shattered A Box-Office Record In A Matter Of Hours“The Odyssey” is already breaking box-office records. The film made $17.6 million at the U.S. box office in its Thursday night previews, breaking a 2026 record set by the Michael Jackson biopic “Michael.”“Michael,” starring Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop, went on to become the only live-action movie that’s grossed a billion dollars so far this year. It is also the highest-grossing biopic of all time. When it premiered in April, “Michael” was this year’s highest-grossing film in previews for a live-action release with $12.6 million.With “The Odyssey” breaking that Thursday night preview record, it could go on to have a smashing debut weekend. Reviews of the film have been positive, and it boasts a 96% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.“The Odyssey,” directed by Christopher Nolan, stars Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Elliot Page, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, John Leguizamo, Lupita Nyong’o and Jon Bernthal.Read more on Screenrant.Tom Holland Fires Back At ‘The Odyssey’ CriticsTom Holland has weighed in on the criticism of Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation of “The Odyssey.” When a new trailer of the film was released in May, several people online pointed out the use of American accents and modern language in the movie, which is adapted from Homer’s epic “The Odyssey.”In the trailer, Holland’s character Telemachus calls his father “dad.” “I wouldn’t have even said ‘father’ back in the day, would I? It would’ve been Greek,” Holland told Channel 4 ahead of the film’s release.Nolan also brushed off the controversy recently, specifically saying he chose to use modern dialogue.“It might bite me on the ass, but I wanted an earthy narrative,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “To me it was a no-brainer.”He also broadly addressed all the criticism this week.“Comes with the territory,” Nolan told The Telegraph. “But look, these conversations that happen before people see the film — they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet.”“The Odyssey” hits theaters Friday.‘The Batman Part 2’ Just Got Delayed Again — But Matt Reeves Dropped Something To Soften The BlowThe wait for “The Batman Part 2” just got a little longer after yet another delay. Instead of hitting theaters next fall, Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight won’t return to the screen until Feb. 18, 2028, nearly six years after the first blockbuster.The Matt Reeves-directed film was originally set to premiere Oct. 2, 2026, before Warner Bros. pushed the date to Oct. 1, 2027 — which will now be occupied by J.J. Abrams’ sci-fi fantasy “The Great Beyond,” starring Glen Powell and Jenna Ortega.But have no fear. The latest update on Reeves’ long-delayed film came with a sweet surprise on Wednesday, as the director announced the sequel’s new premiere date alongside the first camera test footage of Pattinson back in his suit as the Caped Crusader.Watch the clip below.Tom Cruise Looks Totally Unrecognizable As Eccentric Billionaire In New Movie 'Digger' — Watch The TrailerTom Cruise looks unlike you’ve ever seen him before in his latest movie role.After months of teasing and anticipation, the trailer for “Digger” — the upcoming film directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu — dropped on Monday, starring a totally unrecognizable Cruise transformed as eccentric billionaire Digger Rockwell, the most powerful man in the world on a “frantic mission to prove he is humanity's savior before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything,” the movie's logline states.“Digger here got us into this mess, and Digger’s gonna dig us out again,” John Goodman (playing the ailing U.S. president) says in the trailer.“But if we can’t control the course of nature,” Cruise’s Digger adds, “at least we can control the narrative.”Described as a “comedy of catastrophic proportions,” the film’s ensemble cast also includes Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Hüller, Sophie Wilde, Emma D'Arcy and Michael Stuhlbarg.“Digger” hits theaters Oct. 2. Watch the trailer below.Noah Wyle Reveals He Turned Down Starring Role In Major Oscar-Nominated Film Because Of ‘ER’Noah Wyle has had a few game-changing roles in his career. But according to the Emmy-winning star of “The Pitt,” he’s also had to turn down a lot of big parts over the years.When recently asked if he ever had any roles that got away on the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast, the actor said, “Yeah, tons. Happens all the time. We talked about a couple of them, actually. ‘Good Night, and Good Luck,’ George [Clooney] offered me a part in that.”According to Wyle, he was too busy with his full-time gig on “ER” at the time to entertain the role. But there was another film — a Best Picture nominee at the 1999 Academy Awards — he also passed up because of his hit medical drama.“I was offered the part of Private Ryan in ‘Saving Private Ryan,’” he added on the podcast, “couldn’t get out of ‘ER’ to do it.”In some ways, Wyle said he doesn’t regret declining the film roles because the actors who got them ultimately “made those parts.”“Matt Damon was Private Ryan … I got offered the part of [Corporal] Upham [too], which was Jeremy Davies’ part, and he was so phenomenal in that, I couldn’t imagine doing anything close to what he did.”Watch the clip below.Larry David Reunites With His 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' Co-Star On New HBO ShowLarry David is the owner of a safe house along the Underground Railroad in Friday's episode of "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness." The HBO series plops David into defining moments in America's history.In this sketch, he portrays Lawrence, a man who welcomes Jonesy, an enslaved runaway on his journey to freedom, into his home in the North. Jonesy is portrayed by none other than David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" co-star JB Smoove. "Curb" ended its 12-season run in 2024.Lawrence asks Jonesy about his journey."I was underwater in the swamp for 15 minutes, breathing through a straw," Jonesy recounts, mentioning he was being chased by barking dogs. "And I couldn't say shut the fuck up underwater. I had to tell myself shut the fuck up when it's obvious it's a shut-the-fuck-up moment." Jonesy has a ton of complaints about Lawrence's house, and also told him that he's been getting "bad reviews out there.""White people are naturally wet," he tells Lawrence. "They're very naturally damp people.""I feel spirits in here. Did someone die on that couch?" he asks. "I sense death on that couch."It quickly becomes clear that Smoove and David have not lost their on-screen comedic chemistry.In the scene, there's also hilarious mention of Ethan Allen and his obsession with home furniture. Then, Lawrence asks Jonesy to make some pancakes, and that does not go over well."You want me to slave it up in here right now?" Jonesy asks. "You know what slavery was? A whole long list of f**king favors."A month later, Jonesy is still at Lawrence's house. Then, a couple more enslaved men show up to his door.It's one of the funniest sketches of the episode."Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness" airs on Friday nights on HBO. It is streaming on HBO Max.Emmy Rossum Finally Reveals The Truth Behind Her Shocking Exit From ‘Shameless’"Shameless" star Emmy Rossum addressed her departure from the long-running Showtime drama on a recent Call Her Daddy episode.Rossum starred as Fiona, the headstrong, eldest sibling of the Gallaghers, a Chicago family with an absent mother and alcoholic father, in "Shameless." She left the show at the end of Season 9; the seres continued for two more seasons. The show also starred William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen White, Ethan Cutkosky, Emma Kenney, Shanola Hampton, Cameron Monaghan, Steve Howey and more."We had made 110 episodes, and by the time I left and they offered us two more years, I had already started my production company," Rossum told host Alex Cooper. "I had set up my first show ["Angelyne"], and I was greenlit and getting ready to make it."Rossum started a production company called Composition 8. "I left to go make the show I had been developing that our showrunner John Wells had encouraged me to kind of get in the driver's seat of my own career and make my own shows and make things," Rossum said.She had directed two episodes of "Shameless" by the end of its run."I wanted to stay in the job. I loved the job. I wasn't walking away from the job. I loved the job until it felt like there wasn't enough juice to squeeze out of the lemon."Before Season 8 was set to begin filming, Rossum's equal pay dispute made headlines. She was negotiating to make the same salary as Macy; in her final season, she was making $350,000 an episode. On the podcast, she said she thought the network might have leaked the dispute to the press. "It's a private business negotiation, and I never imagined it would become public. Not just for the public, but also for the rest of the cast and the crew," she said.But once the public weighed in on the pay disparity in Rossum's favor, the network offered her a new contract — she successfully negotiated an increase."It's always scary asking for what you think you're worth," Rossum said. "To say, 'I think this is what I'm worth,' you have to take up space in the room."Read more on Yahoo!Chris Parnell Was Fired From ‘SNL’ Twice — But 1 Dismissal Cut Way Deeper Than The OtherFormer "Saturday Night Live" star Chris Parnell addressed getting fired — twice — from the late-night sketch comedy series on the Mohr Stories podcast this week.The podcast is hosted by another former "SNL" star Jay Mohr.In 1998, Parnell joined "SNL" along with Horatio Sanz and Jimmy Fallon. A few years later, "SNL" head honcho had two boot two cast members from the show: Parnell and Jerry Minor were let go in 2001.“I was on the phone with Rachel Dratch and some other people who were all waiting to hear that same kind of thing,” Parnell said on the podcast. “We just assumed we would all be back, you know, so it was a big surprise.”He said it was tough for him and several of the other cast members and writers.“It was a big shock and there was enough of an outcry from the cast and the writers that I felt like, ‘Okay, I’m not the only one who thinks this is crazy,’” he continued. “You know, I just kept hearing that Lorne might be bringing me back, and there was just all this back and forth, and finally I just moved my stuff back to L.A.”He was hired back the next season and stayed on the show from 2002 to 2006. He was dismissed amid budget cuts to the show.During his second run, he earned the nickname "Iceman" because he never broke character during his sketches — no matter how much he wanted to laugh at his co-stars.Read more on Entertainment Weekly.A New ‘Cheetah Girls’ Movie Is On The Way — And It’s Set To Be A Cheetahlicious ReunionIt’s official: The Cheetah Girls are getting the band back together!On Wednesday, Disney Channel and Disney+ announced that a brand-new Cheetah Girls movie has been greenlit, with original stars Raven-Symoné and Adrienne Bailon set to reprise their beloved roles. Lynn Whitfield and Lori Alter will return as well, while Sabrina Bryan will make a special appearance in the upcoming film.The new movie, aptly titled “The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen,” will center a new cast of young stars, picking up “when Cheetah Girls Galleria (Symoné) and Chanel (Bailon), alongside Galleria's daughter Faith (Leah Sava’ Jeffries) and her three friends (Carmen Sanchez, Kaileen Chang and Sophie Lennon), travel to Africa to volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary,” the logline states.“Along the way, these four teen girls test their friendship, find their voice and discover the true Cheetah spirit as they save the preserve and ultimately take the stage as the new Cheetah Girls,” it adds.The cast also includes Sophia Bush and newcomer Kamogelo Ramashala.Symoné will executive produce the film alongside Debra Martin Chase, who served as an executive producer of the first three “Cheetah Girls” movies. Meanwhile, Bailon will co-produce.The new “Cheetah Girls” installment arrives almost two decades after the third film, “One World,” premiered in 2008. “Next Gen” is set to begin production in South Africa this month.In the meantime, check out Symoné’s announcement below.See All Updates