Amazon MGM Studios has taken creative control of the "James Bond" franchise.
The longtime producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli will step back from decision-making.
Amazon, in 2022, acquired MGM, which had the rights to the franchise.
Amazon MGM Studios announced on Thursday that it had taken over creative control of the beloved "James Bond" franchise after a years-long stall in naming the next bond. Jeff Bezos, however, isn't wasting any time trying to change that.
Soon after Thursday's announcement, the Amazon founder posted a screenshot of a BBC article announcing the creative change on Instagram, with the caption "Who'd you pick as the next Bond?"
It's been four years and there's been no news of who will be cast.
Thursday's announcement also said the longtime guardians of the franchise, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, would step aside from decision-making.
"With my 007 career spanning nearly 60 incredible years, I am stepping back from producing the James Bond films to focus on art and charitable projects," Wilson said. "Therefore, Barbara and I agree, it is time for our trusted partner, Amazon MGM Studios, to lead James Bond into the future."
Broccoli said, "With the conclusion of 'No Time to Die' and Michael retiring from the films, I feel it is time to focus on my other projects."
Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.
Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images
The announcement said Amazon, Wilson, and Broccoli had created a joint venture to house the "Bond" IP. All will remain franchise co-owners, but Amazon MGM will have creative control.
In 2022, Amazon acquired MGM, which held the rights to all the "Bond" movies, for $6.5 billion. Amazon would release "Bond" movies going forward, but it didn't have creative control.
That power was in the hands of Broccoli, the daughter of the producer Albert "Cubby" Broccoli, who launched "James Bond" into a goliath. For 30 years, Barbara Broccoli β along with Wilson β has called the shots on all things 007.
However, since Amazon got involved, things have been shaky.
The Journal described it as "a clash between the 20th-century Hollywood of big screens and big swings and a new entertainment industry ruled by Silicon Valley firms that prize data, algorithms, and streaming subscriptions."
The report said Broccoli nixed spin-off ideas suggested by Amazon executives and took offense when one referred to the franchise as "content."
Business Insider's request to Broccoli for comment was not immediately returned.
"No Time to Die," the 25th movie in the "Bond" franchise, earned more than $774 million at the box office worldwide.
A select group of actors have appeared in both "Star Wars" and Marvel projects.
Giancarlo Esposito stars in "Captain America: Brave New World" and plays Moff Gideon in "The Mandalorian."
Natalie Portman, Emilia Clarke, Samuel L. Jackson, and Mads Mikkelsen have roles in both franchises.
Here are all the stars who have dabbled in both "Star Wars" and Marvel universes.
Kirsten Acuna contributed to a previous version of this post.
Samuel L. Jackson not only played Mace Windu in the "Star Wars" prequels, but he was also the man who brought together the Avengers.
Among his many memorable roles, Samuel L. Jackson played Mace Windu and Nick Fury.
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
Jackson famously requested a purple lightsaber to play Mace Windu in "Star Wars." You can watch Jackson ask "Star Wars" creator George Lucas about it here. Jackson's voice can be heard in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."
In recent years, Jackson became known for his role as Nick Fury, the man who assembled Tony Stark, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the Hulk to form the Avengers.
Most recently, Jackson reprised his role as Fury in Marvel's "Secret Invasion" series which follows a group of shape-shifting aliens called Skrulls, who have secretly infiltrated Earth for years and are planning to take it over as their own.
After playing Anakin Skywalker's love interest in the "Star Wars" films, Portman headed to another galaxy far, far away as Thor's romantic interest in the character's first two Marvel movies.Β
Portman reprised her role in "Thor: Love and Thunder" where she gained the powers of Thor.
After his turn as a "Rogue One" villain, Ben Mendelsohn showed up in "Captain Marvel" as a Skrull named Talos.
Mendelsohn had a fabulous cape in "Rogue One" and was an alien in "Captain Marvel."
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
Mendelsohn was ruthless as "Star Wars" villain Orson Krennic.
He usually plays a lot of villains, so it was a nice surprise to see his Skrull character, Talos, turn out to be one of the good guys in "Captain Marvel."
The actor reprised his Skrull role briefly in "Spider-Man: Far From Home" and showed up in "Secret Invasion."
"Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke appeared in "Solo: A Star Wars Story" and plays Talos' daughter in the MCU.
Emilia Clarke plays Qi'ra in "Solo" and G'iah in "Secret Invasion."
Lucasfilm, Des Willie/Marvel
During her tenure as Daenerys Targaryen, Clarke played Qi'ra, Han Solo's early love interest, in "Solo: A Star Wars Story."
In Marvel's "Secret Invasion," Clarke plays Talos' estranged daughter, G'iah, who's currently aligned with a radical group of Skrulls who want to conquer Earth.
Paul Bettany played a villain in "Solo" and dual roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Jarvis and the Vision.
Paul Bettany has played crime lord Dryden Vos and the wise hero Vision.
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
After playing Tony Stark's artificial intelligence for years, Bettany thought he was done with the MCU after a producer told him he'd never work in Hollywood again. Then he received a call asking if he wanted to play Vision.
Though he "died" in "Avengers: Infinity War," Bettany reprised his role as Vision on Disney+' "WandaVision" series.
After his MCU roles, Bettany was cast in 2016's "Solo: A Star Wars Story" as villain Dryden Vos after director Ron Howard took over the movie. "Solo" was originally supposed to have a different villain, but Michael K. Williams couldn't return for reshoots.Β
Rosario Dawson played a live-action version of "Star Wars" favorite Ahsoka Tano. She previously appeared as the connecting tissue between every Netflix Marvel show.
Dawson has played Ahsoka Tano and Claire Temple.
Disney, Frederick M. Getty Images, Netflix
In the second season of "The Mandalorian," Dawson played a live-action version of Ahsoka Tano. The character first appeared in "Star Wars: Clone Wars" and "Star Wars: Rebels."Β
Dawson played nurse Claire Temple on "Daredevil" and "Luke Cage."
Dawson returned to play Ahsoka Tano in the Disney+ standalone series "Ahsoka."
Ariana Greenblatt played young Gamora in "Avengers: Infinity War" before appearing as a younger Ahsoka in Disney+'s live-action series.
Ariana Greenblatt in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Ahsoka."
Marvel; Lucasfilm
Greenblatt made a surprise appearance on episode five of the "Ahsoka" series.
Stellan SkarsgΓ₯rd played Jane's colleague Professor Erik Selvig in the "Thor" franchise and appeared in "Andor."
Stellan SkarsgΓ₯rd will next appear in a "Star Wars" show based around Cassian Andor.
Rich Polk/Getty Images, Marvel Studios
The character actor played the astrophysicist working with Jane Forster in the first "Thor" movie when they stumbled across the God of Thunder's existence.
Selvig briefly appeared in 2022's fourth "Thor" movie to consult Jane on her cancer treatments.Β
In the "Rogue One" prequel series "Andor," SkarsgΓ₯rd plays Luthen Rael, an antique dealer whose secretly a member of the Rebel Alliance.
Cailey Fleming played a young Rey in "The Force Awakens" and played young Sylvie on Marvel's "Loki" show.
Cailey Fleming as Young Rey (left) in "Star Wars" and Young Sylvie (right) in Marvel's "Loki."
Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios
You may not have realized "The Walking Dead" actor played the young version of Rey in "The Force Awakens."Β
A big Marvel fan, Fleming told Insider in 2021 she was thrilled to join the "Loki" series. She had no idea she was playing a young version of Sylvie until she watched the episode.
"Whenever I was filming, I only got my scenes," Fleming said of her time on the Marvel show. "I didn't get the script for the episode or anything. I had no idea what was going on."
Richard E. Grant appeared in "The Rise of Skywalker" and appeared in "Loki" as a variant of the God of Mischief.
Richard E. Grant in Star Wars and "Loki."
Lucasfilm, Chuck Zlotnick/Marvel Studios
Grant played General Enric Pryde in "The Rise of Skywalker."
He then played a variant of Loki, Classic Loki, in the first season of the Disney+ series.
Ming-Na Wen appeared on the first season of "The Mandalorian" and starred on ABC's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Wen in "The Mandalorian" (left) and "Agents of "S.H.I.E.L.D."
Lucasfilm/ABC
The actor appeared briefly on the first season of "The Mandalorian" as Fennec Shand. Wen played Agent Melinda May on Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. from its 2013 debut until its 2020 end.
Wen is one of the few actors to have roles in "Star Wars," the MCU, and be a Disney princess. She voiced Mulan in the 1998 animated movie.
Oscar Isaac was a resistance hero in the new "Star Wars" trilogy and an "X-Men" villain. Most recently, he played Moon Knight in his own Disney+ series.
Isaac gets a lot of checks from Disney.
Lucasfilm, Marvel/Fox, Marvel Comics
Isaac became a "Star Wars" fan favorite as debonair pilot Poe Dameron. It probably made most forget that he also played 2016 "X-Men" villain Apocalypse, a role in which he was pretty unrecognizable.
In 2022, he played antihero Moon Knight in the Disney+ Marvel series.Β
Β
Hannah John-Kamen upgraded from a minor role in "The Force Awakens" to playing the "Ant-Man and the Wasp" villain.
You probably didn't notice John-Kamen in "The Force Awakens" (left).
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
You can spot John-Kamen as a First Order bridge officer briefly in "The Force Awakens." She later played Ava/Ghost in 2018's "Ant-Man" sequel.
Donald Glover played a young Lando Calrissian and also played an important minor role in "Spider-Man: Homecoming."
Both Glover performances are memorable.
Lucasfilm/Sony Pictures
Glover's version of Lando in "Solo: A Star Wars Story" showed off the character's array of fabulous capes and costumes.
Before that role, he briefly appeared in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" as Aaron Davis, the uncle of Miles Morales. In the comics, Aaron goes on to become The Prowler and also a character named Iron Spider.
Glover's briefly seen in 2023's "Across the Spider-Verse" animated film in human form as his "Homecoming" character who has since become the Prowler.
Before Felicity Jones played Jyn Erso in "Rogue One," she was in a "Spider-Man" movie.
Felicity Jones is much more known for her work in the "Star Wars" universe.
Lucasfilm/Sony Pictures
You may have forgotten that Jones appeared in the "Spider-Man" films with Andrew Garfield. Jones played Felicia Hardy in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," who goes on to become a thief named Black Cat.
You likely remember Jones in "Rogue One," where her Jyn character leads a rag-tag group in search of the plans to destroy the Death Star.
Mads Mikkelsen played Jyn Erso's father in "Rogue One" and the "Doctor Strange" villain, Kaecillus, in the same year.
Mikkelsen was both a good guy who sacrificed himself for the good of the universe in "Star Wars" and an outright villain in "Doctor Strange."
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
Mikkelsen's Galen Erso turned out to be the reason why the Death Star had a major design flaw.
Andy Serkis was a villain in the new "Star Wars" trilogy and in the MCU.
You just never know where Serkis will show up.
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
Serkis played the mysterious Snoke character in "The Last Jedi" and the vibranium-obsessed Ulysses Klaue in both "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and, later, "Black Panther."
Lupita Nyong'o played the mysterious Maz Kanata in the latest "Star Wars" trilogy before starring in "Black Panther."
She's perfect in both roles.
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
You may not have realized that Nyong'o was the voice behind the wise smuggler, who performed motion capture for her performance.
Nyong'o later appeared in "Black Panther" as Nakia, a member of Wakanda's intelligence agency and a former flame of T'Challa/Black Panther. She reprised her role in 2022's sequel, "Wakanda Forever."
Forest Whitaker was in "Rogue One," a "Star Wars" cartoon, and "Black Panther."
He can do it all.
Lucasfilm/Marvel Studios
Whitaker played resistance fighter Saw Gerrera in "Rogue One," "Star Wars: Rebels," and also voiced the character in the video game "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order."
In 2019, he appeared in "Black Panther" as Zuri, council to the king of Wakanda.
Benicio del Toro played quirky characters in the "Star Wars" and Marvel universes.
Did you think he'd show up playing someone normal?
Lucasfilm/Marvel
Benicio del Toro played the mysterious thief in "The Last Jedi," who betrayed Finn and Rose.
The actor previously appeared in the MCU as Taneleer Tivan (The Collector), a man obsessed with collecting rare objects and species in the galaxy.
The director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, James Gunn, confirmed that Tivan survived an attack from Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War" and sold Knowhere to the Guardians to make their HQ in the third film.
Rose Byrne was a handmaiden in "The Phantom Menace." Years later, Byrne was in the "X-Men" franchise.
Woody Harrelson played a mentor to Han Solo and played an iconic Spider-Man villain in the "Venom" sequel.
Which character is your favorite?
Lucasfilm/Sony Pictures
Tobias Beckett gave Han Solo his iconic blaster in the 2018 movie, "Solo."
Harrelson showed up at the end of "Venom" teasing his role as Cletus Kasady. In "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," he played the symbiote villain, Carnage, an arch nemesis of Venom.Β
Jon Favreau has been a huge part of both the "Star Wars" and Marvel universes.
Favreau also directed "Iron Man" and has played Tony Stark's trusted chauffeur and friend Happy Hogan since the 2008 film.Β Most recently, Hogan appeared in "Deadpool & Wolverine."
Ray Park is well known as playing Darth Maul in "The Phantom Menace." He also played Toad in the first "X-Men" movie.
Right before he was Maul, Park could be seen alongside the other X-Men.
Peter Serafinowicz voiced Darth Maul in "The Phantom Menace" and was briefly seen in "Guardians of the Galaxy."
That voice is unmistakable.
Lucasfilm/Marvel
While Park played the physical embodiment of the character on-screen, behind the scenes, Serafinowicz spoke the character's few words of dialogue in "The Phantom Menace." Serafinowicz recorded lines for Maul in "Solo," but Lucasfilm wound up using actor Sam Witwer, who voiced Maul in the animated series.
You can also spot Serafinowicz as Garthan Saal, a high-ranking member of the Nova Corps, in "GotG." He's the character who memorably states that the Guardians are a bunch of "a-holes."
Jessica Henwick appeared in "The Force Awakens" and Marvel's "Iron Fist" Netflix series.
Henwick is seen as Pava and Colleen Wing.
Lucasfilm/Netflix
Henwick played a Resistance pilot named Jess Pava in "The Force Awakens." She later played martial arts expert Colleen Wing who helped train Danny Rand in Netflix's "Iron Fist" series.
Donnie Yen was a vampire in "Blade II" years before he was a warrior in "Rogue One."
You wouldn't want to mess with him in either role.
Lucasfilm/New Line Cinema
Yen made everyone believe in the power of the Force as Chirrut Γmwe. Previously, he was Snowman, a vampire who initially was trained to hunt down Blade before becoming one of his allies.
Ken Leung appeared briefly in "The Force Awakens" and ABC's "Inhumans" show.
Did you catch him in both projects?
Lucasfilm/Marvel
The "Lost" actor appeared in the latest "Star Wars" trilogy as Admiral Statura. He was also in ABC's short-lived "Inhumans" series as Karnak.
Terence Stamp appeared in "The Phantom Menace" before he trained Elektra in the 2005 film.
Stamp played Chancellor Valorum and Stick.
Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox
Stamp had a minor role in the "Star Wars" prequel as Chancellor Valorum, who held authority before Chancellor Palpatine rose to power.Β He later played Stick in "Elektra," training Jennifer Garner's character.
You may not recognize Spencer Wilding by name, but he was Darth Vader in "Rogue One" and a memorable "Guardians of the Galaxy" character.
Two years earlier, he played the "mean guard" (the actual name in the film's credits) who took Peter Quill's Walkman and started listening to it.
Richard Armitage had a small role in "The Phantom Menace" before appearing as a Hydra assassin in the first "Captain America" movie.
Do you remember this guy?
Lucasfilm/Marvel
You may not have recognized the "Hobbit" actor in "The Phantom Menace." He appeared briefly as a pilot. He later played Heinz Kruger in 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger."
Ben Schwartz helped bring BB-8's voice to life with Bill Hader and was a stormtrooper in "The Force Awakens." He appears in an animated Marvel show.
Before voicing the loveable Sonic in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise, the actor voiced 12-year-old Lou on Hulu's Marvel show "M.O.D.O.K." He's the son of the show's main villain, M.O.D.O.K.Β
After playing villain Moff Gideon in "The Mandalorian," Giancarlo Esposito is Sidewinder in "Captain America: Brave New World."
Giancarlo Esposito plays the perfect villain.
Disney
The "Breaking Bad" star is no stranger to playing the bad guy in both universes.
In "The Mandalorian" he plays the Darksaber-carrying Moff Gideon. In "Captain America: Brave New World" he's the gun-toting Sidewinder, a mercenary out for Cap along with his crew, The Serpent Society.
Andy Tennant, Will Smith, and Kevin James on the set of "Hitch."
Sony
The most memorable scene in "Hitch" was created on the day it was shot.
"Hitch" director Andy Tennant came up with the scene to accommodate an idea from star Will Smith.
The scene was shot on Sarah Jessica Parker's doorstep.
The 2005 romantic comedy "Hitch" is filled with memorable scenes, but the most memorable one of all wasn't even in the original script.
The scene, in which Will Smith's date doctor Alex "Hitch" Hitchens is helping show his client Albert (Kevin James) how to walk a woman to her door, was originally a lot different, director Andy Tennant told Business Insider.
Initially, Hitch and Albert were simply walking down a brownstone-lined street in New York City reacting to the news that Albert has been photographed dancing with socialite Allegra, (Amber Valletta), the woman he's trying to woo.
"The scene on that street was originally just three or four lines," Tennant told BI. "We were then going to do a company move somewhere else."
Will Smith and Kevin James in "Hitch."
Sony
But Smith thought the location was "a great street," and suggested doing a bigger scene.
"Now, he's right," Tennant said, "But it's also, 'Uh-oh, there goes the schedule.'"
With any movie, shooting is scheduled around what's written in the script. Locations and shooting permits are secured, and production crews set up cameras and lighting to make what's on the page become a reality on screen. Changing plans last-minute can be a logistical nightmare.
To complicate things further, then-Sony chairman Amy Pascal was flying in to have dinner with Tennant and Smith that night, creating an even stricter time crunch: "Now we're off the rails and we have to come up with something."
The rest of the day was dedicated to creating a scene from scratch.
"We start talking, and somehow the conversation turns to, 'In New York City, do you say goodbye to somebody at the bottom of the stairs, or do you walk someone to their door if it's a brownstone?'" Tennant said. "Then Will started saying stuff about the 90 and 10: a man goes 90% of the way, and the woman goes 10% on a first kiss. So we messed with that for a bit, and then someone came up with the keys jingling. Then Kevin was riffing on some stuff. It was all just an idea."
Kevin James wants to show Will Smith the magic.
Columbia Pictures
But there was also another issue. The movie didn't have permission to shoot in front of any of the brownstones on the street. So Tennant and Smith took matters into their own hands.
"Will and I went to a brownstone we liked, walked up to the door, knocked on the door to see if we could get permission to shoot there, and it turned out to be Sarah Jessica Parker's house," Tennant said, noting that though Parker and Smith knew each other, she was still clearly in shock that the "Bad Boys" star was on her doorstep.
"So she was like, 'Hi!' And we were like, 'Hi, can we shoot on your doorstep?' And she was like, 'Ah, yeah.'"
Reps for Smith and Parker did not respond to BI's requests for comment.
Around four in the afternoon, after Tennant and one of the producers wrote three or four drafts of the scene, they thought they had it down. But Smith was hesitant.
"Kevin James told him, 'It's really funny. It's going to be a good scene,'" Tennant recalled. "And thank god for Kevin, because he got Will to shoot it."
The scene became the movie's most memorable moment, as Hitch teaches Albert how to walk a woman to her door and engage in a first kiss, only for Albert to get too carried away in the role play and end up kissing Hitch on the lips.
"We shot a five-and-a-half-page scene in three hours and then went to dinner with Amy Pascal," Tennant said in amazement.
The making of "Hitch" was full of complicated, frustrating, but sometimes also rewarding incidents like these. Tennant described the entire shoot as "a battle," from convincing Smith to do the Ellis Island scene to coming up with the movie's wedding-scene ending on the fly.
After shooting wrapped, Tennant told BI he called his wife and told her he thought he'd just ruined his and Will Smith's careers.
In reality, the movie became a box office hit. The $70 million comedy had the biggest opening weekend ever for a rom-com at the time and went on to earn over $371 million worldwide.
"There were some debates, but there were things that turned out really funny," Tennant said. "It was a wild ride."
Julia Roberts starred as Anna Scott in "Notting Hill."
Universal Pictures Entertainment
Nothing beats a great romantic comedy, especially on Valentine's Day.
Luckily, there are lots of good ones on Netflix.
From modern hits like "Set It Up" to classics like "Notting Hill," there's something for everyone.
A little love and laughter sound like a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day, and Netflix is here to help.
After romantic comedies nearly disappeared in the 2010s, the streamer gave the genre a much-needed boost with 2018 hits like "Set It Up," starring Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch, and "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," starring Lana Condor and Noah Centineo.
Now, Netflix has a large collection of rom-coms to choose from, including 10 originals from 2024 alone and Sony's 2023 sleeper hit "Anyone But You," which sees Powell return to the rom-com stage alongside "Euphoria" star Sydney Sweeney.
So, to help you avoid some decision fatigue in the search bar, we've compiled a list of 20 of the best movies to watch this holiday.
From '90s classics like "Notting Hill" to modern favorites like "Always Be My Maybe," there are plenty of films to fall in love with this Valentine's Day.
Note: Numerous Netflix titles drop off the service monthly, so the availability of titles below may change.
"Always Be My Maybe" (2019)
Ali Wong and Randall Park in "Always Be My Maybe."
Ed Araquel/Netflix
Ali Wong and Randall Park are childhood friends who reconnect as adults. Though their lives have taken them in different directions, there's still a lot of laughs and love between them.
But things really go up a notch when suddenly Park's character has to compete with Keanu Reeves, starring as a hilarious fictionalized version of himself.
"The Incredible Jessica James" (2017)
Chris O'Dowd and Jessica Williams in "The Incredible Jessica James."
Netflix
Jessica Williams plays the title character in this indie rom-com that follows her character as she gets over a breakup by casually dating a guy she met on a blind date (Chris O'Dowd).
Unlike the typical Hollywood rom-com, this one has some realness to the characters and the warts-and-all relationship being formed.
"Set It Up" (2018)
Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch in "Set It Up."
Netflix
Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell β who play assistants to demanding bosses and genuinely have great on-screen chemistry β decide the best way to make their lives easier is to get their bosses to date each other.
While you may predict the outcome of this one, it's still a fun, sweet movie that helped modernize the rom-com genre on Netflix.
"How to be Single" (2016)
Dakota Johnson starred as Alice Kepley in "How to be Single."
Warner Brothers Pictures
Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie, and Leslie Mann star as single women in New York City navigating personal and romantic relationships.
Though reviews were mixed, it's an easy, humorous watch β just don't take it too seriously.
"To All the Boys" franchise (2018-2021)
Noah Centineo, Lana Condor, Ross Butler, and Madeleine Arthur in "To All the Boys: Always and Forever."
Netflix
This popular teen rom-com franchise β "To All the Boys I've Loved Before," (2018) "To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You" (2020), and "To All the Boys: Always and Forever" (2021) β follows high schooler Lara Jean Song-Covey (Lana Condor) as she navigates the fallout after love letters to her crushes get sent out.
Based on a best-selling book series by Jenny Han, it's a sweet coming-of-age story about being true to your feelings.
"The Wedding Planner" (2001)
Jennifer Lopez starred as Mary Fiore in "The Wedding Planner."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Jennifer Lopez stars as Mary Fiore, a wedding planner who's been down on her luck with love until a chance meeting with pediatrician Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey).
But the love-match proves to be much more complicated when she learns that her next β and most important β wedding to plan is that of Edison and heiress Fran Donnelly (Bridgette Wilson).
It's a movie that completely gives itself away in the trailer, but aren't those the best kinds of cheesy rom-coms?
"The Perfect Find" (2023)
Keith Powers and Gabrielle Union in "The Perfect Find."
Netflix
What would you do if you found out you'd kissed your new boss' son?
That's the predicament faced by protagonist Jenna β wonderfully played by Gabrielle Union β as she launches a career comeback after a difficult breakup.
Together, they must work to understand both their personal and professional relationship.
"13 Going on 30" (2004)
Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo in "13 Going on 30."
Revolution Studios
In this beloved early 2000s staple, Jenna Rink is an awkward 13-year-old girl who wishes to skip the woes of adolescence and become an established 30-year-old woman. When her wish magically comes true, Jenna (Jennifer Garner) learns that her adult life is much more complicated than she expected.
This movie β a modern classic for a reason β features standout performances from Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, Andy Serkis, and many other beloved actors.
"About Time" (2013)
Domhnall Gleeson starred as Tim Lake in "About Time."
Universal Pictures
When Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) learns he can time travel, he sets his sights on finding love, using his gift to woo and begin a relationship with Mary (Rachel McAdams); but Tim must learn that time travel can't solve all of life's problems.
"Notting Hill" (1999)
Julia Roberts starred as Anna Scott in "Notting Hill."
Universal Pictures Entertainment
Julia Roberts was the queen of romantic comedies in the '90s, giving audiences classics like "Pretty Woman," "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Runaway Bride," and of course, "Notting Hill."
In "Notting Hill," Roberts plays American movie star Anna Scott, who falls for William Thacker (Hugh Grant), a London bookshop owner.
Both Roberts and Grant were nominated for Golden Globes for their performances.
"No Hard Feelings" (2023)
Andrew Barth Feldman and Jennifer Lawrence in "No Hard Feelings."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Jennifer Lawrence's big return to the silver screen came in this R-rated romantic comedy where she stars as Maddie, a 30-something-year-old Uber driver and waitress. After her car is towed, she accepts a Craigslist ad from a wealthy couple offering a Buick in exchange for dating their sheltered son, Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman), before he leaves for college.
The relationship (which faced criticism when the movie was released) ends up being sweet β and hilarious.
"This Is 40" (2012)
Leslie Mann in "This Is 40."
Universal Pictures
Judd Apatow's unofficial sequel to "Knocked Up" stars his wife, Leslie Mann, and Paul Rudd as married couple Debbie and Pete.
The couple navigates a rough patch in their relationship that captures the realities of marriage, parenthood, finances, and love with Apatow's signature sense of humor.
Mann and Apatow's daughters, Maude and Iris, also star in this 2012 movie, making it a full family affair.
"The Half of It" (2020)
Leah Lewis in "The Half of It."
Netflix
Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis), an introverted Chinese American girl, is known for writing fellow students' essays in exchange for money in her small town. Meanwhile, Paul Munsky (Daniel Diemer) is a football player who needs help communicating with his crush, Aster (Alexxis Lemire). Ellie agrees to write love letters for Paul, as she secretly likes Aster, too.
This modern adaptation of "Cyrano de Bergerac" is just too cute to miss.
"Love at First Sight" (2023)
Haley Lu Richardson in "Love at First Sight."
Netflix
As the title suggests, this is a movie all about chasing love at first sight.
Hadley (Haley Lu Richardson) and Oliver (Ben Hardy) meet on a flight to London and feel an instant connection. When they arrive, Hadley's phone dies, causing her to lose Oliver's number. With no way to contact him, she tries to find him again.
While this film has its cheesy moments, it's sweet, too β and critics were charmed by the leads and their chemistry.
"Anyone But You" (2023)
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell star as Bea and Ben in "Anyone But You."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Bea (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glen Powell) do not get along, but when they both end up in Australia for a wedding, the pair agree to fake date to further their own agendas. What could go wrong?
This modern take on the enemies-to-lovers trope brought romantic comedies back to the big screen and became a sleeper hit at the box office, grossing more than $220 million worldwide.
"Falling Inn Love" (2019)
Christina Milian in "Falling Inn Love."
Netflix
After losing her job and her boyfriend, Gabriela (Christina Milian) enters a "Win an Inn" contest β and wins. After finding that her new inn in New Zealand needs a renovation, she enlists the help of local Jake Taylor (Adam Demos) and the pair begins to fall for each other.
Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani star as Leilani and Jibran in "The Lovebirds."
Netflix
Leilani (Issa Rae) and Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) are a couple on the verge of a breakup when a man hijacks their car and uses it to kill another man before fleeing the scene.
Too afraid to go to the police, the couple seeks to find the murderer themselves and clear their names.
"The chemistry between stars Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae keeps the romantic comedy charming," Polygon's Karen Han wrote.
"When We First Met" (2018)
Alexandra Daddario and Adam DeVine in "When We First Met."
Netflix
Noah (Adam DeVine) meets Avery (Alexandra Daddario) at a Halloween party, and the two hit it off before hanging out for the rest of the night. Unfortunately for Noah, Avery says goodbye with a hug, leaving him in the friend zone.
Three years later, Avery's engaged and a heartbroken Noah returns to the photo booth they visited the night they met. Suddenly, he's back in time with the ability to use the photo booth for unlimited chances to make Avery fall in love with him ... but does the future ever really go as planned?
"Players" (2024)
Joel Courtney, Gina Rodriguez, Damon Wayans Jr., and Augustus Prew in "Players."
Netflix
This Netflix original stars Gina Rodriguez as Mack, a sportswriter who enjoys setting up hookups for her friends ... before she falls for someone herself.
"It's as much a story of love among friends as it is of any couple, and a handful of good gags and great performances keep the whole thing steaming along," The New York Times' Alissa Wilkinson wrote.
"Hit Man" (2023)
Glen Powell stars as Gary Johnson in "Hit Man."
Netflix
For the third time on this list, Glen Powell proves his rom-com prowess βΒ this time with "Hit Man." He plays Gary Johnson, a professor who moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department.
But things get complicated when Johnson, posing as a hit man named Ron, meets β and quickly falls for β Madison (Adria Arjona), a woman trying to have her abusive husband killed.
The Wrap's Ben Croll wrote that the film "is a deliriously entertaining star vehicle, a throwback to the low-concept, high-reward studio crowd-pleasers built around a comic persona and designed to showcase a gifted performer's range."
The 15-episode final season was split into three parts. On Thursday, season six part three's five episodes, the final handful in the series, were made available on Netflix.
The episodes closed the loop on legendary characters from the legacy movies β like the final showdown between villains John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) who both die when Silver's yacht explodes at the hands (well, cigar) of Kreese β and glory for the popular high school characters in the series β both Miguel (Xolo MaridueΓ±a) and Tory (Peyton List) become tournament champions.
But the final episode brings it all back to the character who has been the main focus of the series since the very beginning: Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).
In the 'Cobra Kai' finale, Johnny Lawrence finally gets his glory
Johnny Lawrence fights Wolf in the final episode of "Cobra Kai."
Netflix
In episode 15, titled "Ex-Degenerate (the pilot episode of the show is titled "Ace Degenerate"), Lawrence prepares to face off against Wolf (Lewis Tan), the sensei of the Iron Dragons, the rival dojo to Cobra Kai. With both dojos tied in points at the esteemed Sekai Taikai tournament, the only way to break the tie is for both senseis to fight it out.
This marks the first time Lawrence has fought in a tournament since Lawrence lost to Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) at the All-Valley tournament at the end of the first "Karate Kid" movie.
Lawrence is still haunted by the loss, even though he and LaRusso are now friends and LaRusso becomes Lawrence's sensei for the fight.
Johnny Lawrence against Daniel LaRusso in "The Karate Kid."
YouTube / MovieClips.com
After a montage of fight training that pays homage to the training in "Rocky 3," Lawrence is filled with confidence to battle Wolf. However, that changes when Wolf psychs him out in the locker room before the match.
Lawrence comes out flat at the start of the fight, quickly going down 0-2 in points. To win, the fighter has to score three. After a pep talk from LaRusso, Lawrence comes back to win the match, scoring the third point by taking LaRusso's advice of being defensive instead of on the offensive, which lost him the All-Valley decades ago.
The episode ends with the high school characters moving on to college and Lawrence getting a new crop of students.
Another 'Karate Kid' movie is in the works
Jackie Chan, Ben Wang, and Ralph Macchio in "Karate Kid: Legends."
Sony
We aren't done with Daniel LaRusso.
In May, Sony will release "Karate Kid: Legends," which will feature LaRusso and Mr. Han, played by Jackie Chan, who starred opposite Jaden Smith in 2010's "The Karate Kid."
In "Legends," which takes place three years after the final season of "Cobra Kai," the story focuses on a Kung-Fu prodigy named Li Fong (Ben Wang), who moves to New York City and struggles to fit in. Eventually, he enters a karate competition and is taken under the wing of Han and LaRusso.
It's unclear if any other "Cobra Kai" cast members besides Macchio will appear in the movie, but "Legends" director Jonathan Entwistle told Entertainment Weekly in December that he had detailed conversations with the "Cobra Kai" team to ensure "Legends" and "Cobra Kai" feel like "part of one family."
There's no 'Cobra Kai' season 7 β but what about a spinoff?
"Cobra Kai."
YouTube
It's unknown if "Cobra Kai" creators Hayden Schlossberg, Jon Hurwitz, and Josh Heald will be doing any spinoffs.
However, they have gone on the record as saying they'd like to do a prequel on the legendary sensei who trained LaRusso, Mr. Miyagi (played by Pat Morita). Recently, Schlossberg and Hurwitz told Yahoo that "nothing definitive" has happened with the project.
Director Andy Tennant had creative differences with star Will Smith on the 2005 rom-com "Hitch."
Smith rejected a scene on Ellis Island because he thought Black people didn't immigrate via the historic landmark.
The star agreed to film after learning relatives of his producing partner, who is Black, came through Ellis Island.
Twenty years after its 2005 debut, "Hitch" has become a beloved romantic comedy thanks to the chemistry between Will Smith and Eva Mendes, as well as Kevin James' physical comedy.
But director Andy Tennant ("Sweet Home Alabama") revealed to Business Insider that the process of making the movie wasn't as warm and fuzzy as the story itself.
"It was a battle," Tennant told BI of his creative struggles with Smith on 'Hitch."
In fact, one memorable scene almost didn't happen because Smith initially refused to shoot it.
In the middle of the movie, date doctor Alex "Hitch" Hitchens (Smith) goes on a date with Sara (Eva Mendes) to Ellis Island. The date goes horribly wrong after Hitch accidentally kicks Sara in the face trying to get on her Jet Ski. Things get worse when they go to Ellis Island, where Sara learns that her great-great-grandfather, who came through Ellis Island, was a murderer nicknamed the Butcher of CΓ‘diz.
Though the sequence is a highlight of the movie, Tennant told BI that Smith at first refused to do the scene because he thought Black people didn't come through Ellis Island while immigrating to the United States. (Though the island is largely known for being a processing hub for European and Asian immigrants, Black immigrants from the Caribbean also came to the country through Ellis Island.)
"Hitch."
Sony
"I begged him to come out to Ellis Island so I could at least pitch it," Tennant recalled.
Smith obliged, bringing along some other production people, including his producing partner and best friend James Lassiter, who is Black.
"I'm trying to save the sequence, and lo and behold, we find out that James' family came through Ellis Island," Tennant continued. "So that's why that scene is in the movie."
Reps for Smith did not respond to requests for comment from BI.
Tennant said the tension between him and Smith was so high during filming that Smith walked off the movie after production wrapped without saying goodbye.
Andy Tennant, Will Smith, and Kevin James on the set of "Hitch."
Sony
"I swear to god, when we wrapped that movie, I called my wife and said, 'I've just ruined my career, and I've ruined Will Smith's career,'" Tennant said.
That didn't turn out to be the case. The $70 million comedy had the biggest opening weekend ever for a rom-com at the time and went on to earn over $371 million worldwide.
Though he and Smith clashed creatively, Tennant said collaborating was key to the movie's success.
"The movie I wanted to make and the movie Will wanted to make, neither one of those movies is as good as the movie we made together," he said.
After receiving mixed reaction to his 2004 release "I, Robot," Smith recalibrated by turning to a genre he'd never done before: the romantic comedy.
With a cast that also included "The King of Queens" star Kevin James and Eva Mendes, and director Andy Tennant fresh off another successful rom-com, 2002's "Sweet Home Alabama," the movie that would become "Hitch" had the makings of a hit. The story of Alex "Hitch" Hitchens (Smith), who helps men land dates with the women of their dreams, debuted over Valentine's Day weekend in 2005 with the biggest opening weekend ever for a rom-com at the time. It would go on to earn over $371 million worldwide.
Still, the movie's path to becoming a beloved rom-com was far bumpier than it appeared, the film's director said. Tennant told Business Insider that creative battles behind the scenes defined his working relationship with Smith.
"I didn't want cheap jokes, but he didn't trust me," Tennant recalled. While a few on-set headaches ended up yielding some of the movie's best moments β one iconic scene was written on the spot at Smith's last-minute request β Tennant left filming feeling defeated.
"I swear to god, when we wrapped that movie, I called my wife and said, 'I've just ruined my career, and I've ruined Will Smith's career,'" he said.
Reps for Smith did not respond to requests for comment from BI.
Will Smith in "Hitch."
Sony Pictures
When he returned from a much-needed vacation, Tennant was surprised to learn that the movie was indeed workable β and maybe even good.
"I turned on my phone expecting a disaster and literally my editors, my brilliant editors who I've worked with for 30 years, they said, 'You're not going to believe this, this movie is hilarious,'" Tennant said. "I think I started crying."
For the movie's 20th anniversary, Tennant broke down the rocky road to making "Hitch," from how they saved the movie's Ellis Island scene to how Smith pulled some strings to ensure songs from Usher and Heavy D made it into the film.
Tennant thought he was going to be fired before filming began, and he said Will Smith almost pulled out of shooting
Andy Tennant, Will Smith, and Kevin James on the set of "Hitch."
Sony
Business Insider: Did you have something lined up after the hit film, "Sweet Home Alabama"?
Andy Tennant: I was developing a movie, and I had just heard that Jennifer Aniston had passed. I was heartbroken. I thought, I can't get a movie made even after "Sweet Home." I went to the gym, and I ran into Teddy Zee, who was an executive at Columbia at the time. He was bummed out because he just lost a director on a movie called "The Last First Kiss."
So he and I were commiserating, and he said, "I'm going to send you a script tonight. Read it tonight." I read it, and the next day, I went to meet with Will. That was the beginning of "Hitch." But, like a lot of scripts, it needed a whole lot of work, but the concept was great.
Were you curious why Will wanted to do a rom-com?
He's an incredible businessman, and he knew that there were places around the world where he wanted to open up his brand and do more. I think one of the reasons Will did the movie was because when we were making it in 2004 the studio said to him that romantic comedies with Black leads don't travel well overseas. That was the reason why Will wanted to do it. He wanted to break that barrier.Β
What was it like evolving the Hitch character alongside Will?
The original script was a date doctor. "No matter who, what, when, a man can sweep any woman off her feet; he just needs the right broom." I think that was the one line that we kept. Not to take anything away from Kevin Bisch β he wrote a solid movie that they decided to spend millions and millions of dollars making. So that in of itself, and the fact that he got sole credit, is because the idea was so strong.
I think my main contribution to the early conversations with Will was about Hitch not being a misogynist. That whole line about, "Hit it and quit it, that's not me."
But we had our difficulties. The movie I wanted to make and the movie Will wanted to make neither one of those movies is as good as the movie we made together. It was a battle. [Smith's wife] Jada [Pinkett Smith] was a big help. She kind of seconded some of my instincts. There was a time during prep when I was pushing back. A lot of crazy shit that was happening.Β
What is "crazy shit"?
Crazy story ideas. There was a draft that Will brought in that I was not a fan of. I finally told the studio that I was more afraid of Will making that version of the movie than I was about them firing me. Because I knew they were right on the edge of firing me before we even began shooting. And to Will's credit, we didn't go with that draft. I don't think I was ever in anyone's favor.
Did you wake up every day thinking this could be your last day on the movie?
No. This was all in prep. I think there was a lot of fear doing a big, expensive romantic comedy with Will. It was fraught with peril. Will tried to back out three days before we started shooting. He wanted to shut down and work on it some more. It was madness.
Once we started filming, it was a bunch of good creative people doing the best they could. There were some debates but there were things that turned out really funny. You keep all the really fun stuff you have a good movie, but it was a wild ride.
The doorstep scene between Will Smith and Kevin James was a last-minute addition filmed at Sarah Jessica Parker's brownstone
Will Smith and Kevin James in "Hitch."
Sony
How did the scene come together of Hitch showing Albert how to walk a woman to her door?
That scene was written by me and one of the producers that day β all day. And the reason was because the scene on that street was originally just three of four lines. We were then going to do a company move somewhere else.
That scene originally had Will and Kevin looking at the newspaper, "Tell me what this is?" "Oh, that's just a little me being me." "No, that's a little you being something I never want to see again." That was it.
But Will said, on the day we were shooting, "This is a great street. We should be doing something here." So that starts at 6:30, 7 in the morning. Now, he's right, but it's also, "Uh-oh, there goes the schedule." The chairman of Sony, Amy Pascal, was flying in to have dinner with us that night. Now we're off the rails and we have to come up with something.
So we start talking, and somehow the conversation turns to, "In New York City, do you say goodbye to somebody at the bottom of the stairs, or do you walk someone to their door if it's a brownstone?" That became a conversation, and then Will started saying stuff about the 90 and 10: a man goes 90% of the way, and the woman goes 10% on a first kiss. So we messed with that for a bit, and then someone came up with the keys jingling. Then Kevin was riffing on some stuff. It was all just an idea. And we didn't have a location to shoot this. We didn't have permission. We had nothing.
Will and I went to a brownstone we liked, walked up to the door, knocked on the door to see if we could get permission to shoot there, and it turned out to be Sarah Jessica Parker's house. So she was like, "Hi!" And we were like, "Hi, can we shoot on your doorstep?" And she was like, "Ah, yeah."
I wrote that scene with one of the producers three or four times, and at around 4 in the afternoon, Will was still worried about the scene. Kevin James told him, "It's really funny. It's going to be a good scene." And thank god for Kevin, because he got Will to shoot it.
That scene is five and a half pages long, written on that day. It's one of the best scenes in the movie. We shot a five-and-a-half-page scene in three hours and then went to dinner with Amy Pascal.
Will Smith needed some convincing to do the scene on Ellis Island
Oh my god. I should have taken a Xanax before this interview.
My writing partner Rick Parks and I wrote the Ellis Island scene because friends of mine who live in New York had never been out to Ellis Island. So we did the date at Ellis Island, the Jet Ski, the whole thing.
Will didn't want to do it because he said Black people didn't come through Ellis Island. I begged him to come out to Ellis Island so I could at least pitch it. It was me, Will, some of the production people, and Will's producing partner, James Lassiter, who is his best friend. So I'm trying to save the sequence, and lo and behold, we find out that James' family came through Ellis Island. So that's why that scene is in the movie.Β
The way Rick and I wrote it was as a romantic scene.Β But Susannah Grant [who was hired on the movie as a script doctor] was in town on a day we were talking about the scene, and she was the one who said it should go horribly wrong. We started riffing on Hitch kicking Sara in the head and the Butcher of CΓ‘diz, that all came from a fun afternoon lunch riff of what else we could do with that scene.Β
The other thing everyone was worried about was that Will can't swim, so they didn't want to put a $20 million movie star in the water. And Will was like, "No, just give me the life vest."Β
My favorite bit about that whole thing is it's almost like Eva pauses midair after Will kicks her before she hits the water. I have watched that scene a thousand times. I don't understand how she was able to pause before going into the water.Β
Kevin James improvised all his moves during the dance sequence
Will Smith had no idea what Kevin James was going to do in this scene.
That's all Will. This was when we were on the same page about stuff. He and I went to Amy Pascal's house with a new approach to some of the stuff we were thinking of doing. Will got up in front of Amy, and as we're pitching all the new cool stuff that's in the draft. Will got up and basically did the entire dance scene, but he had no idea what Kevin was going to do. So the day we shot the scene, that's all Kevin.
You can see Will holding the remote over his mouth, trying not to laugh. He didn't know what Kevin was going to do. None of us did. We couldn't believe it. Kevin talking about "Making the pizza," and then Will saying, "Don't need no pizza, they got food there," that was all ad-libbed.Β
We knew we were going to do a wedding scene, but we didn't have a scene. We had a bunch of extras and nothing. So I was asked to write something, and I laid down with a migraine, which I never had in my life. I was just out of ideas. And then I came up with it. I yelled out to the AD, "I need an 85-year-old woman!" And they found this wonderful extra and I wrote the scene of her choking to help Sara's friend Casey find a man.Β
Then, the dancing was just letting everyone go loose. We just turned the camera on and let them go. Like Kevin sliding between Will's legs and then doing the splits, that was all them. We started playing Heavy D's "Now That We've Found Love." Will called Heavy D to clear that for us, and they just kept coming up with shit, and we just did jump cut after jump cut of the best.Β
There could be a "Hitch" sequel, but Tennant isn't involved
We might see Will Smith and Eva Mendes together again in a "Hitch" sequel.
Columbia Pictures
So, by the end of filming, had you and Will patched things up?
The last thing we shot were the flashback scenes. Will shaved his goatee; he loved it. He wanted to look like Steve Urkel. When we wrapped Will walked off the set, didn't say goodbye to me, didn't say anything, he just left. I think he felt the same way I did. He thought this movie is a disaster. We wrapped and it was depressing.
When we saw it for the first time, it was with a test screening in Vegas, and I had Will Smith to my left and Amy Pascal to my right, which was a horrifying place to be. The movie ends and the audience has completely embraced the movie. People were cheering when the movie ended.
Amy Pascal turned to me, and I'll never forget this: she said, "You're done. Box it and ship it." That was our first and last test screening. We tested higher than any other movie they had at the time. It was nuts.Β
Was there ever talk of a sequel?
Oh yeah. I submitted a proposal for a sequel, which was quite fun, but I guess Will is developing a Hitch sequel without me. I just found out about it three months ago. I had a really good idea for a sequel, and I was talking to an executive at Sony, and he said Will's production company is developing a sequel. Hey, that's Hollywood.Β
I don't have anything against Will. He hired me to make this movie. It was not an easy job for anybody, but we went around the world with the movie. Even the hard times he'd always say, "Wait until the junket. We're gonna go around the world with this" βΒ and we did, and it was great. It was the most amazing trip I had ever been on.
And when it was over, my time with Will was over. That was it. And I have never heard from him since.Β
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Netflix has plenty of great new movies hitting the platform in February.
See Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in "Spencer," or watch acclaimed movies like "Parasite" and "The Founder."
Family favorites like "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" and "Despicable Me 4" are also streaming.
Here are the best movies coming to Netflix this month.
"Magic Mike XXL" (February 1)
Channing Tatum in "Magic Mike XXL."
Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.
One could argue that the second movie in this stripper trilogy is the best of all three.
Most of the original cast returns, as Mike (Channing Tatum) takes the gang on a road trip to Myrtle Beach for one final performance for the ladies.
"Miss Congeniality" (February 1)
Sandra Bullock in "Miss Congeniality."
Castle Rock Entertainment
In this classic comedy, Sandra Bullock plays an FBI agent who is transformed into a beauty pageant contestant to prevent a group from bombing the event.
Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt, Candice Bergen, and William Shatner all add to the fun in supporting roles.
"Parasite" (February 1)
Kang-ho Song in "Parasite."
Neon
You can't go wrong with Bong Joon-ho's four-time Oscar-winning masterpiece, which examines issues like class and privilege while telling the story of a poor family who infiltrates a wealthy one.
"Space Jam" (February 1)
Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan in "Space Jam."
Warner Bros. Family Entertainment
During the late 1990s, when Michael Jordan stepped away from professional basketball to pursue baseball following the death of his father, he also starred in this classic animated movie where the Looney Tunes gang recruit him to play in a basketball game against invading aliens.
"Two Weeks Notice" (February 1)
Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant in "Two Weeks Notice."
Warner Bros
Opposites attract in this rom-com starring Sandra Bullock as a lawyer who goes to work for a narcissistic billionaire played by Hugh Grant. You guessed it, eventually they fall for each other.
"The Wedding Planner" (February 1)
Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez in "The Wedding Planner."
Archive Photos / Getty Images
Here's more rom-com fun: Jennifer Lopez plays a wedding planner who begins to have feelings for the latest groom she's working with, played by Matthew McConaughey.
"The Founder" (February 2)
Michael Keaton in "The Founder."
The Weinstein Company
In this biopic, Michael Keaton plays businessman Ray Kroc, who turned a hamburger stand he stumbled across in the 1950s run by two brothers into the birthplace of fast food with the McDonald's chain. In the process, Kroc ruthlessly forced out the brothers of the soon-to-be lucrative company.
"Kinda Pregnant" (February 5)
Amy Schumer in "Kinda Pregnant."
Netflix
In this Netflix original comedy, Amy Schumer plays Lainy, who after learning that her best friend is pregnant, pretends she is too by wearing a fake belly. Complications ensue when she finds the man of her dreams while keeping up the lie.
"Spencer" (February 8)
Kristen Stewart in "Spencer."
Neon
Kristen Stewart transforms into Princess Diana in this impressionistic biopic of the late royal, which follows her as her life begins to unravel as she considers divorcing Prince Charles and leaving the royal family.
"Train to Busan" (February 11)
Gong Yoo in "Train to Busan."
Next Entertainment World
If you're in need of a good horror, you can't go wrong with this zombie movie, which follows a group of people trying to survive a train trip from Seoul to Busan during a zombie outbreak. Expect lots of gore and some laughs.
"Despicable Me 4" (February 28)
Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) in "Despicable Me 4."
Universal Pictures
The latest movie in the franchise follows Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) and his family β and, of course, the Minions β as they embark on a new spy adventure.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 2" (February 28)
Knuckled and Sonic face off in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2."
Paramount Pictures
Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) returns this time with his buddy Tails to take on Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) and the formidable Knuckles (Idris Elba).
But Mackie's moment in the spotlight has already been marred by controversy ahead of the movie's February 14 opening when comments he made about his character landed him in hot water.
"To me, Captain America represents a lot of different things and I don't think the term 'America' should be one of those representations," Mackie told a live audience in Rome on Monday on the film's press tour.
"It's about a man who keeps his word," he continued. "Who has honor, dignity, and integrity. Someone who is trustworthy and dependable."
Mackie also called the opportunity to play the character "a dream coming true."
While the comments could be interpreted as Mackie's attempt to cater to an international audience, the footage went viral and some Americans weren't happy.
The backlash was immediate, but Mackie isn't the first to downplay the 'America' aspect of the character
Chris Evans played Captain America before Anthony Mackie took over the shield.
Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP / Marvel
The response to Mackie's comments was swift.
Users on X had responses that ranged from, "Well, his name is Captain America. He represents American values. Get used to it," to "Strange take."
Others deemed the movie anti-American and called for a boycott of "Brave New World."
Mackie is not the first Captain America to downplay the "America" in the character's name.
Chris Evans, who bowed out of playing the role for nearly a decade following 2019's "Avengers: Endgame," told CBM in 2011 that he was trying not to "get too lost in the American side" of the character.
"This isn't a flag-waving movie. It is red, white, and blue, but it just so happens that the character was created in America during wartime, when there was a common enemy, even though it is Captain America," he said.
"I've said before in interviews that it feels more like he should just be called Captain Good. You know, he was created at a time when there was this undeniable evil, and this guy was kind of created to fight that evil. I think that everyone could agree that Nazis were bad, and he, Cap, just so happens to wear the red, white, and blue."
Evans didn't receive any backlash from these comments.
Mackie has since clarified his remarks
Anthony Mackie on the set of "Captain America: Brave New World."
"Let me be clear about this, I'm a proud American and taking on the shield of a hero like CAP is the honor of a lifetime," he wrote. "I have the utmost respect for those who serve and have served our country. CAP has universal characteristics that people all over the world can relate to."
@anthonymackie/Instagram
Reps for Mackie did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
"Captain America: Brave New World" also stars Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, and Giancarlo Esposito.
But there were some actors and movies that weren't called out.
Below, the Business Insider staff breaks down the three biggest surprises and three most upsetting subs from this year's nominations.
SNUB: Pamela Anderson for 'The Last Showgirl'
Pamela Anderson in 'The Last Showgirl."
Roadside Attractions
Anderson came out of nowhere to wow audiences in 2024 with her performance in "The Last Showgirl" as Shelly, a 57-year-old Vegas showgirl who hits a crossroads when the French-style revue she's performed in for three decades closes its doors.
Mixing a coquettishness reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe with a crushing vulnerability no one knew she could pull off, Anderson delivers the best performance of her career. Sadly, she won't be recognized for it on Hollywood's biggest night.
SNUB: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the 'Challengers' score
Mike Faist, Zendaya, and Josh O'Connor in "Challengers."
Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures
Reznor and Ross masterfully captured the messy dynamic between Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O'Connor), and Art (Mike Faist) in their pulsating "Challengers" score, while also providing a techno backdrop for all the tennis matches and relationship warfare.
Throbbing tracks like "The Signal," "Brutalizer," and "Match Point" worked perfectly next to the cinematography to yank the audience through the screen and onto the court.
It's impressive for a score to be so engaging while also delivering pure bangers that could fit right in at an underground rave β which might've livened up the Oscars if the academy had been bold enough to recognize Reznor and Ross' work.
SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste for 'Hard Truths'
Marianne Jean-Baptiste in "Hard Truths."
Thin Man Films Ltd
Jean-Baptiste didn't just give the best female performance of the year in "Hard Truths" β she gave the best performance, period. The angry, depressed Pansy Deacon in "Hard Truths" could have easily become a caricature in the hands of a lesser actor, as the miserable woman lashes out, often in absurd ways, at anyone and everyone who crosses her path. But Jean-Baptiste instilled humanity and even evoked sympathy in the unlikeable character with her layered performance.
She and the director Mike Leigh, who directed Jean-Baptiste to her first Oscar nomination almost 30 years ago in "Secrets & Lies," were tapping into something we never see represented on screen. They both should have been acknowledged for it, but Jean-Baptiste was the more egregious snub, particularly since she swept nearly all the critic and indie awards where she was nominated.
SURPRISE: Yura Borisov for 'Anora'
Yura Borisov in "Anora."
Neon
Borisov plays the sensitive henchman Igor in "Anora" with a disarming calmness opposite the outlandish antics of the movie's lead, Mikey Madison.
His quiet-guy act left a mark on not just audiences but members of the academy.
Borisov's nomination is the first time in almost five decades that a Russian actor has been nominated for an Oscar. The last was Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1977 for "The Turning Point."
SURPRISE: Sebastian Stan for playing Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'
Sebastian Stan in "The Apprentice."
Briarcliff Entertainment
Though "The Apprentice" got little marketing and most of Hollywood didn't want to touch the movie after its premiere at last year's Cannes Film Festival, Stan's performance as Trump made it to the big dance.
Stan is convincing as a young Trump trying to build his real-estate empire under the tutelage of the lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), getting the mannerisms down and even giving his character a sense of empathy.
SURPRISE: Multiple nominations for 'The Substance'
Demi Moore in "The Substance."
Christine Tamalet/Mubi
The academy has historically been reluctant to award Oscars to horror movies. While things have started to look up in recent years βΒ Jordan Peele broke through with "Get Out" β the amount of love "The Substance" got this year is pretty astounding.
Demi Moore was deservedly a lock for best actress with her raw performance as the washed-up celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle. It's thrilling to see her get this recognition for the first time after decades in the business.
It's more surprising, though, that the French director Coralie Fargeat landed first-time nominations for both directing and writing the outrageous body-horror film and that the movie itself got a best-picture nod. It's a watershed moment for the genre.
That puts it in a tie with titles such as "Gone With the Wind" and last year's best-picture winner, "Oppenheimer," for the second-most nominations of all time. It's also the most nominations ever for a non-English-language film.
The award-season favorites "Wicked" and "The Brutalist" received 10 nominations each, including for best picture.
Surprises included Sebastian Stan earning a best-actor nomination for his portrayal of Donald Trump in "The Apprentice" and Pamela Anderson missing out in the best-actress category for her critically acclaimed work in "The Last Showgirl."
The Oscars are scheduled for March 2 and set to be hosted by Conan O'Brien.
Here's the full list of nominees for the 2025 Oscars.
Jamie Foxx ad-libbed baby oil jokes in Netflix's "Back in Action" film.
Director Seth Gordon told Business Insider the jokes were filmed a year before the Sean Combs "Freak Offs" scandal.
"I don't think that means you're not allowed to use the words baby oil again," Gordon said.
"Back in Action" is filled with funny moments from Glenn Close's horny grandma vibes to Cameron Diaz grooving to Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It." If those don't spark a chuckle, Jamie Foxx's on-set ad-libs about baby oil are sure to bring a few laughs from this Netflix action comedy.
In the movie, Matt (Foxx) and Emily (Diaz) are CIA agents who go into hiding to start a family. Fifteen years later, viewers get a glimpse of their domesticated lives in full parent mode before everything goes to hell and their cover is blown.
One of the running gags is Emily telling Matt how she wants to reconnect with their teenage daughter by bringing back movie night. She suggests they watch the "Creed" movies, and Matt responds by saying, "That's a lot of baby oil."
Scenes later, when Emily's daughter rejects movie night, Matt tells Emily the two of them will have a movie night.
Emily suggests "Creed 3," to which Matt responds: "To help, I'll put some baby oil on, like Michael B." Referring to "Creed" franchise star Michael B. Jordan.
Director Seth Gordon told BI that Foxx came up with those baby oil jokes on his own while shooting.
"That was an ad-lib Jamie did," he said. "It was hilarious."
Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx on the set of "Back in Action."
"We shot that the prior year," Gordon said. "The Diddy thing happened after picture lock. Also, I don't think that means you're not allowed to use the words baby oil again."
Jamie Foxx's Hollywood career spans over two decades.
Leon Bennett/WireImage
In September, Combs was indicted on racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution charges. Combs pleaded not guilty.
Since then, Foxx has distanced himself from Combs. Foxx, 57, who was hospitalized while filming "Back in Action," later explained in his December Netflix comedy special "What Had Happened Was" that he'd suffered a stroke. In the special, he also talked about his times with Combs, saying "I left them parties early. I was out by 9."
Jamie Foxx as Matt and Cameron Diaz as Emily in "Back in Action."
Netflix
Warning: Spoilers below if you haven't seen "Back in Action."
Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz play former spies who have to save their kids from a villain in Netflix's "Back in Action."
Director Seth Gordon told Business Insider he wants to cast a big name to play Diaz's father in a potential sequel.
Netflix's "Back in Action" follows Matt (Jamie Foxx) and Emily (Cameron Diaz), two former CIA spies who, after leaving the agency to start a family, are thrust back into the espionage game 15 years later when their cover is blown and their kids are kidnapped.
The action comedy concludes with a thrilling fight on London's River Thames where Matt and Emily save their kids β with the help of Emily's estranged mother, Ginny (Glenn Close), a gun-toting former spy β and the bad guy, Chuck (Kyle Chandler), dies in a fiery wreck.
In the final sequence, Matt and Emily are cheering for their daughter at her soccer game and appear to be back to living their normal lives.
Glenn Close in "Back in Action."
John Wilson/Netflix
But suddenly MI6 agent Baron (Andrew Scott) appears and informs Matt and Emily that they never found Chuck's body. They now want to enlist Emily's father to help them with the search. Matt is shocked, as Emily never told him about her father.
The ending clearly sets the stage for a sequel that will add another big name to this already star-studded potential franchise.
"I've got a couple ideas, yes," "Back in Action" director Seth Gordon told BI when asked if he has any actors in mind to play the father role. "I'm not going to say because who knows what's going to happen, but there's definitely a plan of what we could do."
It certainly would have to be someone who can have a playful rapport opposite not just Diaz and Foxx but Close, as the two characters have a history.
Seth Gordon, Cameron Diaz, and Jamie Foxx at the world premiere of "Back in Action."
Christoph Soeder/DPA/Picture Alliance/Getty Images
Gordon said the fun of developing the project was plugging in comedic elements of the family dynamic β Matt and Emily's son spending too much time on his devices, while their daughter lies about studying to go out partying with friends β around the action sequences.
"This came out of all these conversations I had with the producer Beau Bauman of what we deal with with our kids," Gordon said.
"I think what really works in the movie is you see this family deal with traditional family issues in their very specific and crazy way, so I think that would be a good thing to continue in the sequel," Gordon said.
He's already thinking about what else he could do in a potential follow-up: "What are some other life events that you got that involve the kids where things could haunt Emily and Matt from their past?"
Jamie Foxx's Hollywood career spans over two decades.
Leon Bennett/WireImage
Jamie Foxx is one of Hollywood's biggest draws, starring in over 40 films through his career across many genres.
He received critical acclaim as the lead in movies like "Django Unchained" and "Ray," which won him an Oscar.
Here are all of Foxx's movie performances, ranked by critics.
For over three decades, Jamie Foxx has been a Hollywood staple, especially on the big screen, where he's played everything from a disgruntled quarterback in "Any Given Sunday" to a rugged cowboy in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."
His latest movie, Netflix's "Back in Action," marks Cameron Diaz's first starring role in ten years. But it's also a comeback for Foxx, who suffered a stroke while the movie was in production. After months of recovery, he returned to finish the action comedy, which stars him and Diaz as CIA agents who walk away to start a family. Β
Below, we look back at Foxx's career by ranking all his movies according their critics scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
Note: This list does not include documentaries Foxx starred in.
Zac Ntim and Keyaira Boone contributed to previous versions of this post.
Foxx's lowest-ranked movie is 2024's "Not Another Church Movie."
Jamie Foxx in "Not Another Church Movie."
Briarcliff Entertainment
This spoof on the religious movie genre makes fun of everyone from Oprah to Tyler Perry. And yes, Foxx plays God.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%Β
Critics weren't impressed by 2005's "Stealth."
Jamie Foxx alongside Jessica Biel and Josh Lucas in "Stealth."
Sony Pictures
Set in the near future, the US Navy has developed a new AI-powered fighter jet. But when the computer develops a mind of its own, it falls to Foxx and his partners played by Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel to stop the computer before it sparks a new world war.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%
Foxx led a star-studded remake of "Robin Hood" in 2018.
Jamie Foxx and Taron Egerton in "Robin Hood."
Larry Horricks / Lionsgate
Foxx and Taron Egerton lead this modern reimagining of the classic tale of a heroic outlaw and his Merry Men who mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown.Β
Rotten Tomatoes score: 14%Β
Foxx made one of his first substantial screen performances in the 1999 comedy "Held Up."
Jamie Foxx stars alongside Nia Long in "Held Up."
Trimark Pictures
Michael Dawson (Foxx) is a successful businessman, but his life starts to fall apart while on a road trip with his wife (Nia Long) when she discovers that he splashed their entire savings to buy the car. She ditches him hitch-hiking back home while he gets stuck in the middle of an unwelcoming rural town.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 17%
Foxx rounds out a star-studded cast that includes Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel in 2019's "Valentine's Day."
Jamie Foxx stars alongside Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Biel.
New Line Cinema
Through a series of intertwining vignettes, audiences watch a group of Los Angeles natives navigate their way through the highs and lows of dating on Valentine's Day.Β As the days quickly unfold, they experience first dates, make-ups, break-ups, and youthful crushes.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 18%
Jamie Foxx stars alongside Cameron Diaz in the 2025 Netflix comedy "Back in Action."
Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz in "Back in Action."
John Wilson / Netflix
Foxx and Diaz play CIA agents who go into hiding to start a family. 15 years later, their cover is blown, and after their kids are kidnapped, they must get back into the espionage game to get them back.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 21%
Foxx plays a mysterious character named The Ferryman in the forgettable 2023 movie "God Is a Bullet."
Jamie Foxx in "God Is a Bullet."
Wayward Entertainment
Foxx plays a "social renegade" who teams with a detective (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to track down the detective's daughter, who has been kidnapped by a satanic cult.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 24%
Foxx is a cop with a grudge in 2017's "Sleepless."
Jamie Foxx in "Sleepless."
Open Road Films
Foxx stars as an undercover Las Vegas police officer who is thrown into the high-stakes world of murderous gangsters and corrupt cops after a failed heist results in the kidnapping of his teenage son.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 25%
Foxx shines in Antoine Fuqua's 2000 cult classic "Bait."
Jamie Foxx in "Bait."
Warner Bros. Pictures
After landing in jail for petty theft, Alvin Sanders (Foxx) ends up sharing a cell with the notorious criminal John Jaster who is serving a long sentence for stealing $40,000,000 worth of gold from the Federal Reserve. Realizing that he is sick and could die at any moment, Jaster uses Sanders to send covert messages to his wife about the location of the hidden gold.Β
Rotten Tomatoes score: 26%Β
Foxx plays another unscrupulous cop in the violent thriller "Law Abiding Citizen."
Jamie Foxx acts alongside Gerard Butler in "Law Abiding Citizen."
Overture Films
Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) is a normal, law abiding citizen until his family is murdered during a botched home invasion and the killer is set free thanks to a plea bargain offered by the prosecutor Nick Rice (Foxx).Β In response, Shelton takes justice into his own hands.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 26%Β
Foxx stars as Will Stacks, the character based on daddy Warbucks, in the 2014 reimagining of the classic musical "Annie."
"Annie" was produced by Will and Jada-Pinkett Smith.
Sony Pictures Releasing
Foxx leads this new, progressive take on the classic tale of "Annie," about a young orphan who longs for her parents to return and save her from the clutches of her mean foster mother.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 28%
1997's "Booty Call" is one of Foxx's early comedy gems.
Jamie Foxx is Bunz in "Booty Call."
Columbia Pictures
Rushon (Tommy Davidson) is ready to take thing things to the next level with his girlfriend Nikki (Tamala Jones). But when he sets up a romantic date, she decides to make it a double-date and brings along her close friend Lysterine (Vivica A. Fox) who Rushon sets up with his extravagant friend Bunz (Foxx).Β
Rotten Tomatoes score: 31%
Foxx and Gabrielle Union star in the 2004 screwball comedy "Breakin' All the Rules."
Jamie Foxx and Gabrielle Union in "Breakin' All the Rules."
Ice Cube enlisted Foxx for his 1998 directorial debut "The Players Club."
Jamie Foxx and LisaRaye in "The Players Club"
New Line Cinema
To stay on top of her bills, Diana Armstrong (LisaRaye) starts stripping and joins the infamous Player's Club where she meets the smooth-talking DJ played by Foxx.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 35%
Foxx reprises his role as Dean "MF" Jones in 2014's "Horrible Bosses 2."
Jamie Foxx and Jason Sudeikis in "Horrible Bosses 2."
Warner Bros. Pictures
Three friends decide to quit their jobs and go into business for themselves. And after creating the prototype for a promising new invention, the guys attract the attention of a businessman who steals their idea. In response, the trio concocts a kidnapping scheme with a small-time criminal called Dean "Motherfucker" Jones (Foxx).
Rotten Tomatoes score: 36%
Foxx has a supporting role in Todd Phillips' 2010 comedy "Due Date."
Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx in "Due Date."
Warner Bros. Pictures
Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.), a successful architect, is flying home from Atlanta to Los Angeles to be with his wife who is about to give birth. On the way to the airport, he has a chance encounter with Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), but after Ethan uses the words "terrorist" and "bomb" while talking to Peter, they are both escorted off the plane and placed on a no-fly list.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 39%
Foxx plays a scheming boxer in the 1996 sports spoof "The Great White Hype."
Michael Jace and Jamie Foxx in "The Great White Hype."
20th Century Fox
Boxing promoter the Rev. Fred Sultan (Samuel L. Jackson) realizes that the only way to gain publicity for his top Black clients is to pit them against white boxers. But when there no white boxers available, he gets creative.Β
Rotten Tomatoes score: 42%
Foxx teams up with Colin Farrell in 2006's "Miami Vice."
Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell in Michael Mann's "Miami Vice."
Universal Pictures
Based on the 1980s TV show of the same name, Michael Mann's action-packed thriller follows Miami-Dade Police detectives James "Sonny" Crockett (Farrell) and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs (Foxx) whose personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined during a high-profile drug case.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 47%
Foxx lent his voice to the 2014 sequel "Rio 2."
Jamie Foxx lends his voice alongside Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg.
20th Century Fox
The 3D computer-animated musical follows a family of Blue macaws birds who decide to relocate from the city to the Amazon jungle to become more in touch with their fellow birds.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 50%
Foxx plays the supervillain Electro in 2014's "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."
Foxx as Electro in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Just as Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) embraces his new role as the city's new hero, Electro (Foxx), a much more powerful villain, arrives on the scene and poses the biggest threat Parker has ever faced.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 50%
Foxx is the lead in 2007's ambitious thriller "The Kingdom."
Jamie Foxx in "The Kingdom."
Universal Pictures
After being set the most important assignment of his career, federal agent Ron Fleury (Foxx) is given one week to assemble a killer team and infiltrate a terrorist cell based in Saudi Arabia.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 51%
Legendary director Oliver Stone cast Foxx as his star for the 1999 sports drama, "Any Given Sunday."
Jamie Foxx in "Any Given Sunday."
Warner Bros.
Partly based on a 1984 novel of the same name, "Any Given Sunday" follows Al Pacino as the head coach of a once-revered football team with star players who are now struggling to win a single game. Foxx plays a bench warmer turned star quarterback who lets the game go to his head.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 52%
Foxx is the US president in 2013's "White House Down."
German director Roland Emmerich helmed "White House Down."
Sony Pictures Releasing
Police officer John Cale (Channing Tatum) has just failed to land his dream job of protecting President James Sawyer (Foxx) as a member of the Secret Service. And in an attempt to cheer up his young daughter, Cale takes her on a tour of the White House. But during the tour, an armed militia group attacks and takes control.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 52%
Foxx voices a foul-mouthed dog in the 2023 comedy "Strays."
Jamie Foxx starred alongside Will Ferrell.
Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Pictures
Will Ferrell voices a terrier named Reggie who has become a stray after his owner (Will Forte) pulls a trick on him. Now, Reggie and other strays he's befriended (voiced by Foxx, Isla Fisher, Rob Riggle, Randall Park, and Josh Gad) set out to get revenge on Reggie's owner.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 54%
Foxx plays a vampire hunter in the 2022 Netflix movie "Day Shift."
Jamie Foxx in "Day Shift."
Netflix
Foxx plays a pool cleaner in the San Fernando Valley by day whose real job is secretly hunting and killing vampires by night. Come for the action sequences, and stay for Snoop Dogg killing vampires.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 57%Β
Foxx teams up with Robert Downey Jr. in the 2009 tearjerker "The Soloist."
Foxx portrays Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless man and former musical prodigy, in "The Soloist."
Paramount Pictures
Journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) is wandering through LA's Skid Row district when he spots a homeless man (Foxx) playing a two-stringed violin.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 57%Β
Foxx stars in the intimate 2005 war epic "Jarhead."
Jamie Foxx in "Jarhead."
Universal Pictures
Jake Gyllenhaal and Foxx join forces for acclaimed British director Sam Mendes's first-person account of life at war.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 60%
Foxx led his first Netflix movie, "Project Power," in 2020.
Jamie Foxx and Dominique Fishback in "Project Power."
Netflix
In near-future New Orleans, Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) teams up with a rogue ex-soldier (Foxx) to track down the origins of a dangerous new drug that provides its users with temporary superpowers.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 61%
The stakes are high in Foxx's 2003 crime thriller "Shade."
Jamie Foxx plays a seasoned con-artist.
DEJ Productions
Tiffany (Foxx) and his crew of con artists are looking to expand their criminal portfolio and decide to scam Dean "The Dean" Stevens (Dina Merrill), a well-known poker player during a rigged game.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 67%
Jamie Foxx plays Drew Bundini Brown, Muhammad Ali's assistant trainer in the acclaimed 2001 biopic "Ali."
Michael Mann directed this acclaimed biopic.
Sony Pictures Releasing
The Michael Mann-directed biopic focuses on ten years in the life of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, starting with his championship debut against Sonny Liston to his conversion to Islam, banishment from boxing, and finally, his triumphant return in 1974.
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
Foxx is the comedic heavyweight in 2011's "Horrible Bosses."
Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day and Foxx in "Horrible Bosses."
New Line Cinema
One night at a bar, three friends decide to murder their overbearing and abusive bosses, and they turn to a random and seemingly inexperienced criminal (Foxx) for advice.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 69%
The first "Rio" film, out in 2011, won acclaim for its innovative animation and original songs.
The film was nominated for a best original song Oscar.
20th Century Fox
A set of exotic Brazilian birds are smuggled to the United States where they live a domesticated life but when Blu, a rare bird, realizes he might be the last of his species on earth, he decides to travel back home.Β
Rotten Tomatoes score: 72%
Foxx is a standout in 2006's "Dreamgirls."
Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls."
DreamWorks Pictures
Three talented singers form a music trio called the Dreamettes, and they quickly find success after they are spotted by talent scout manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Foxx). But the group starts to unravel as Taylor's management becomes increasingly cruel and overbearing.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 79%
Foxx won an Oscar for his acclaimed performance as Ray Charles in 2004's "Ray."
Jamie Foxx in "Ray."
Universal
Foxx, in perhaps his most memorable performance, transforms into the legendary Blues musician Ray Charles who lost his sight at age 9 but would go on to define a generation of American music.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 79%
Foxx teamed up with Brie Larson and Michael B. Jordan for the 2019 fact-based drama "Just Mercy."
Jamie Foxx in "Just Mercy."
Photo: Jake Giles Netter
After graduating from Harvard Law school, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) leaves for Alabama to open a law clinic dedicated to defending death row inmates. One of his first cases is Walter McMillian (Foxx), who was sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl despite overwhelming evidence proving his innocence.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
One of Foxx's first on-screen roles was in the 1996 his "The Truth About Cats & Dogs."
Jamie Foxx and Ben Chaplin in "The Truth About Cats & Dogs."
20th Century Fox
A popular radio show host (Janeane Garofalo) is asked out on a date by one of her listeners, but when she backs out due to nerves she sends her friend Noelle (Uma Thurman) in her place.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
Michael Mann teamed Foxx with Tom Cruise in the acclaimed 2004 thriller "Collateral."
Tom Cruise and Foxx in "Collateral."
Paramount Pictures
Foxx plays an LA cab driver who realizes that the friendly passenger he's been driving around is actually a deadly hitman who has been executing murders all evening. And the final person on the kill list is one of his friends.
Foxx earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for this role in the same year he won the best actor Oscar for "Ray."
Rotten Tomatoes score: 86%
Foxx takes the lead in Quentin Tarantino's 2012 neo-Western "Django Unchained."
Jamie Foxx in "Django Unchained."
The Weinstein Company
In 1858, three years before the civil war, Django (Foxx), a freed slave from the South, sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner with the help of an enigmatic German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz).
Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%
Foxx starred in Edgar Wright's acclaimed 2017 heist thriller "Baby Driver."
Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx, Eiza GonzΓ‘lez, and Jon Hamm in "Baby Driver."
Sony Pictures
Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a talented getaway driver for Atlanta's most dangerous criminals. But after he meets the woman of his dreams (Lily James), he decides to leave the business β until he is forced into one more big gig by an enigmatic crime boss (Kevin Spacey). Foxx plays one of the thugs Baby drives around.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Foxx plays a flashy lawyer in the 2023 legal drama "The Burial."
Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx in "The Burial."
Amazon Prime
Based on true events, Foxx plays Willie E. Gary, an unconventional lawyer who helps a funeral home owner with financial troubles (Tommy Lee Jones) save his family business from a corporate behemoth.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Foxx returned as Electro/Max Dillon in the 2021 box office smash "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
Jamie Foxx in "Spider-Man: No Way Home."
Sony P
Seven years after showing up in the Marvel universe in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," Foxx got another shot at the MCU appearing as one of the villains three Peter Parkers (Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire) must face off with.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93%
Β
Foxx plays a jazz musician trying to get out of a coma in the 2020 Pixar movie "Soul."
Jamie Foxx plays Joe Gardner in "Soul."
Pixar
In this acclaimed Pixar movie, Foxx plays Joe Gardner, a middle school teacher and aspiring jazz pianist who falls into a coma after an accident and must unite his soul and body in time for his big break as a jazz musician.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%
Foxx stars opposite Teyonah Parris and John Boyega in the 2023 Netflix sci-fi comedy "They Cloned Tyrone."
Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, and John Boyega in "They Cloned Tyrone."
Parrish Lewis/Netflix
Foxx, Teyonah Parris, and John Boyega give outstanding performances as a trio who set out to uncover a government cloning conspiracy.
David Lynch, the director of iconic films like "The Elephant Man" and "Blue Velvet," died at 78.
Lynch was also known for creating the TV series "Twin Peaks."
Lynch said last August that he had emphysema after years of smoking.
David Lynch, the visionary director of surrealist films like "The Elephant Man," "Blue Velvet," and "Mulholland Drive," as well as the hit TV series "Twin Peaks," has died, his family announced on Thursday. He was 78.
"There's a big hole in the world now that he's no longer with us," Lynch's family wrote. "But, as he would say, 'Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.'"
In August, the filmmaker announced that he had emphysema following decades of smoking, though he said he hadn't smoked in more than two years.
"I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco - the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them - but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is emphysema," he wrote, adding, "I will never retire."
Lynch's groundbreaking works blended elements of horror, film noir, and surrealism, creating a uniquely skewed vision of America. His 1977 black-and-white debut feature, "Eraserhead," grabbed the attention of cinephiles across the globe and became a cult classic.
"Eraserhead."
Libra Films International
Mel Brooks then hired Lynch to direct 1980's "The Elephant Man," which chronicles the life of a severely deformed man (played by John Hurt) living in 19th-century London. It garnered eight Oscar nominations, including best picture and best director.
After adapting Frank Herbert's "Dune" in 1984, resulting in a box-office flop, Lynch produced a string of surrealist works that would define his career: 1986's "Blue Velvet," 1990's "Wild at Heart," 1992's "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" (the prequel to his hit TV show "Twin Peaks," which ran from 1990 to 1991), and 1997's "Lost Highway."
"Blue Velvet."
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
Each title showcased Lynch's seemingly limitless creativity as he pushed the boundaries of narrative structure while dazzling the viewer with exquisite production design and cinematography.
In 2001, Lynch released his neo-noir masterpiece "Mulholland Drive," which would win him the award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival and garner him another Oscar nomination for best director.
Lynch's final work was the third season of "Twin Peaks," which debuted to critical acclaim in 2017.
Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx on the set of "Back in Action."
John Wilson/Netflix
Jamie Foxx suffered a stroke in April 2023 while in production on his Netflix movie "Back in Action."
Director Seth Gordon recounts how he continued making the movie while Foxx recovered.
"Back in Action," starring Foxx and Cameron Diaz, is available Friday on Netflix.
Making a movie is never an easy or predictable process. But veteran writer-director Seth Gordon could only come up with one word to describe the challenges it took to make his Netflix movie "Back in Action": "special."
Gordon was prepping for a day of shooting in Atlanta on April 12, 2023, when he received a call no director ever wants: one of his stars wouldn't be reporting to work that day. But it got worse. The star, Jamie Foxx, had collapsed the day before and was in the hospital.
"We didn't know anything," Gordon told Business Insider via Zoom from Berlin. "No details. But we simply wanted to make sure he was OK as best we could. We put that priority first."
"Back in Action" was being billed as an action comedy about two CIA spies who have gone into hiding to start a family. With star power in Foxx and Cameron Diaz, who returned to acting for her first role in eight years, it had a lot of hype. Now, it would be known as the movie Foxx was making when he mysteriously collapsed.
It would take a months before the public would hear from Foxx again, as speculation ran rampant about what had afflicted the star. Revealing the cause of his mysterious illness would take longer. In his Netflix standup special "Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was...", released in December 2024, Foxx said he suffered a brain bleed that led to a stroke that rendered him unconscious for weeks.
During that time, Gordon and the producers of "Back in Action" scrambled to continue making the movie, holding out hope that Foxx would one day return to finish it.
Gordon resumed filming with Foxx body doubles, then rewrote some scenes
Jamie Foxx at the AAFCA Special Achievement Awards luncheon on Sunday, March 3, 2024, in Los Angeles.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
After the shock of Foxx's hospitalization wore off, Gordon had to figure out what to do with a movie that was already deep in production. A key action sequence was set to be shot the week Foxx fell ill.
Gordon said he wasn't panicked.
"From doing documentaries, I'm really used to having no idea what is actually going to happen," said Gordon, who, before making comedies like "Four Christmases" and "Horrible Bosses," made the beloved documentary "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters."
"You do your best to guess and your best to plan and then you react to reality as it unfolds. So maybe my stomach is a little more used to that uncertainty than it should be."
With locations already locked and the rest of the cast and crew ready to go, Gordon powered through trying to shoot an exterior fight sequence sans Foxx.
"We shot part of it, what we could shoot without Jamie, which was limited," said Gordon. The shoot made headlines as pictures of Foxx's body double doing the scene alongside Diaz spread across the internet.
At that point, Gordon said he was at a loss for what would be the right way to proceed. Production was halted until he could get a better idea of Foxx's condition.
During the months-long downtime, Gordon said he began editing the movie and realized that some of the scenes they had yet to shoot were unnecessary.
"I basically reconceived a couple scenes," he said.
Now, all Gordon needed was for Foxx to get better.
Gordon never considered recasting Foxx, who finally returned to set cracking jokes
Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz in "Back in Action."
John Wilson / Netflix
Despite knowing very little about Foxx's condition, Gordon said there was never a conversation to recast the Oscar winner.
"There's no movie without him, honestly," Gordon said. "It really became putting all our eggs in the basket of praying that he got better."
Finally, all anxieties were laid to rest when Foxx showed up to see a rough assembly of some scenes in the fall of 2023.
"He was 100%," Gordon said, recalling his shock when Foxx strolled into the editing bay like he hadn't been fighting for his life mere months earlier.
"In classic Jamie style he was smooth, was cracking jokes, holding court, he was hilarious, as usual," Gordon said of their meeting.
Gordon showed Foxx the thrilling plane crash sequence that opens the movie.
"He got really excited about what he saw," he said.
The star's return was a huge boost for production morale. Then word came that filming could resume in January 2024.
"We were doing backflips and just hoping everything would remain OK," Gordon said. "Jamie went through a pretty severe thing, and the last thing in the world we would want to have happen is the stress from shooting to cause something."
Gordon thinks Foxx's recovery is a miracle, and on-set spontaneity led to even better scenes
Jamie Foxx in "Back in Action."
Netflix
With the movie back on, Gordon shot the remaining scenes as well as some new ones showcasing the dynamic between spy parents Matt (Foxx) and Emily (Diaz) and their daughter Alice (McKenna Roberts), which Gordon devised during the pause in production.
In one scene, after Matt and Emily drop their kids off at school, Emily uses binoculars to spy on Alice and a boy. Matt snatches the binoculars so he can see. Then Gordon came up with an idea between takes.
"At the very last minute, I asked props if they had another pair of binoculars," he said. "I wrote it for one pair, but I thought it would be hilarious if she all of a sudden had a second pair."
They shot the next take on the fly, with Emily suddenly looking through a new pair of binoculars as Matt looks with the ones he originally took from her.
Gordon said the bit got a great reaction when they test-screened the movie. And it all came from the spontaneity created by the director's desire to be mindful of Foxx's health by keeping his workload light and not doing too many takes.
"Making movies is hard and those days can be long, so what I was trying to do was keep everything with him as brief as possible for him," Gordon said.
Looking back, Gordon is still amazed by Foxx's recovery.
If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or has had thoughts of harming themself or taking their own life, get help. In the US, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Help is also available through the Crisis Text Line β just text "HOME" to 741741. The International Association for Suicide Prevention offers resources for those outside the US.
Dick Button, 95
Dick Button.
Bettmann Archive/Getty
Button was one of the greats in men's figure skating.
His dominance in the sport began in the late 1940s, when he began winning on the amateur circuit by landing moves no one had ever seen done before in competition, including the double axel and the triple jump.
He would go on to win two Olympic gold medals and five consecutive world championships.
Once he retired, he went on to become an Emmy-winning analyst and even was one of the minds behind the popular 1970s competition show "Battle of the Network Stars," in which celebrities challenged one another in various sports competitions.
Button died on January 30. No cause was given.
Leslie Charleson, 79
Leslie Charleson.
ABC Photo Archives/Getty
For 50 years, fans of "General Hospital" knew Charleson as Dr. Monica Quartermaine, a role she played since 1977.
Charleson was beloved by fans and used her celebrity to support charities for breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS awareness.
Charleson's other credits include "Adam 12," "Barnaby Jones," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Ironside," "Kung Fu," and "The Rockford Files."
She also starred in "Happy Days" and gave Ron Howard his first on-screen kiss.
Faithfull was a fixture in the London music scene during the 1960s.
She was discovered by The Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, which led to her finding instant stardom not just for her chart-topping music, like "As Tears Go By," which became a top 5 single in the UK, but also for her hard-partying ways alongside her then-flame Mick Jagger.
Throughout the 1960s, she was the inspiration for Stones hits "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Wild Horses" while being a co-writer on "Sister Morphine." But she was also in a deep addiction to drugs. She was famously found wearing nothing but a fur rug during a 1967 drug bust at Keith Richards' Sussex home.
Faithfull made a comeback with the 1979 album "Broken English," which earned her a Grammy nomination.
Other hit songs include "This Little Bird," "Summer Nights," and "Come and Stay With Me."
She also starred in movies like 1967's "I'll Never Forget What's'isname" and 1968's "The Girl on the Motorcycle."
In an era of hip-hop where the producers were as prominent as the artists, Irv Gotti was one of the shining stars of the late 1990s and 2000s.
Gotti, who was born Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. and later went by DJ Irv, came on the scene as A&R for Def Jam. He brought in artists that would define the next generation of hip-hop to the label like Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule.
His coming out party was producing one of Jay-Z's first hits, "Can I Live," from his 1996 debut album "Reasonable Doubt."
Soon after, his Irv Gotti persona was created when he founded the rap label Murder Inc. Records, bringing along artists like DMX and Ja Rule and signing others like Ashanti.
There he became the face of smash hits like Jay-Z's "Can I Get Aβ¦," DMX's "What's My Name," Ja Rule's "Holla Holla," Fat Joe's "What's Luv?," Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real," and Ashanti's "Foolish."
In recent years, Gotti had suffered strokes and battled diabetes-related issues. He died on February 5. No cause was given.
David Lynch, 78
David Lynch.
Guy Kinziger/WireImage/Getty
Lynch was the visionary director of surrealist films like "The Elephant Man," "Blue Velvet," "Mulholland Drive," and the hit TV series "Twin Peaks."
His groundbreaking works blended elements of everything from horror to film noir to surrealism, creating a uniquely skewed vision of America.
After adapting Frank Herbert's "Dune" in 1984, resulting in a box office flop, Lynch produced a string of surrealist works that would define his career: 1986's "Blue Velvet," 1990's "Wild at Heart," 1992's "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me" (the prequel to his hit TV show "Twin Peaks," which ran from 1990 to 1991), and 1997's "Lost Highway."
Each title showcased Lynch's seemingly limitless creativity as he pushed the boundaries of narrative structure while dazzling the viewer with exquisite production design and cinematography.
The Lynch family announced his passing on January 16. In August 2024, the filmmaker announced that he had emphysema following decades of smoking, but said he hadn't smoked in over two years.
Sam Moore, 89
Sam Moore.
Gie Knaeps/Getty
Moore's R&B sound influenced everyone from Michael Jackson to Bruce Springsteen.
Alongside Dave Prater, Moore found fame in the 1960s with Sam & Dave, a duo who had hits like "Hold On, I'm Comin'" and "Soul Man."
"Soul Man" would gain renewed popularity in the late 1970s when Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi began performing the song as their alter egos, R&B singers The Blues Brothers, on "Saturday Night Live." The song would continue to find new fans in 1980 when "The Blues Brothers" movie was released.
Moore went solo in 1970 and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
Thanks to her stunning beauty, Page became a fixture in both French cinema and Hollywood through the 1960s.
She's best known for playing Madame Anais, the owner of a high-class brothel in Luis BuΓ±uel's 1967 masterpiece "Belle de Jour."
In the movie, Anais oversees the actions of Catherine Deneuve's character Severine, a bored housewife who turns to prostitution to spice up her life. But she only works in the afternoon while her husband is away at work, leading to Anais calling her "Belle de Jour" ("Beauty of the Day").
Page also starred in "El Cid," the 1961 medieval epic also starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, and Billy Wilder's 1970 film "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes."
Page died on February 14. No cause was given.
DJ Unk (Anthony Platt), 42
DJ Unk.
Ben Rose/WireImage/Getty
This Atlanta rapper brought snap music to the masses thanks to his hit 2006 songs "Walk it Out" and "2 Step."
Anthony Platt, better known by his stage name DJ Unk, was a fixture in the Atlanta rap scene in the late 1990s. He DJed at everything from pep rallies to proms.
He released his first album, "Beat'n Down Yo Block!" in 2006 and found huge acclaim due to his two big hit songs, "Walk it Out" and "2 Step."
"Walk it Out" got as high as No. 10 on the Billboard charts and went platinum.
His second album, "2econd Season," was released in 2008 but didn't find the same acclaim as his debut.
DJ Unk died on January 24. His wife, Sherkita Long-Platt, said in a Facebook post that he died in his sleep after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Bob Uecker, 90
Bob Uecker.
ABC Photo Archives/Getty
Uecker had a respectable career as a Major League Baseball backup catcher on four clubs through the 1960s, playing with his hometown Milwaukee Brewers and winning a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals. But it was his work off the field that made him one of the most memorable figures in MLB history.
After retiring in 1967, Uecker started his second career as a broadcaster, calling games for the Brewers (which he did until his death) and being the color man for network games.
His self-deprecating style made him a likable figure, leading to him becoming a fixture on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, where he earned the nickname "Mr. Baseball." Suddenly Uecker landed everything from beer commercials to a hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live."
But his most memorable gigs outside of baseball were playing sportswriter George Owens on the hit TV show "Mr. Belvedere" from 1985 to 1990 and starring as sarcastic broadcaster Harry Doyle in the beloved 1989 movie "Major League" and its sequels.
Uecker was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Yarrow was a singer-songwriter who was a member of the iconic folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary.
Along with Paul Stookey and Mary Travers, the trio had six Billboard Top 10 singles, two No. 1 albums, and won five Grammys. Their major hit was "Puff the Magic Dragon," which Yarrow cowrote.
Yarrow died on January 7 after a battle with bladder cancer.
Ted Farnsworth is the former CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics, which previously owned MoviePass.
The documentary "MoviePass, MovieCrash" shows how he blew through hundreds of millions of dollars.
He and former MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe pleaded guilty to securities fraud.
In the HBO documentary "MoviePass, MovieCrash," Ted Farnsworth is the CEO of the publicly traded Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY) when the company takes a majority stake in the movie-theater-subscription startup MoviePass in 2017.
Under Farnsworth's watch, MoviePass became a sensation after he and then-CEO Mitch Lowe dropped the monthly subscription fee from $30 a month to $10. It led to millions of subscribers and the company being hailed as the Netflix of movie theaters. Farnsworth and Lowe touted themselves in the press as the masterminds behind it all.
The documentary β based on reporting by Business Insider βreveals the more complicated reality of the phenomenon, showing how MoviePass cofounders Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt were pushed out of the company after the arrival of Farnsworth and Lowe.
With Farnsworth and Lowe at the helm, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent to not just keep the unsustainable $10-a-month plan going, but also on lavish parties at Coachella, and starting a movie production arm best known for releasing the 2018 movie "Gotti," a biopic on notorious crime boss John Gotti starring John Travolta that received a 0% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.
As the documentary shows, the crash of MoviePass is just one of many failed ventures of the 61-year-old Farnsworth. Business Insider reached out to Farnsworth for comment but didn't get a response.
Here's a rundown of many of those companies (some of which went bankrupt), what Farnsworth did after MoviePass, and why he's currently in jail.
2000: Auction site Farmbid.com lasts less than a year
James.Pintar/Shutterstock
Farnsworth tried to use the popularity of the Psychic Network and the dot-com boom to capitalize on the multitrillion-dollar agricultural business in the early 2000s with the site Farmbid.com.
A 2000 Wired story touted the company as a site that featured "farm auctions, links to wholesalers, a detailed weather center, and even a 'farm chat' area."
But the farming industry wasn't that into it. According to Sunbiz, the official Florida business registry, the company folded in less than a year.
2001: He gets into the beverage space with XStream
Farnsworth founded the company XStream Beverage Network Inc. in 2001, touting it as "an emerging developer, marketer and distributor of new age beverages."
He tried to buy a European energy drink called Dark Dog, but that deal never closed, according to Bloomberg.
By 2007, he was able to buy Global Beverage, which had in its stable Rudy Beverages, founded by famed 1970s Notre Dame football player Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger.
In November of that year, Farnsworth resigned as chairman of XStream, and its stock dropped 99%, according to Bloomberg.
2007: Farnsworth becomes CEO of Purple Beverage
(L-R) Ted Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera.
Gary Gershoff/WireImage/Getty
Farnsworth's failure with XStream didn't stop him from trying another venture in the drink space. He became the CEO of Purple Beverage Co., touting an antioxidant-rich drink.
The stock for Purple Bev went as high as $3.24 in April 2008, according to Bloomberg, thanks partly to Farnsworth landing celebrity spokespeople like Chaka Khan and New York Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher Mariano Rivera. But by the time he resigned a year later, the stock had plummeted by 99%.
2012: He oversees a vitamin company that flatlines within a year and is sued by FedEx
Farnsworth became the chairman of LTS Nutraceuticals Inc., a multilevel-marketing vitamin company. In 2011, it traded as high as $4.85. But by 2012, with Farnsworth running things, the stock fell 99%. It's unclear when he left the company because it didn't make periodic regulatory filings, according to Bloomberg.
In 2013, FedEx sued the vitamin company, saying it was owed $26,000. According to The Miami Herald, the judge ruled in FedEx's favor.
2016: Farnsworthβs Zone Technologies merges with HMNY to become publicly listed on the Nasdaq
Over a decade after Farmbid, Farnsworth went back into the tech space with an app called RedZone Maps (through a company called Zone Technologies). The app flagged where crimes were being reported in a user's area.
A year later, Zone Technologies merged with Helios and Matheson to become publicly listed on the Nasdaq. That same year, Farnsworth was named CEO of HMNY.
2017: HMNY acquires a majority stake in MoviePass
Hollis Johnson/Business Insider
Since its birth in 2011, MoviePass had been trying to figure out a monthly subscription price that attracted moviegoers and would make a profit. By 2017, the company was on the brink of running out of money when Farnsworth got connected with MoviePass' then-CEO, Mitch Lowe. A deal was made for HMNY to take a majority stake in MoviePass. By that summer, Farnsworth and Lowe dropped the price to $10 a month, and the rest is history. With a huge rise in subscribers for MoviePass, the HMNY stock initially soared. But by 2020, MoviePass and HMNY went bankrupt.
At the time of bankruptcy, the company said it was under pending investigations by the Federal Trade Commission, SEC, four California district attorneys, and the New York attorney general.
2021: Less than a year after MoviePass' bankruptcy, Farnsworth founds Zash Global Media and Entertainment
After MoviePass' bankruptcy, Farnsworth quickly landed back on his feet by starting a media company called Zash in less than a year. He later merged it with the publicly traded company Vinco Ventures. He acquired a TikTok rival called Lomotif and even tried (unsuccessfully) to buy the National Enquirer.
By the end of 2022, Vinco stock had cratered and is now worth less than one cent.
In 2024, Business Insider reported on Farnsworth's business tactics while at Zash. They mirror how he operated at MoviePass and some other ventures over the decades: Get involved with a publicly traded company, help raise funding from his finance connections at favorable terms for them, drive up the company's stock with splashy announcements, and leave retail investors with big losses when the stock crashes.
2022: Farnsworth is charged with securities fraud related to his time at MoviePass
(L-R) MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe and Helios and Matheson Chief Executive Ted Farnsworth.
Farnsworth has been in a Florida jail since August 2023.
During Farnsworth's time out on bail, he traveled from his home in upstate New York to Miami on multiple occasions without notifying his probation officer and was involved in a domestic incident that resulted in a restraining order, which he also didn't report, according to Bloomberg.
His bail was revoked in an August 2023 hearing. He's now in jail awaiting sentencing.
2025: Farnsworth pleads guilty to defrauding investors
Ted Farnsworth.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for EJAF
In January, Farnsworth pleaded guilty to defrauding investors in the movie-ticket subscription service MoviePass, the US Department of Justice announced.
This came on the heels of Lowe pleading guilty to securities fraud conspiracy in September 2024.
Farnsworth also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge for a second scheme related to a video-sharing platform he was involved with while under investigation for MoviePass.
January 7, 2025: This story has been updated to reflect new details.
Ted Farnsworth pleaded guilty to defrauding investors in MoviePass and Vinco.
Farnsworth has been in prison since August 2023.
MoviePass's $10 plan led to its popularity but was unsustainable, causing bankruptcy.
Ted Farnsworth pleaded guilty on Tuesday to defrauding investors in the movie-ticket subscription service MoviePass, the US Department of Justice announced. He bought the company in 2017 while CEO of Helios and Matheson Analytics (HMNY).
Farnsworth, 62, also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge for a second scheme related to a video-sharing platform he was involved with while under investigation for MoviePass.
Farnsworth has been in federal custody since August 2023.
"Farnsworth was anxious to accept responsibility for his conduct," Farnsworth's lawyer, Sam Rabin, told Business Insider in a statement. "The most important step in doing that was to plead guilty to the crimes with which he is charged. He did that today."
The Department of Justice charged Farnsworth and then MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe with securities fraud in 2022. The DOJ alleged that Lowe and Farnsworth "engaged in a scheme to defraud investors through materially false and misleading representations relating to HMNY and MoviePass's business and operations to artificially inflate the price of HMNY's stock and attract new investors."
The DOJ also recently charged Farnsworth and others with using "the same strategy to defraud" investors in Vinco Ventures, another publicly traded company.
MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe and Helios and Matheson Chief Executive Ted Farnsworth.
MoviePass/Reuters
Lowe, the former MoviePass CEO, pleaded guilty to securities fraud conspiracy in September 2024.
The rise and fall of MoviePass
In 2017, HMNY became the parent company of MoviePass. Farnsworth and Lowe launched a $10-a-month plan that made the service very popular. As subscriptions soared into the millions, HMNY's stock skyrocketed.
However, the $10 plan β which allowed subscribers to see a movie a day in theaters β was not sustainable, and the company burned through hundreds of millions of dollars. By 2020, both MoviePass and HMNY went bankrupt.
MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes, who was ousted by Lowe and Farnsworth from MoviePass in 2018, bought back the company in 2021.
MoviePass β under Spikes' leadership β is currently available nationwide.
The story of the rise and fall of MoviePass is chronicled in the documentary "MoviePass, MovieCrash," which was released in May and is based on BI's award-winning reporting.
Demi Moore during the 82nd Annual Golden Globes held at The Beverly Hilton on January 05, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.
John Nacion/GG2025/Penske Media/Getty Images
Demi Moore has had a wide range of memorable roles in her career.
She starred in classics like "Ghost" and "A Few Good Men" and won a Golden Globe for "The Substance."
Here are her best and worst movies according to critics.
After 40-plus years in show business, Demi Moore has finally received award-season acclaim.
Her haunting performance in "The Substance," as a fading celebrity who takes a drug to create a younger version of herself, won her a Golden Globe Sunday. In her acceptance speech, Moore reflected on how the movie renewed her faith in her own career.
"Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress, and at that time, I made that mean that this wasn't something that I was allowed to have," Moore said while clutching her Golden Globe onstage.
"I bought in, and I believed that, and that corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it," she continued. "Maybe I was complete, maybe I've done what I was supposed to do. And as I was at kind of a low point, I had this magical, bold, courageous, out-of-the-box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called 'The Substance,' and the universe told me you're not done."
The movie is a career high for Moore, whose performance has garnered rave reviews and plenty of Oscar buzz in addition to a brand new Golden Globe.
But while "The Substance" is one of Moore's highest-rated movies β it holds a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes β she has a few duds in her catalog, too.
Below are the 10 best and 10 worst movies of Moore's career according to critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Note: This list does not include documentaries.
Here are the worst movies of Demi Moore's career.
Some movies starring Demi Moore didn't sit well with critics.
Kevin Mazur/MG19/Getty
10. "Passion of Mind" (2000)
Stellan SkarsgΓ₯rd and Demi Moore in "Passion of Mind."
Paramount Classics
This psychological romantic thriller stars Moore as a woman who confuses fantasy with reality, leading to her living a double life.
Moore plays the love interest of a crime boss in this forgettable action movie.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 18%
8. (tie) "Nothing but Trouble" (1991)
Chevy Chase and Demi Moore in "Nothing but Trouble."
Warner Bros.
Moore and Chevy Chase team up to play a couple who find themselves in a bizarre town after being arrested for running a stop sign.
Dan Aykroyd, who wrote, directed, and stars in the movie, looks unrecognizable as the 100-plus-year-old judge of the town. John Candy also stars in dual roles.
Despite the star power, the movie was panned by critics.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 15%
8. (tie) "Parasite" (1982)
Demi Moore in "Parasite."
Embassy Pictures
No, we're not talking about the beloved Oscar-winning movie from Bong Joon-ho.
Here, Moore plays one of a group of friends running from a deadly parasite that's been let loose on the world.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 15%
8. (tie) "The Seventh Sign" (1988)
Demi Moore in "The Seventh Sign."
TriStar Pictures
Moore stars as a pregnant woman who learns humanity is on the cusp of destruction when she rents her room to a mysterious traveler.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 15%
5. "LOL" (2012)
Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore in "LOL."
Lionsgate Films
In the unfortunately-named "LOL," Moore plays the mother of a teen (Miley Cyrus) navigating the burgeoning world of social media. Not very many laughs were had.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 14%
4. (tie) "The Scarlet Letter" (1995)
Demi Moore in "The Scarlet Letter."
Buena Vista Pictures
Critics were not sold on Moore's performance as Hester Prynne in this adaptation of the classic Nathaniel Hawthorne novel.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%
4. (tie) "Striptease" (1995)
Demi Moore in "Striptease."
Columbia Pictures
Regarded as one of the worst movies ever made, Moore plays a stripper who finds herself trying to make a living as a single mother while stumbling into a political scandal.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%
2. "Songbird" (2020)
Demi Moore in "Songbird."
STXfilms
This pandemic-era thriller about people living in a dystopian quarantine never made it into theaters and went straight to streaming.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%
1. "Blame It on Rio" (1983)
Michael Caine, Demi Moore, Michelle Johnson, and Joseph Bologna in "Blame It on Rio."
20th Century-Fox
In "Blame It on Rio," Moore plays the daughter of Michael Caine's character, Matthew. The two go on vacation with Matthew's coworker Victor (Joseph Bologna) and his daughter Jennifer (Michelle Johnson). Things get complicated when Matthew begins having an affair with Jennifer.
If you understood this plot, you did better than the critics, who clearly weren't into this comedy.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 7%
Here are Demi Moore's best movies, according to critics.
Demi Moore has a bunch of classics.
Victor Boyko/Getty Images
10. "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" (1996)
Demi Moore as Dallas Grimes in "Bevis and Butt-Head Do America."
MTV Productions
Moore voices the character of Dallas Grimes, who tries to pull a fast one on Beavis and Butt-Head in their hit movie based on their popular MTV show.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 71%
9. "Deconstructing Harry" (1997)
Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore in "Deconstructing Harry."
Fine Line Features
In this Woody Allen comedy, the writer-director also stars as a novelist named Harry Block. In the telling of the story, Allen intersects moments from Block's life with moments of his characters from his books. Moore plays one of the book characters.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 74%
8. "Ghost" (1990)
Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in "Ghost."
Paramount Pictures
This classic romantic drama stars Moore as Molly, who is grieving the loss of her boyfriend, Sam (Patrick Swayze), who was murdered. Sam, now a ghost, must stop his killer from doing the same to Molly.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 75%
7. "Please Baby Please" (2022)
Demi Moore in "Please Baby Please."
Music Box Films
In this musical, Moore plays the neighbor of a young couple who witness a murder.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 77%
6. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996)
Demi Moore voiced Esmeralda in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."
Disney
In this Disney animated classic, Moore lent her voice to the Esmeralda character.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 80%
5. "A Few Good Men" (1992)
Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men."
YouTube screenshot
Moore held her own amongst the likes of Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Kevin Bacon in this beloved courtroom drama.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%
4. "Margin Call" (2011)
Demi Moore in "Margin Call."
YouTube/Fresh Movie Trailers
Moore knocks it out of the park in this ensemble drama about the 2007 financial crisis, which also stars Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, and Stanley Tucci.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%
4. "The Unbearable Weight of a Massive Talent"
Demi Moore in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent."
Lionsgate
Moore plays the ex-wife of Nicolas Cage in this fictional look at Cage's life.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%
2. "If These Walls Could Talk" (1996)
Demi Moore in "If These Walls Could Talk."
HBO
The last time Moore received a Golden Globe nomination was for this HBO movie focused on three women and their separate experiences with abortion. Moore, Cher, and Sissy Spacek star.
Moore, who was also an executive producer, garnered an Emmy nomination for outstanding made-for-TV movie.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
1. "The Substance" (2024)
Demi Moore in "The Substance."
Cannes Film Festival
Moore has received the best reviews of her career for this horror movie in which she plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a celebrity whose star has faded to the point that she hosts an aerobic TV show.
Sparkle takes matters into her own hands by taking a mysterious drug called The Substance that creates a younger version of herself, which she calls Sue (played by Margaret Qualley).
Sue becomes a sensation, but it leads to a horrific ending for them both.
