Wildfires have been raging in Los Angeles and Southern California since Tuesday, burning tens of thousands of acres and leaving thousands of people without homes.
The Pacific Palisades, a popular neighborhood for celebrities, has been almost entirely leveled.
Many famous figures have been using their platforms to share information — posting infographics and links to resources and donation pages — and to highlight the work of firefighters and aid organizations. Some celebrities have also donated their own money, clothing, or time to help people impacted by the devastation.
Here are some celebrities who are taking action amidst the fires.
Jamie Lee Curtis has pledged $1 million to relief efforts.
Jamie Lee Curtis.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty
Curtis, who lives in Pacific Palisades, posted on Instagram on January 9 about her intentions to donate $1 million to help with wildfire relief.
"My husband and I and our children have pledged $1 million from our Family Foundation to start a fund of support for our great city and state and the great people who live and love there," she wrote on Instagram.
She also shared footage of her smoldering neighborhood, writing, "Our beloved neighborhood is gone. Our home is safe. So many others have lost everything. Help where you can."
Steve Guttenberg walked up and down his block trying to clear a path for people to evacuate.
Steve Guttenberg.
Gilbert Flores/Penske Media/Getty Images
Guttenberg, best known for his roles in "Three Men and a Baby" and "Police Academy," was spotted by KTLA on Palisades Drive on January 7 moving abandoned cars to clear a pathway for those trapped higher in the hills.
Speaking to the reporter, he explained the need for people to leave their keys in their cars if they're fleeing.
"What's happening is people take their keys with them as if they're in a parking lot. This is not a parking lot. We really need people to move their cars," he told the outlet. "If you leave your car behind, leave the key in there so a guy like me can move your car so that these fire trucks can get up there."
He continued, "There are people stuck up there. So we're trying to clear Palisades Drive, and I'm walking up there as far as I can moving cars."
James Woods said he helped his 94-year-old neighbor evacuate.
James Woods.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for WGAw
During a January 8 appearance on CNN, Woods shared his harrowing story about evacuating from his Pacific Palisades home while everything was going up in flames.
He shared that he helped his 94-year-old neighbor with dementia escape from his home shortly before it collapsed.
"He'd been left alone. There was so much chaos, it was like an inferno. Every house was on fire around us," he said. Woods said his neighbor eventually made it to the hospital.
Sharon Stone is helping coordinate clothing donations from multiple celebrities.
Sharon Stone.
Matt Winkelmeyer/WireImage/Getty Images
Stone has been sharing on social media about +COOP, a boutique turned fire-relief pop-up owned by real-estate agent Jenna Cooper, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
In Stone's Instagram posts about +COOP, other celebrities have detailed their donations.
"Harry [Hamlin] and I just dropped off lots of coats jeans, sweaters, etc… thank you for setting this up," wrote former "Real Housewives" star Lisa Rinna.
Stone's "Catwoman" costar Halle Berry also posted about the store.
"I'm packing up my entire closet and heading over to the COOP! If you live in the Southern California area, I urge you to do the same," she wrote. "Thank you @sharonstone for your leadership. Love you Lady."
"Love Island USA" star Leah Kateb is fostering animals.
Leah Kateb.
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images
Kateb, a Calabasas native, shared on Instagram that she had taken in a "fire foster," a dog displaced from its shelter by the wildfires.
Pets frequently go missing during wildfires — 3,000 animals went missing after the Maui wildfire in 2023, according to the Maui Humane Society — so many celebrities, such as Jennifer Aniston, have been posting about how to help animals in LA.
Jason Oppenheim of "Selling Sunset" is offering free representation to help people find homes.
Jason Oppenheim.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Contributor/Getty Images
Jason Oppenheim, whose real-estate brokerage is featured on "Selling Sunset," shared on social media that many clients were contacting him to help find a place to live after losing their homes.
"As real estate agents, we obviously have an obligation to help them find a place, even when it's going to be difficult with thousands of people looking for places and not nearly as many houses available," he said.
Oppenheim said the Oppenheim Group is "offering to represent anybody for free, or we will credit you back any commission paid if you've lost your house and you're now displaced."
"We will help you find a place, or do our best to help you find a place to rent," he added.
Meta knowingly used pirated materials to train its Llama AI models — with the blessing of company chief Mark Zuckerberg — according to an ongoing copyright lawsuit against the company. As TechCrunch reports, the plaintiffs of the Kadrey v. Meta case submitted court documents talking about the company's use of of the LibGen dataset for AI training.
LibGen is generally described as a "shadow library" that provides file-sharing access to academic and general-interest books, journals, images and other materials. The counsel for the plaintiffs, which include writers Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates, accused Zuckerberg of approving the use of LibGen for training despite concerns raised by company executives and employees who described it as a "dataset [they] know to be pirated."
The company removed copyright information from LibGen materials, the complaint also said, before feeding them to Llama. Meta apparently admitted in a document submitted to court that it "remov[ed] all the copyright paragraphs from beginning and the end" of scientific journal articles. One of its engineers even reportedly made a script to automatically delete copyright information. The counsel argued that Meta did so to conceal its copyright infringement activities from the public. In addition, the counsel mentioned that Meta admitted to torrenting LibGen materials, even though its engineers felt uneasy about sharing them "from a [Meta-owned] corporate laptop."
Silverman, alongside other writers, sued Meta and OpenAI for copyright infringement in 2023. They accused the companies of using pirated materials from shadow libraries to train their AI models. The court previously dismissed some of their claims, but the plaintiffs said their amended complaint supports their allegations and addresses the court's earlier reasons for dismissal.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/lawsuit-says-mark-zuckerberg-approved-metas-use-of-pirated-materials-to-train-llama-ai-141548827.html?src=rss
25 September 2024, USA, Menlo Park: At the Meta Connect developer conference, Mark Zuckerberg, head of the Facebook group Meta, shows the prototype of computer glasses that can display digital objects in transparent lenses. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa (Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images)
This is my 12th CES, so there aren't many things that surprise me at this point, at least in terms of press conferences. All of the big companies used to try to one-up each other (celebrity appearances were the main method, although it's not as common now). However, the venue itself has now become the battleground for CES addresses.
This week, Delta was the first company to host a CES press conference, or as the emcee called it, "a show," at the Sphere in Las Vegas. You've likely heard about the high-tech venue at this point, which usually hosts immersive concerts rather than trade show events. Debuting in 2023, the "multi-sensory experience" is known for having both the interior and exterior draped in LED displays and offering 4D effects like wind and smells.
Three different credentials were required to attend the event in the venue which holds 18,600 people, one of which required a special trip to obtain. Once inside, Delta had various installations to celebrate its 100th anniversary and lines for the company's merchandise were absurdly long. People even skipped the Lenny Kravitz performance at the end to queue up for those goods.
You could hear every realistic boom and pop.
Billy Steele for Engadget
There was also food that may have been similar to what the airline serves in-flight, and snacks that you'd expect on a Delta trip, like Biscoff cookies. Of course, the company stacked the audience with employees and guests, plus it trotted out a couple of celebrities — Viola Davis and Tom Brady — which I saw as a throwback to the CES keynote days of old. Then there was the full-blown concert at the end: Lenny Kravitz with a full band. This gave the attendees the experience of coming to a concert at Sphere, where U2, Dead & Company, Phish and more have performed in the past.
But, as you might expect, the most interesting aspect of the whole thing is how Delta took advantage of the Sphere's 4D capabilities. Video of each speaker was projected on the interior of the venue set on various backdrops that transformed the hall into spaces ranging from a dome to an observation deck and an airplane cabin. Several times during CEO Ed Bastian's address there were interactions with planes where the seats rumbled and blown air provided a sense of flying, complete with directional, immersive audio. There was also a cameo by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi where an Uber Eats delivery arrived at the stage with a hazelnut-flavored coffee for Bastian and those aromas were wafted into the audience.
Perhaps the most dazzling aspect of the whole "show" was the end, where cockpit video of a plane landing was projected on the interior of the Sphere. And when the plane landed, everyone's seats rumbled just liked they do when you hit the tarmac in real life. This was quickly followed by my first indoor fireworks show, designed to cap off Delta's 100th anniversary. I will say the immersive audio of the Sphere really enhanced this, and I doubt I'll experience anything like it again. I feel confident I'll never see indoor fireworks unless I return to this very venue.
Seats rumbled just like they would in real life.
Billy Steele for Engadget
Of course, there was news. It wouldn't be a CES press event without some. Delta announced its AI Concierge, an assistant inside the Fly Delta app that the company built to relieve travel stress. The airline first announced the concierge concept at CES 2020, but now it's working to make it a real thing that anticipates travel needs. Beginning this year, customers will be able to interact with Delta Concierge via text or voice. Eventually, the platform will be able to do things like hail a Joby VTOL aircraft to drop you off at the airport to avoid traffic.
The AI tech can recognize both departure and arrival needs, including arranging a rideshare pickup for transport to a hotel. At the airport, you won't have to go through a TSA checkpoint, you just keep walking to your gate thanks to PreCheck Touchless ID. If you're wearing AR glasses during your trip, wayfinding then becomes a breeze with the travel assistant lighting your path. And once you're on the plane, the Delta Concierge will eventually automatically connect you to Delta Sync Wi-Fi and the seatback entertainment system to display customized info and content recs just for you.
Delta's event was easily the most impressive CES presentation I've attended. And I've been to press events where each person had a PC and a VR headset at their seat. I don't know that any other company will invest what the airline did in the hosting and production this week, but it was immediately apparent that the bar had been raised, and that a ballroom at Mandalay Bay or The Venetian will no longer suffice if you're looking to make a lasting impression.
Lenny Kravitz closed the show, and he'll close this post.
Billy Steele for Engadget
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/delta-changed-the-game-for-ces-press-conferences-162401293.html?src=rss
Two firefighters in front of a burning house in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Apu Gomes/Getty Images
Wildfires have broken out in Los Angeles and are raging through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
Stars including Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal, and Milo Ventimiglia have lost their homes.
The average house price in the northern LA area is $4.5 million, per Realtor.com data.
The biggest of the wildfires in Los Angeles is tearing through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Stars, including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal, have lost their homes.
The area, located between Santa Monica and Malibu in northern Los Angeles, is home to some of the country's most expensive real estate. The average house price is $4.5 million, according to Realtor.com data. Ben Affleck, for instance, bought his $20.5 million mansion there in July.
Other celebrities, including Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Keaton, Adam Sandler, Miles Teller, and Eugene Levy, also live in the neighborhood.
The fire started on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades before spreading west toward the Malibu stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. On Wednesday, the city of Malibu issued a statement on X advising residents to prepare to evacuate. By Thursday, it had spread to 27 square miles in the area.
Milo Ventimiglia of 'Heroes' watched his home burn down on security cameras: 'Your heart just breaks'
Actor Milo Ventimiglia tells CBS News’ @TonyDokoupil he helplessly watched his home burn to the ground through security cameras. The 47-year-old father-to-be returned to his property to see what was left. pic.twitter.com/jidcR5ZAsY
Milo Ventimiglia, who's known for starring in "This is Us" and "Heroes," watched his home in Malibu burn via security cameras with Jarah Ventimiglia, his wife, who is nine months pregnant.
Speaking outside of his home on Thursday, he told CBS it was "heavy" seeing the extent of the damage.
He said: "You start thinking about all the memories in different parts of the house and whatnot. And then you see your neighbors' houses and everything, kind of around, and your heart just breaks."
Ventimiglia also recalled watching his house burn down: "I think there's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real, and this is happening.' And then at a certain point, we just turned it off. What good is it to continue watching? We kind of accepted the loss."
He added: "We've got good friends, and we've got good people we're working with. We'll make do. Wife and baby and dog are most important."
Actors Bryan Greenberg and Jamie Chung, who are married, confirmed on Thursday that their home had burned down, but that their family was safe.
Greenberg shared a photo of the wreckage on his Instagram story, writing: "It was all a dream. Thankfully the family is safe. Thank you to all of the firefighters risking their lives. Stay safe out there."
Mel Gibson said his house burned down while he was recording 'The Joe Rogan Experience'
Mel Gibson told NewsNation on Thursday, that he learned about the fires in his Malibu neighborhood while recording an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" in Texas.
He said: "I was doing the Rogan podcast, and kind of ill at ease while we were talking, because I knew my neighborhood was on fire, so I thought, I wonder if my place is still there. But when I got home, sure enough, it wasn't there."
Gibson added: "Obviously, it's kind of devastating. It's emotional. You live there for a long time, and you had all your stuff. "
He said the fact his family was"out of harm's way" was "all I can care about, really."
Paris Hilton said she 'built precious memories' at her destroyed Malibu home
On Wednesday, Paris Hilton shared on Instagram that she was "heartbroken beyond words" to learn that her Malibu home had been destroyed in the fire.
"Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience," Hilton wrote. "This home was where we built so many precious memories."
Although the loss felt "overwhelming," she said she was grateful that her family and pets were safe.
On Thursday, Hilton returned to her home and posted a video of the wreckage on Instagram.
"My family and I have safely evacuated, and we are deeply grateful to be unharmed," she wrote. "I am heartbroken by the devastation caused by the fires, which have tragically destroyed my home."
She also shared more details about her evacuation and urged others to be prepared in an live interview with CNN.
"To be 100% honest, I grabbed my mom's Emmy, a photo of my dad, and a drawing that my mother had done of me and my son," she said.
Photos obtained by People showed actors John Goodman, Anthony Hopkins, and Miles Teller lost their homes due to the fires.
The home actor Jeff Bridges shared with his family in Malibu was also lost, the Associated Press reported.
Billy Crystal's home, where he'd lived with his family for 46 years, was burned to the ground.
"We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can't be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this," Crystal said in a statement to Business Insider.
"The Pacific Palisades is a resilient community of amazing people and we know in time it will rise again. It is our home," he said.
The Oscar-nominated actor James Woods wrote on X Wednesday: "All the smoke detectors are going off in our house and transmitting to our iPhones. I couldn't believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one."
"I'm so sad our house is gone. I wish I could have gone back and got more," Montag said as she broke down crying in a video she posted on TikTok on Wednesday.
TMZ meanwhile published footage of Adam Brody and Leighton Meester's home in flames, as well as a photo of Anna Faris' home in ashes.
Rainn Wilson, the actor who played Dwight Schrute on NBC's "The Office," said that his Palisades home had burned in the fire. In a video shared on TikTok on Thursday, Wilson was shown walking through the "remains" of parts of his home that burned. "This is not something I ever thought that I would be doing," he said.
"There's some kind of valuable lesson here, I'm not sure what it is — kind of, death and fire teaches you a lesson about the impermanence of life and the preciousness of what we have, so I hope you all stay grateful today for what you have," he added.
Wilson said he was "grateful" that most of his house was still intact.
The songwriter Diane Warren, a 15-time Oscar nominee who has worked with stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, shared on Instagram that her beach house of nearly 30 years was likely gone.
"It looks like it was lost in the fire last nite. There's a rainbow shining on it which I'm taking as a sign of hope for all creatures who have been affected by this tragedy," Warren wrote. "The animals and the rescue ranch are OK tho which is the most important thing. Stay safe everyone."
On Wednesday, "The Princess Bride" actor Cary Elwes wrote on Instagram that he and his family evacuated the area safely, but said their house was destroyed.
He wrote: "Sadly we did lose our home but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire. Our hearts go out to all the families impacted by this tragic event and we also wish to extend our gratitude to all the fire fighters, first responders and law enforcement who worked so tirelessly through the night and are still at it."
Ricki Lake, the star of the original "Hairspray" movie and her self-titled talkshow, wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday that her "dream home" overlooking Malibu was "gone."
In the caption Lake said she and her husband escaped from the house with Dolly, their dog, "and not much else."
Mark Hamill evacuated his home and described the fire as 'horrific'
Among the at least 130,000 LA residents asked to evacuate their homes was the "Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill. He said on Instagram that he had left his Malibu home on Tuesday with his wife, Marilou, and their dog, Trixie. He described it as the "most horrific fire since '93."
"Evacuated Malibu so last-minute there were small fires on both sides of the road as we approached PCH," he wrote.
Levy told The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that he got stuck while trying to leave his neighborhood. "The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon," Levy said. "I couldn't see any flames but the smoke was very dark."
Chet Hanks, the son of actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, wrote in an Instagram story on Tuesday: "The neighborhood I grew up in is burning to the ground rn. Pray for the Palisades."
Chet Hanks shared a message about the fire on Instagram.
Chet Hanks/Instagram Stories
Actor and singer Mandy Moore said in an Instagram story posted on Tuesday that she was among the residents ordered to evacuate. By Wednesday, the singer said in a follow-up story that she was unsure if her home "made it."
"Honestly, I'm in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family," she wrote in an Instagram post. "My children's school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too."
Jamie Lee Curtis said 'many' friends had lost their homes
On Wednesday night, "Halloween" actor Jamie Lee Curtis appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and said, holding back tears: "Where I live is on fire right now."
She added: "It's just a catastrophe in Southern California. Obviously, there have been horrific fires in many places. This is literally where I live. Everything — the market I shop in, the schools my kids go to, friends.
"Many, many, many, many, many friends now have lost their homes."
Kate Beckinsale wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday that "the whole of the Palisades being destroyed is unthinkably horrific.
"My daughter and I lived there for most of her childhood and most of her childhood is gone."
The "Serendipity" actor shared several other posts, including one thanking local firefighters and another sharing information about assembling an emergency bag.
Haley Joel Osment thanked those who 'helped as we lose our home'
On Thursday, actor Haley Joel Osment shared that he had lost his home to the Eaton fire in Altadena.
"My heart would be so full every time I drove home - it was such a special place - I loved living there - our forest and our mountains and our homes - all gone," Osment wrote in an Instagram story.
Osment described losing 'everything' in Altadena.
Haley Joel Osment/Instagram Stories
"I am so sorry for the losses that thousands of people are suffering," he added. "I'm trying to etch in my mind the unique details of this lovely town that are gone forever."
Industry events in Hollywood have been canceled
The Palisades Charter High School was also affected, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The campus was used for films including "Carrie," "Freaky Friday," "Project X," and MTV's "Teen Wolf" TV series.
The premieres for "Wolf Man" and "Unstoppable," scheduled for Tuesday, were canceled.
Wildfires in the western US have been steadily growing bigger and more severe for decades, while the time of heightened risk known as "fire season" has been getting longer each year.
A paper published in 2023 by researchers from the University of California, Irvine, found the human-caused climate crisis is the "major driver" for the state's increase in wildfires over the last quarter century.
"November, December, now January — there's no fire season, it's fire year. It's year-round," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a press conference on Tuesday.
Back in 2018, the Woolsey Fire burned almost 100,000 acres of land in California, affecting famous Malibu residents like Lady Gaga, Gerard Butler, Miley Cyrus, and several members of the Kardashian family.
Kim Kardashian and her then-husband Kanye West were widely criticized for hiring private firefighters to protect their $60 million home in Hidden Hills.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Over the last four decades, Nicole Kidman has provided us with dozens of iconic looks.
Kidman has never been afraid to take a risk, as evidenced by these 45 style moments.
From backless gowns to giant parrots, here are some of her most daring outfits.
Nicole Kidman has been one of the most successful actors of the last 40 years, with five Oscar nominations (and one win), six BAFTA nominations (another win), 18 Critics' Choice nominations (three wins), three Emmy nominations (two wins), and 20 Golden Globe nominations (six wins).
She also hasn't shied away from box-office fodder, like the "Aquaman" films — which have made more than $1 billion at the box office — "Paddington," "Happy Feet," and "Batman Forever."
Kidman is also known for her iconic red-carpet style. We've picked 45 of the most daring looks from her decadeslong career, from the '90s to now.
Kidman channeled a flamenco dancer with this ruffled hot pink dress at a May 1995 screening of "To Die For."
Kidman at the Cannes Film Festival for a screening of "To Die For" on
May 20, 1995.
Eric Robert/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images
Kidman won a Golden Globe for her performance.
One month later, in June 1995, Kidman shined bright like a disco ball at the "Batman Forever" premiere.
Kidman at the "Batman Forever" premiere on June 9, 1995.
Barry King/WireImage/Getty Images
She looks the part of the next big movie star.
Her 1997 Oscars dress proved she was willing to take risks — not many can pull off a silk dress this color.
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise at the 69th Academy Awards on March 24, 1997.
Kevin Mazur Archive/WireImage/Getty Images
Technically, this John Galliano-designed Dior dress is considered chartreuse, and it was considered the "first true couture dress on the red carpet," according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Kidman paired a black see-through top with this patterned fringed skirt for the premiere of "The Peacemaker" in September 1997.
Nicole Kidman at the premiere of "The Peacemaker" on September 22, 1997.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
She added a large jeweled choker over the collar of her shirt.
Kidman was the picture of '90s glam with this almost entirely backless, oxblood set at the premiere of "Eyes Wide Shut" in July 1999.
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise at the premiere of their new movie "Eyes Wide Shut" on July 13, 1999.
David Keeler/Online USA, Inc./Getty Images; Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc./Getty Images
InStyle rightfully calls this look "perfect" to this day — though it's a wonder Kidman didn't experience any type of wardrobe malfunction.
Kidman rocked a similarly backless top at the premiere of "Mission: Impossible 2" in May 2000.
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman during the "Mission: Impossible 2" premiere on May 18, 2000.
S. Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images
This kerchief-esque style of top is trendy once again in 2025, like the rest of '90s and early 2000s style.
For the Australian premiere of the film that same month, she wore a floor-length leather dress.
Nicole Kidman arrived for the premiere of the film "Mission Impossible 2" on May 30, 2000, in Sydney, Australia.
Peter Carrette Archive/Getty Images
We have to wonder why she's yet to play a super spy after seeing her in this outfit.
She wore this almost entirely sheer black dress at the premiere of "The Others" in August 2001.
Nicole Kidman arrived at the premiere of her movie "The Others."
Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Kidman was nominated for another Golden Globe for her performance in the film.
At the 2001 Hollywood Film Festival Gala Awards later that month, Kidman wore an ornate gold belt on her stomach.
Nicole Kidman at the Hollywood Film Festival Gala Awards on August 6, 2001.
Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images
She paired it with a black crop top and blazer, and a golden snake choker.
Kidman vamped it up in this black velvet off-the-shoulder gown with a plunging neckline in February 2002.
Nicole Kidman at the after-party for the BAFTAs on February 24, 2002.
Dave Bennett/Getty Images
The Yves Saint Laurent dress has a simple silver vine detail on the front.
Kidman's dress at the 2002 SAG Awards in March resembled a tuxedo vest, without the accompanying shirt or jacket.
Nicole Kidman during the 8th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on March 10, 2002.
SGranitz/WireImage/Getty Images
It was designed by Jean Paul Gaultier as part of his Haute Couture line.
Kidman wore a lingerie-inspired slip dress to the 2003 Critics' Choice Awards in January of that year.
Nicole Kidman at the 8th Annual Critics' Choice Awards on January 17, 2003.
Robert Mora/Getty Images
She carried a blush silk jacket with her.
For the 2003 Met Gala in April, she wore this semi-sheer, sparkly, one-shoulder gown and giant diamond earrings.
Nicole Kidman arrived for the "Goddess: Costume Institute Benefit Gala" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art April 28, 2003.
Mark Mainz/Getty Images
The Gucci by Tom Ford dress fit in well with the theme of "Goddess: The Classical Mode."
The "Cold Mountain" star once again opted for an entirely backless dress, this time a black one, for a November 2003 event.
Nicole Kidman at the 2003 Presentation of the 18th Annual American Cinematheque Award on November 14, 2003.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
She added a giant red flower in her hair.
She wore a white-and-gold one with an exaggerated collar and belt for a "Cold Mountain" premiere in December 2003.
Nicole Kidman attended the "Cold Mountain" premiere on December 14, 2003.
Justin Goff\UK Press via Getty Images
Note the matching over-the-top cuffs, too.
Kidman paired sequins and mesh paneling at the 2004 Golden Globes.
Nicole Kidman attended the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 25, 2004.
Carlo Allegri/Getty Images
This Dior dress wouldn't be out of place at a 1920s-themed party.
The following month at the Academy Awards, she wore an icy blue strapless dress with a feathered hem.
Nicole Kidman during the 76th Annual Academy Awards on February 29, 2004.
SGranitz/WireImage/Getty Images
The satin Chanel gown had matching feathers at the neckline, too.
In January 2005, Kidman wore a peacock-inspired dress to the Golden Globes.
Nicole Kidman arrived at the 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 16, 2005.
Carlo Allegri/Getty Images
The dress is the classic peacock blue-green and is accented with peacock feathers on the shoulder. It was designed by Gucci.
Kidman's 2007 Academy Awards dress with the giant bow at the neckline remains one of her most iconic looks.
Nicole Kidman at the 79th Annual Academy Awards on February 25, 2007.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
"That one was controversial," Kidman said of the Balenciaga dress in 2016. "Some press people didn't like it. But that kind of talk doesn't bother me. I still liked it, especially the structure," she told InStyle.
She returned to the metallics in December 2007 with this shiny silver suit.
Nicole Kidman at the Australian premiere of "The Golden Compass" on December 16, 2007.
Gaye Gerard/Getty Images
Kidman looked ready for battle in a suit of armor for the "Golden Compass" premiere.
At a February 2008 press conference, Kidman managed to combine lace, mesh, and feathers in a single dress.
Nicole Kidman at "The Golden Compass" press conference on February 20, 2008.
Jun Sato/WireImage/Getty Images
Kidman, who was five months pregnant at the time, wore Prada for the event.
Once again, Kidman proved she loves a backless dress at the Academy of Country Music Awards in April 2009.
Nicole Kidman at the 44th Academy of Country Music Awards on April 5, 2009.
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
The high-neck, backless look is one she returns to time and time again. This particular gown was designed by L'Wren Scott.
Kidman wore a mauve dress with a matching capelet at a screening of "Nine" in December 2009.
Nicole Kidman at the Los Angeles Premiere "Nine" at Mann Village Theatre on December 9, 2009, in Westwood, California.
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic/Getty Images
The dress was also designed by L'Wren Scott.
Kidman channeled a circus ringmaster at the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards.
Nicole Kidman waved at the 45th Academy of Country Music Awards on April 18, 2010.
Frazer Harrison/ACMA2010/Getty Images
Once again, she chose a L'Wren Scott look.
In June 2011, she mixed a green velvet/brown sheer dress with periwinkle heels at the CMT Music Awards.
Nicole Kidman attended the 2011 CMT Music Awards on June 8, 2011.
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
This interesting look was designed by Proenza Schouler.
Kidman pulled out all the stops for Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse in November 2012.
Nicole Kidman attended the Swisse marquee on Derby Day at Flemington Racecourse on November 3, 2012.
Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images
Kidman deserves to attend a royal wedding if her hat game is this strong.
Kidman walked the Golden Globes red carpet with her husband, Keith Urban, in this black dress with a sheer corset bodice and bronze bees in January 2013.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban arrived at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 13, 2013.
Kevork Djansezian/NBC/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
That year she was up for two awards: best supporting actress for "The Paperboy" and best actress in a miniseries or motion picture — television for "Hemingway & Gellhorn."
Kidman's 2013 Oscars dress shimmered and shined down the red carpet that February.
Nicole Kidman at the Oscars on February 24, 2013.
Jason Merritt/Getty Images
The L'Wren Scott dress had golden swirls along the bottom.
One doesn't know what to look at Kidman's sequined and lace blue gown at Cannes in May 2014.
Nicole Kidman at the Opening Ceremony Dinner Arrivals at the 67th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2014 in Cannes, France.
Pascal Le Segretain/WireImage/Getty Images
This dress was designed by Armani and it was fit for a princess, which was appropriate, as she was there for the premiere of her film "Grace of Monaco."
She wore a white gown that featured a large black bird for an awards ceremony in November 2015.
Nicole Kidman at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards at The Old Vic Theatre on November 22, 2015.
Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images
Kidman chose an Alexander McQueen gown for the 2015 Evening Standard Awards in London.
At the 2016 Academy of Country Music Awards in April, Kidman wore this busy dress with sheer sleeves and butterflies.
Nicole Kidman at the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards on April 3, 2016.
John Shearer/WireImage/Getty Images
Once again, this dress is Alexander McQueen.
Kidman looked like a celestial goddess at the 2016 Met Gala in this dress adorned with the moon and stars.
Nicole Kidman attended the Met Gala on May 2, 2016.
John Shearer/Getty Images
That year's theme was "Manus x Machina: Fashion In An Age Of Technology," and she wore this Alexander McQueen dress, complete with a cape.
Kidman's black dress at the 2016 Critics' Choice Awards had both a large cutout and a dramatic slit.
Nicole Kidman attended the 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards on December 11, 2016.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
She opted for a simple black Brandon Maxwell dress for the December 2016 ceremony.
Kidman's dress at the 2017 SAG Awards in January featured a plunging neckline and a parrot on each shoulder.
Nicole Kidman at the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on January 29, 2017.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
The flamboyant, green sequined gown was designed by Gucci.
The star returned to dramatic bows for the 2018 Academy Awards.
Nicole Kidman attended the 90th Academy Awards on March 4, 2018.
Dan MacMedan/WireImage/Getty Images
Kidman's royal blue Armani Privé gown is her favorite dress she's ever worn, according to Harper's Bazaar.
In January 2019, she attended the Critics' Choice Awards in a black-and-white column dress with a structured skirt.
Nicole Kidman attended the 24th Critics' Choice Awards on January 13, 2019.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
This look was designed by Armani Privé.
Kidman bared her abs in this one-shouldered gown with a large cutout and a thigh-high slit to the 2021 CMAs in November.
Nicole Kidman attended the 55th Country Music Association Awards on November 10, 2021.
Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Kidman attended the CMAs in this Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello gown to support her husband, country star Keith Urban.
Kidman attended the 2022 Academy Awards in March wearing this light blue strapless dress with an exaggerated peplum skirt and train.
Nicole Kidman at the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022.
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Penske Media/Getty Images
Kidman's stylist, Julia von Boehm, told Vogue that this dress exhibited "quiet elegance."
Her dress at the premiere of "The Northman" in April 2022 featured coral feathers and beaded embroidery.
Nicole Kidman at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Northman" on April 18, 2022.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Kidman wore Prada at the film's premiere.
For the 2023 Academy Awards, she wore a sequined black gown with a thigh-high slit and two large beaded roses.
Nicole Kidman at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, 2023.
Kayla Oaddams/WireImage/Getty Images
This was another look by Armani Privé for Kidman, who served as a presenter at the ceremony.
Kidman's entrance at the 2023 Met Gala was nothing short of jaw-dropping.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban attended the 2023 Met Gala on May 1, 2023.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
This is the same Chanel gown that Kidman wore in her iconic commercial for Chanel No. 5 in 2004, directed by Baz Luhrmann. According to Vogue, the blush gown is made of silk tulle and is covered with "250 pink ostrich feathers, and over 3,000 silver crystals and sequins."
To attend a gala in September 2023, Kidman wore a baby-blue feathery gown with black opera gloves.
Nicole Kidman attended Kering's 2nd Caring For Women Dinner on September 12, 2023.
James Devaney/GC Images/Getty Images
The dress was accentuated by a satin bow around her waist.
Kidman went for vintage glam at the 2024 Met Gala in May.
Nicole Kidman at the 2024 Met Gala on May 6, 2024.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
The theme of the 2024 Met Gala was "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion," which meant bringing back vintage looks from their "sleep."
Kidman's look was a recreation of a 1950s gown designed by Cristobal Balenciaga. Per Vogue, it took 800 hours to attach 3,000 black feathers to the silk bodice.
Kidman wore a sparkling low-cut black gown to the premiere of "The Perfect Couple" in September 2024.
Nicole Kidman at the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix's "The Perfect Couple" on September 4, 2024.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Kidman wore a Ferragamo dress to the premiere of her latest Netflix show, "The Perfect Couple," based on the Elin Hilderbrand novel of the same name.
Kidman went back to one of her favorite silhouettes — backless and one-shouldered — at the 2025 Golden Globes.
Nicole Kidman at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 5, 2025.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
The Balenciaga dress was perfectly complemented by a voluminous high ponytail.
Backless tops, see-through dresses, and neon outfits have all had their moment in the spotlight.
Here's a look at those styles and some of the other boldest pieces ever worn at the prestigious event.
Andie MacDowell wore a skin-baring minidress at the 1991 Golden Globes.
Andie MacDowell attends the 1991 Golden Globe Awards.
MediaPunch/Getty Images
The loose-fitting piece had thin shoulder straps, silver sparkles from top to bottom, and plunging fabric that dipped just above her backside.
It was so bold that MacDowell opted not to wear any dramatic makeup or jewelry — only a touch of red-tinted gloss.
Courtney Love brought her rock-and-roll style to the event in 2000.
Courtney Love attends the 2000 Golden Globe Awards.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
She wore a John Galliano for Dior gown designed to look like it had been shredded.
The sleeveless piece had an asymmetrical neckline, tears across its bodice, and a ruched skirt decorated with blue sparkles and a thigh-high slit.
The outfit was memorable and one of the most daring ever seen at the event. Love completed it with silver sparkles dusted across her hair.
Anne Hathaway showed the daring side of her style in 2003.
Anne Hathaway attends the 2003 Golden Globe Awards.
Jeffrey Mayer/Getty Images
Dressed by Elie Saab, Hathaway wore a sleeveless gown that was bold in both color and shape.
Its hot-pink fabric was infused with spots of green, and the band beneath its neckline was embellished with small beads.
The garment also featured a deep, square-shaped neckline and a nearly hip-high slit that revealed her metallic sandals.
Jennifer Lopez was the ultimate golden girl at the 2009 event.
Jennifer Lopez attends the 2009 Golden Globe Awards.
Vince Bucci/Steve Granitz/Getty Images
She walked the red carpet that year in a sparkle-covered gown from Marchesa.
Two swaths of fabric covered her chest and created a plunging halter neckline, also making way for a backless bodice.
The latter feature emphasized the gown's mid-rise, floor-length skirt.
Halle Berry later participated in the sheer style trend of 2018.
Halle Berry attends the 2018 Golden Globe Awards.
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
She did so via a long-sleeved minidress designed by Zuhair Murad.
The garment, made entirely from lace, was see-through and featured a deep V-shaped neckline. Its form-fitting bodice was also connected to its short skirt.
Berry perfected the outfit with simple sandals, an updo hairstyle, and statement earrings.
Kerry Washington skipped a shirt for the 2020 Golden Globe Awards.
Kerry Washington attends the 2020 Golden Globe Awards.
George Pimentel/Getty Images
Instead, she wore only a blazer, crystal body chain, and floor-length skirt from Altuzarra.
The outfit was edgy, daring, and perfectly accessorized. Washington wore the three pieces with strappy sandals, silver jewelry, a short bob haircut, and vibrant red lipstick.
Long before promoting "Wicked," Cynthia Erivo had a neon-green fashion moment at the 2021 event.
Cynthia Erivo attends the 2021 Golden Globe Awards.
Todd Williamson/Getty Images
She wore a sleeveless, sharply structured Valentino gown. It had a full skirt that hovered above the ground, statement stitching, and pockets on each side of the dress.
Erivo wore it with platform heels and cream-colored gloves that extended over the elbow.
You couldn't miss Karen Gillan when she attended the event in 2024.
Karen Gillan attends the 2024 Golden Globe Awards.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
She wore a white Iris van Herpen dress with sheer panels and a scale-like pattern. The garment was handmade and looked more like an art piece than a traditional red-carpet gown.
She wore the piece with two rings and simple black sandals.
Miley Cyrus showed off tons of her tattoos on the 2025 red carpet.
Miley Cyrus attends the 2025 Golden Globe Awards.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Celine designed her showstopping dress, which had an open back that plunged to her hips and crystal-covered shoulder straps.
It was also daring across its bodice, where the gown had a deep neckline and thin, sparkling slits.
The dress made for an ensemble that was equally daring and chic.
Still, there are usually a few misses — even from the most stylish stars.
This year was no different, with actors including Melissa McCarthy and Andrew Scott wearing outfits that were overpowering and missed the mark.
Here's a look at what they wore and a few other ensembles that could've been better.
The color of Demi Moore's dress wasn't quite right for her.
Demi Moore attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
John Nacion/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty Images
Moore walked the red carpet in a custom Armani Privé gown, which was strapless and crafted from a metallic fabric that shifted between silver and gold.
Unfortunately, the blended shades washed Moore out, and its mermaid-style skirt distracted from its unique, asymmetrical bodice.
Ali Wong's Golden Globes look had too much going on.
Ali Wong attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Less would have been more for Wong's Golden Globes ensemble this year.
She wore a red Balenciaga gown covered in curled frills and embellished with a satin bow around the waist. Black, over-the-elbow gloves and thick plastic glasses completed the look.
The comedian could have improved her overall outfit by eliminating her arm accessories and swapping her chunky glasses for more delicate ones.
The color of Andrew Scott's suit was a bit too bold.
Andrew Scott attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
You couldn't miss Scott when he arrived on the red carpet. The "Ripley" star wore a Vivienne Westwood suit in a vibrant blue shade, a matching tie, and black dress shoes.
His fashion risk was appreciated, and he did stand out among other male celebrities at the event. That said, its color was a bit too bold and reminiscent of a Tiffany and Co. jewelry box.
Kathryn Hahn's look wasn't a good fit for the Golden Globes.
Kathryn Hahn attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
The black long-sleeved top, yellow pleated skirt, and gold buckle belt Hahn wore would have been great for a date or dinner with friends.
However, the outfit was too casual for the prestigious awards ceremony. The same shirt made from shiny silk, a different belt, and a slightly shorter skirt could have elevated the look.
Melissa McCarthy's look would have been stronger as a dress.
Melissa McCarthy attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
John Nacion/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty Images
Christian Siriano designed McCarthy's two-piece outfit, which included a hot-pink pantsuit and an oversize, ruffled cape.
The baby-pink shade on the latter piece complemented McCarthy and would have looked stunning in the form of a gown. However, the pantsuit and cape combination she wore overpowered the actor.
Anthony Ramos' belt didn't add much to his ensemble.
Anthony Ramos attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Ramos arrived in a gray suit that was sharply tailored and looked chic. But there was one thing he could have changed: the non-functional belt that sat wrapped around his waist.
Instead, it would have been fun to see the actor embellish his outfit with a statement brooch, a unique tie, or even a more interesting shirt.
Heidi Klum's look felt like a safe choice for the runway star.
Heidi Klum attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
Gilbert Flores/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty Images
Klum brought her signature, sultry style to the Golden Globes with a strapless green gown. It had a deep neckline, ruched fabric, and diamond-shaped cutouts across its bodice.
Still, the model has worn many similar dresses in the past. It would have been fun to see Klum experiment with something even bolder and more high-fashion this time around.
The cape on Keri Russell's dress was unnecessary.
Keri Russell attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Stéphane Rolland designed Russell's cream dress to look like a suit, with a plunging neckline and a slit in the center of the skirt mimicking the look of a jacket and pants. Lapel detailing and an oversize belt completed the illusion.
The look was fun, but a layer of straight fabric flowed down from the back, making the dress look boxy and unnaturally stiff. Without the additional fabric on the back, it would have been stronger.
Salma Hayek's dress had a sequin problem.
Salma Hayek attends the 2025 Golden Globes.
Michael Buckner/GG2025/Penske Media via Getty Images
Hayek chose a burgundy Gucci dress for the Golden Globes. Sequins covered the halter bodice, and the sparkles reappeared on the train, flowing from the form-fitting skirt. She wore a green necklace with the look.
The dress felt disjointed and would have been more cohesive if there were any sparkles on the skirt to connect the bodice and train.
Director James Mangold and Timothée Chalamet behind the scenes as Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown."
Macall Polay/Searchlight Pictures
Actors often transform into real-life musicians for biopics.
Some actors go through physical transformations to play musicians.
Many, like Timothée Chalamet and Angelina Jolie, employ vocal coaches to nail their performances.
Musical legends have been brought to the big screen for decades, in biopics that range from transformative to highly mediocre. Finding actors who can accurately portray those artists often requires some musical training, studying of mannerisms, and physical transformations.
While some roles merely require learning some choreography and slight makeup, others are more intensive, like Jamie Foxx having his eyes glued shut to portray blind musician Ray Charles.
The latest addition to the list is Timothée Chalamet, who stars as Bob Dylan in James Mangold's film "A Complete Unknown." Mangold is no stranger to biopics, having previously directed the movie "Walk the Line," which starred Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. But for Chalamet, playing the singer-songwriter was a new challenge, and the end result was years in the making.
Here are 48 of the most notable musician biopic transformations.
Anjelica Oswald contributed to a previous version of this article.
Timothée Chalamet is earning awards season buzz for his performance as Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown."
Bob Dylan, left, performing in August 1963, and Timothée Chalamet as Dylan in "A Complete Unknown."
"A Complete Unknown" chronicles Dylan's rise to fame in the '60. Because of delays due to COVID-19 and the Hollywood strikes in 2023, Timothée Chalamet ended up having five to six years — rather than a couple of months — to work on his portrayal of the singer-songwriter.
During that time, he worked with a guitar teacher named Larry Saltzman and a vocal coach named Eric Vetro. In addition to singing, guitar, and harmonica lessons, Chalamet grew out his real nails and kept speaking like Dylan on set even when cameras weren't rolling. Chalamet also told NPR that he gained 2o pounds because he was thinner than Dylan.
Angelina Jolie plays famed soprano Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín's biopic "Maria."
Maria Callas, left, in London in June 1958, and Angelina Jolie, right, as Callas in "Maria."
Zimmerman/Mirrorpix via Getty Images; Pablo Larraín/Netflix
Angelina Jolie, who never publicly sang before starring in the 2024 film, spent seven months taking singing, voice, and Italian classes. Even while filming "Maria," Jolie had nightly singing rehearsals to prepare for the next day of shooting.
"Industry" star Marisa Abela spent four months taking singing lessons with a vocal coach to portray Amy Winehouse in Sam Taylor-Johnson's 2024 biopic "Back to Black."
Amy Winehouse, left, performing for the 2008 Grammys, and Marisa Abela, right, as Amy Winehouse in "Back to Black."
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images for NARAS; Focus Features
Marisa Abela worked with a dialect coach, vocal coach, movement coach, music producer, and guitar tutor to fully inhabit the character. Some of her costumes in the film contain real pieces of clothing worn by Winehouse, too.
Kingsley Ben-Adir starred as reggae legend Bob Marley in the film "Bob Marley: One Love."
Bob Marley, left, performing in 1978, and Kingsley Ben-Adir, right, as Marley in "Bob Marley: One Love."
Paul Natkin/WireImage;
The 2024 movie "Bob Marley: One Love" explores Marley's rise to fame, his hardships, and his performance at the One Love Peace Concert in Jamaica in 1978.
Ben-Adir worked with a guitar coach, movement coach, dialect coach, and Jamaican language coach to portray Marley. The performance scenes in the movie blend Ben-Adir and Marley's voices.
Former Nickelodeon star Austin Butler earned an Academy Award nomination for his astounding transformation into "King of Rock 'n' Roll" Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's "Elvis."
Elvis Presley, left, in the '60s, and Austin Butler, right, as Presley in "Elvis."
Frank Carroll/Gary Null/NBC via Getty Images; Warner Bros. Pictures
Austin Butler landed the role over stars like Miles Teller and Harry Styles, per the LA Times.
To play Presley, the actor watched old interviews of the singer, studied the way he talked and sang, and worked with vocal and movement coaches. Butler also developed a close bond with Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley during the process of making the film.
Daniel Radcliffe played the titular musician of the 2022 biopic "Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story."
Weird Al Yankovic, left, performing in 2010, and Daniel Radcliffe, right, as Yankovic in "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story."
Evan Rachel Wood played Madonna in "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story."
Madonna, left, in 1985, and Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, right, in "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story."
Mondadori via Getty Images; Roku
The movie is a largely exaggerated retelling of Yankovic's life and career.
"I watched tons of interviews, and I was constantly playing them on set just so I have the cadence of her voice and the tone in my head," Wood told E! News of her process into becoming Madonna.
"I just sort of let her loose on set and took the foundation that I had and turned it up and made it the most unhinged, sort of stage mom Madonna that one has ever seen," Wood added.
Naomi Ackie portrayed singer Whitney Houston in the biopic "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
Whitney Houston, left, singing the national anthem in 1991, and Naomi Ackie, right, recreating the moment in "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
George Rose/Getty Images; Sony Pictures
Naomi Ackie portrayed the Grammy-winning singer at different stages of her life. As part of her preparation, she worked with a vocal coach and listened to original recordings of Houston's isolated vocal tracks.
Gary Busey scored his first and only Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in 1978's "The Buddy Holly Story."
Buddy Holly, left, and Gary Busey, right, as Buddy Holly in "The Buddy Holly Story."
Keystone/Getty Images; Columbia Pictures
According to Gary Busey's biography, he played the guitar, recorded the songs for the film, and lost 32 pounds to play Holly.
Viola Davis earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of legendary blues artist Ma Rainey in the 2020 film "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
Ma Rainey, left, in the 1920s, and Viola Davis, right, as Rainey in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
JP Jazz Archive/Redfern; David Lee/Netflix
The film also won two Oscars, for best costume design and best makeup and hairstyling.
Jason Mitchell transformed into Eazy-E for "Straight Outta Compton."
Eazy-E, left, and Jason Mitchell, right, as Eazy-E.
A New York Times review said the actor "consistently out-acts the rest of the performers." Mitchell, who has a similarly built frame to Eazy-E, gained weight, practiced a South Los Angeles accent, and learned how to rap for the role, according to the Los Angeles Times. Corey Hawkins became Dr. Dre and O'Shea Jackson Jr. transformed into his father, Ice Cube, for the film.
Tom Hiddleston played Hank Williams in "I Saw the Light."
Hank Williams, left, and Tom Hiddleston, right as Williams in "I Saw the Light."
Publicity photo from WSM; Sony Pictures Classics
English actor Tom Hiddleston transformed into the folk singer, Southern drawl and all, for "I Saw the Light." Hiddleston stayed with singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell for five weeks and was coached in Williams' mannerisms and singing style.
Kristen Stewart became rocker Joan Jett for the 2010 film "The Runaways."
Joan Jett, left, and Kristen Stewart, right, as Joan Jett in "The Runaways."
AP; Apparition
Jett and Stewart met before the movie was filmed so Stewart could learn about the rock star from the musician herself.
"The thing that came through to me was that it was important to her to capture it," Jett told Interview Magazine. "She really wanted to nail it, so I gave her all The Runaways music that I could find; I gave her tapes of me talking...And she really soaked it in. When we were hanging out together on set, it was like I had a mirror image. Even just sitting around, we'd do the same thing at the same time."
"Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman channeled his inner funk and broke it down as James Brown in 2014's "Get on Up."
James Brown, left, and Chadwick Boseman, right, as James Brown in "Get on Up."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Universal Pictures
Chadwick Boseman spent three hours in the makeup chair for his full-body prosthetics and wig to get the looks. With the help of a vocal coach and choreographer and advice from some of Brown's surviving relatives and Mick Jagger, one of the film's producers, Boseman gave an electrifying performance.
Jennifer Lopez's breakout role came when she was cast as the beloved Tejano singer Selena in "Selena."
Selena Quintanilla, left, and Jennifer Lopez, right, as Quintanilla in "Selena."
Maurice Rinaldi/EMI Latin; Warner Bros.
The Puerto Rican actor was met with some backlash because of her heritage. Lopez perfected the late singer's dialect and studied performance footage of the music sensation for the 1997 film.
"This is someone who's fresh in the public's mind, so you need to do your homework on this gig," Lopez told Entertainment Weekly.
Paul Dano played a young Brian Wilson in the 2014 film "Love & Mercy."
Brian Wilson, left, and Paul Dano, right, as Brian Wilson in "Love & Mercy."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Lionsgate
To play a younger version of the Beach Boys founder Wilson in "Love & Mercy," Paul Dano learned how to play piano and bass.
Wilson told the Chicago Tribune, "He looked a little bit like me at age 24. But the way he portrayed me producing records — you know? — was very factual, accurate, stimulating."
Dano received a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor. John Cusack plays an older Wilson in the film.
Jamie Foxx received universal acclaim for his portrayal of the blues legend Ray Charles in "Ray."
Ray Charles, left, and Jamie Foxx, right, as Ray Charles in "Ray."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images and Universal Pictures
He won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Critics' Choice Award for best actor for his portrayal in the 2004 film. To embody the blind pianist, he had to lose nearly 30 pounds and had his eyes glued shut every day.
Marion Cotillard received critical acclaim for her portrayal of French singing icon Édith Piaf in the 2007 film "La Vie en Rose."
Édith Piaf, left, and Marion Cotillard, right, as Piaf in "La Vie en Rose."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Picturehouse
Marion Cotillard won numerous awards, including the Oscar for best actress. She wasn't initially considered for the role. But when she met with director Olivier Dahan, he was transfixed by her eyes and how they reminded him of a photo of a teenage Piaf.
Joaquin Phoenix earned an Academy Award nomination for best actor for his portrayal of beloved country musician Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line."
Johnny Cash, left, and Joaquin Phoenix, right, as Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; 20th Century Fox
Joaquin Phoenix sang all of the songs in the 2005 film, mimicking Cash's signature voice.
"Music is always part of how John communicates what he's feeling and seeing," Phoenix told ABC News. "And that couldn't be faked."
Aaron Taylor-Johnson's breakout role was playing the Beatles member John Lennon in "Nowhere Boy."
John Lennon, left, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, right, as Lennon in "Nowhere Boy."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Icon Entertainment International
Based on a biography written by Lennon's half-sister Julia Baird, the 2009 film told the story of Lennon's adolescence. It covered his relationship with his aunt, Mimi Smith, and his mother, Julia Lennon, as well as the formation of his first band, the Quarrymen, which would evolve into the Beatles.
Angela Bassett nailed the strong-willed Tina Turner, earning an Academy Award best actress nomination and won a Golden Globe for her performance in "What's Love Got to Do With It."
Tina Turner, left, and Angela Bassett, right, as Turner in "What's Love Got to Do With It."
Evening Standard/Getty Images; Buena Vista Pictures
Angela Bassett prepared for her audition for the 1993 film with the film's choreographer, and after performing "Proud Mary," she got the role. Laurence Fishburne, who played Ike Turner, also earned an Oscar nomination.
Miles Davis' story was told on the big screen by Don Cheadle in the 2015 film "Miles Ahead."
Miles Davis left, and Don Cheadle, right, as Davis in "Miles Ahead."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Sony Pictures Classics
Cheadle was first linked to the biopic about Davis in 2006 when Davis, who died in 1991, was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Afterward, Davis' nephew announced Cheadle would play his uncle in a film of his life. Cheadle eventually cowrote a script, signed on to direct, and portrayed the jazz musician in "Miles Ahead."
(Cheadle also portrayed Sammy Davis Jr. in 1998's "The Rat Pack," for which he won a Golden Globe.)
Queen Latifah became blues queen Bessie Smith for "Bessie."
Bessie Smith, left, and Queen Latifah, right, as Smith in "Bessie."
Three Lions/Getty Images; HBO
Portraying the "Empress of Blues" "left this mark on me," Queen Latifah told NPR. The singer was praised for her role in the 2015 HBO film "Bessie," which won an Emmy for outstanding television movie.
Jamal Woolard made his acting debut portraying Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., in 2009's "Notorious."
The Notorious B.I.G., left, and Jamal Woolard, right, as The Notorious B.I.G. in "Notorious."
Mark Lennihan/AP; Fox Searchlight Pictures
He reprised the role of Biggie Smalls in "All Eyez on Me," a biopic about Tupac Shakur released in 2017.
Biggie's mother Voletta Wallace was a producer on "Notorious." And according to MTV News, she helped pick Woolard to play her son.
"He came in the room, and I said, 'That's my son,'" Wallace told the outlet.
John Lloyd Young originated the role of Frankie Valli on Broadway in "Jersey Boys" and reprised his role in the movie adaptation of the same name.
Frankie Valli, left, and John Lloyd Young, right as a younger Valli in "Jersey Boys."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Warner Bros. Pictures
Valli's life as the front man of The Four Seasons has been documented on Broadway since 2005. Young won a Tony Award for his portrayal. Clint Eastwood brought the story to the big screen in 2014.
Val Kilmer played The Doors rocker Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's "The Doors."
Jim Morrison, left, and Val Kilmer, right, as Morrison in "The Doors."
Central Press/Getty Images; Tri-Star Pictures
To land the role of Morrison in the 1991 film, Kilmer made his own eight-minute video highlighting his singing abilities and changing his looks to match Morrison to send to director Oliver Stone. Once cast, he dieted for months and spent six months rehearsing songs. He also trained with Paul Rothchild, who produced all but one of The Doors' albums. Surviving band members were not thrilled with the film.
Kurt Russell received an Emmy nomination for his memorable portrayal of Elvis Presley in the 1979 TV movie "Elvis."
Elvis Presley, left, and Kurt Russell, right, as Presley in "Elvis."
Liaison/Getty Images; ABC
Before the movie aired, Russell reportedly told the Los Angeles Times: "I know one thing, there's no in-between. It's either really going to be great or really horrible, just stinking."
It was a success. The film helped shoot Russell's career forward.
"I said, if I'm going to do this, I'm going out in flames. I'm controlling this airplane," Russell told GQ in 2016. "I'm taking it down, or I'm going to break through the clouds my way. And when I did that, that's when I had an epiphany moment, saying, 'Kurt, where have you been your whole life? Wake the f--k up. This is what you're supposed to do.'"
Zoe Saldaña's transformation into Nina Simone for "Nina" was controversial.
Nina Simone, left, and Zoe Saldaña, right, as Nina Simone in "Nina."
Ian Showell/Getty Images; RLJ Entertainment
Zoe Saldaña's skin was darkened and the filmmakers added prosthetics to make her appear more like Simone.
In response to the casting choice and backlash, Simone's daughter told Time, "It's unfortunate that Zoe Saldaña is being attacked so viciously when she is someone who is part of a larger picture. It's clear she brought her best to this project, but unfortunately she's being attacked when she's not responsible for any of the writing or the lies."
But she also said she was against the making of the film.
"The project has been tainted from the very beginning," she said. "Clearly, it is not the truth about my mother's life and everyone now knows that. This is not how you want your loved ones remembered."
Dennis Quaid took on Jerry Lee Lewis for "Great Balls of Fire."
Jerry Lee Lewis, left, and Dennis Quaid, right, in "Great Balls of Fire."
Evening Standard/Getty Images; MGM
Quaid practiced piano and took singing lessons for about three to five hours a day in order to learn how to imitate Lewis' piano skills. Though Lewis wasn't a big fan of the film according to AMC, Lewis said Quaid "really pulled it off."
Jessica Lange received high praise for her transformative performance as Patsy Cline in "Sweet Dreams."
Patsy Cline, left, and Jessica Lange, right, as Cline in "Sweet Dreams."
Decca; TriStar Pictures
She earned her fourth Oscar nomination for the role.
Meryl Streep wanted to play Cline, but later said, "When I saw ['Sweet Dreams'] ... I couldn't imagine doing it as well or even coming close to what Jessica did because she was so amazing in it."
Gary Oldman portrayed the late Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious in "Sid and Nancy: Love Kills."
Sid Vicious, left, and Gary Oldman, right, as Vicious in "Sid and Nancy: Love Kills."
Aubrey Hart/Evening Standard/Getty Images; The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Goldman beat out Daniel Day Lewis for the part and initially turned down the chance to play Vicious. But after accepting the role, he started to lose weight to mimic Vicious' skeletal body. GQ reported that the actor wasn't eating enough and collapsed in his car, too weak to move.
He told Playboy that he didn't like himself in the film.
"I don't think I played Sid Vicious very well," he said.
Joe Mantegna played Dean Martin in the TV film "The Rat Pack," earning a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for his role.
Dean Martin, left, and Joe Mantegna, right, as Martin in "The Rat Pack."
Express Newspapers/Getty Images; HBO
About playing the role, Joe Mantegna said, "My goal wasn't to mimic him. It was to capture him."
Sissy Spacek earned an Academy Award for her portrayal of country singer Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner's Daughter."
Loretta Lynn, left, and Sissy Spacek, right, as Lynn.
Lynn had chosen Spacek to play her based on a photo she saw of the actor. To prepare for the role, Spacek traveled with Lynn for a year to study how she spoke and sang. Spacek did all her own singing in the movie.
Lou Diamond Phillips' breakout role was playing the late Ritchie Valens in the 1987 film "La Bamba."
Ritchie Valens, left, and Lou Diamond Phillips, right, as Valens.
Del-FIr Records/Amazon; Columbia Pictures
The biopic about the teen musician earned a Golden Globe nomination. Los Lobos singer David Hidalgo lent his vocals to the film, while Phillips lip-synced the words. A guitar instructor was also on set to coach him on strumming the guitar.
Diana Ross transformed into Billie Holiday for "Lady Sings the Blues."
Billie Holiday, left, in 1958, and Diana Ross, left, in "Lady Sings the Blues."
AP/File; Paramount Pictures
Ross, a famous musician in her own right, played Holiday in this 1972 biographical movie based on Holiday's autobiography of the same name. The movie was nominated for five Oscars, including best actress in a leading role.
Marc Anthony played salsa singer Héctor Lavoe in 2006's "El Cantante."
Héctor Lavoe, left, on the cover of "La Voz," and Marc Anthony, right, in "El Cantante."
Fania Records; Picturehouse
The biopic was told from the perspective of Lavoe's wife Puchi, who was played by Jennifer Lopez. The movie was controversial for focusing on Lavoe's drug addiction and death from AIDS, which he contracted through sharing needles.
Ethan Hawke learned trumpet basics to portray Chet Baker in "Born to Be Blue."
Chet Baker, left, and Ethan Hawke, right, in "Born to Be Blue."
Keystone/Getty Images; Entertainment One
Trumpeter Ben Promane helped Hawke grasp basic trumpet skills and taught him how to look like he played the trumpet with his front tooth missing, like Baker. The 2015 movie was more drama than biopic though.
Michael Douglas won an Emmy for playing flamboyant pianist Liberace in "Behind the Candelabra."
Liberace, left, in 1984, and Michael Douglas, right, in "Behind the Candelabra."
Mario Cabrera/AP; HBO
The 2013 film was based on the memoir "Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace," written by Scott Thorson, Liberace's lover later in life. Matt Damon plays Thorson in the movie. Michael Douglas didn't actually play the piano for the film.
David Carradine played folk singer Woody Guthrie in the Oscar-winning movie "Bound for Glory."
Woody Guthrie, left, and David Carradine, right, in "Bound for Glory."
AP; United Artists
Aside from Guthrie and his first wife Mary, most of the people and events portrayed in the 1976 film are fictional. The movie earned six Oscar nominations, including best picture, and won for music and cinematography.
Rami Malek played Queen front man Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Freddie Mercury, left, and Rami Malek, right, as Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Hulton Archive/Getty Images; 20th Century Fox
Rami Malek played the musician in the 2018 movie "Bohemian Rhapsody," named after Queen's hit song. The film followed 15 years of Mercury's life — from the band's beginnings to six years before his death. Malek won an Oscar, Golden Globe, and SAG Award for his portrayal.
Renée Zellweger starred as Judy Garland in "Judy."
Judy Garland, left, in the 1950s, and Renée Zellweger, right, as Judy Garland in "Judy."
Zellweger won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal.
Taron Egerton played Elton John in the 2019 film "Rocketman."
Elton John, left, and Taron Egerton, right as Elton John in "Rocketman."
Scott Gries/ImageDirect/Getty Images; Paramount Pictures
The Elton John biopic "Rocketman" followed John's rise to musical acclaim starting from childhood and his early partnership with Bernie Taupin. Jamie Bell, Gemma Jones, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Richard Madden also starred in the movie.
"When I saw Taron, I was not looking at him — I was looking at me. And when I was hearing the voice, I was hearing me, but it wasn't me," he told Indie Wire. "Everything about it was extraordinary."
Daniel Webber played Vince Neil, Mötley Crüe's singer, in Netflix's "The Dirt."
Vince Neil, left, and Daniel Webber, right, as Neil in "The Dirt."
Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; Jake Giles Netter/Netflix
The Netflix movie was a biopic about how rock band Mötley Crüe formed and rose to fame.
Douglas Booth played Nikki Sixx, Mötley Crüe's bassist, in "The Dirt."
Nikki Sixx, left, and Douglas Booth, right as Sixx in "The Dirt."
Ron Galella/WireImage/Getty Images; Netflix
"The Dirt" was adapted from the autobiographical book "The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band," authored by Mötley Crüe and Neil Strauss.
Iwan Rheon played Mick Mars, Mötley Crüe's guitarist, in "The Dirt."
Mick Mars, left, and Iwan Rheon, right as Mars in "The Dirt."
Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage; Netflix
Rights to the book were first bought in 2006, but the film moved around to various studios until Netflix bought the rights in 2017.
Machine Gun Kelly transformed into Tommy Lee, Mötley Crüe's drummer.
Tommy Lee, left, and Machine Gun Kelly, right, as Lee in "The Dirt."
Richard E. Aaron/Redferns; Netflix
"The Dirt" was released on Netflix in 2020.
"The Walking Dead" star Christian Serratos portrayed Selena Quintanilla in a Netflix series.
Selena Quintanilla, left, and Christian Serratos, right, as the singer in "Selena: The Series."
Arlene Richie/Media Sources/Media Sources/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images and Netflix
In November 2019, Netflix shared a first look at the actor transforming into Quintanilla for "Selena: The Series." The show debuted on the streaming service on December 4, 2020, and the second and final part was released on the streamer on May 4, 2021.
Jennifer Hudson starred as "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin in the biopic titled
"Respect."
Aretha Franklin, left, in 1968, and Jennifer Hudson, right as Franklin in "Respect."
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images and MGM Studios
"Respect" hit theaters in 2021 and the actor previously said that the late singer specifically asked Hudson to portray her.
Paris Jackson, the daughter of Michael Jackson, revealed her engagement ring this year.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Multiple celebrities got engaged and flaunted their diamond rings in 2024.
Stars like Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez received some of the most luxurious pieces.
Pear-cut diamonds were especially popular among stars this year.
For some celebrities, the past year has been all about diamonds.
Just look at Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, and Emma Roberts. They're just a handful of the Hollywood stars who recently got engaged and showed off their massive rings in 2024.
Here's a look at their stunning new jewelry pieces and some other luxurious engagement rings out there.
Lady Gaga's new engagement ring is truly massive.
Lady Gaga attends a "Joker: Folie A Deux" event in Venice.
JB Lacroix/Getty Images
The "Joker: Folie à Deux" star got engaged in April and began wearing her engagement ring publicly in September. It was one of her main accessories while promoting the DC Comics movie at the Venice Film Festival.
The statement piece features an oval-shaped stone atop a raised, diamond-encrusted band.
Selena Gomez got her dream diamond and showed it off on Instagram.
Selena Gomez shows her engagement ring on Instagram.
Selena Gomez/Instagram
When Gomez released her 2015 album "Revival," she sang the line "I'm a marquise diamond" on a single called "Good For You."
Nearly 10 years later, the Rare Beauty founder has that exact stone on her ring finger.
Gomez revealed her diamond engagement ring from her now-fiancé, Benny Blanco, in a December Instagram post.
The large diamond is on a gold pavé band decorated with smaller diamonds.
Paris Jackson's ring features a diamond that's so clear it's see-through.
Paris Jackson attends a Stella McCartney show in Paris.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Jackson revealed her engagement in December with an Instagram post celebrating her fiancé's birthday. She also later shared photos of her ring on her Instagram Story.
Designed by Jean Dousset, the piece of jewelry features a lab-grown, emerald-cut stone that's crystal clear. It sits atop a thin, diamond-encrusted band.
Nina Dobrev accepted a large, pear-shaped jewel in the fall.
Shaun White and Nina Dobrev attend the 2024 Earthshot Prize Awards in Cape Town.
Rodger Bosch/Getty Images
Vogue reported that "The Vampire Diaries" star was told in late October that she'd been invited to dinner with the publication's editor in chief Anna Wintour.
She dressed for the occasion and arrived a few minutes late — but quickly realized that she was actually attending her surprise proposal.
White got down on one knee that night and presented her with a Lorraine Schwartz ring.
It features a five-carat, pear-shaped diamond that's completely clear atop a gold band.
Justin Theroux proposed to Nicole Brydon Bloom with a chic emerald-cut diamond.
Justin Theroux and Nicole Brydon Bloom attend a "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" screening in Venice.
Elisabetta A. Villa/Getty Images
The actor flashed her sparkling ring — a four-carat creation from Stephanie Gottlieb Fine Jewelry — on the "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" red carpet at the Venice Film Festival.
Theroux asked for her hand in marriage while in Italy for the event, according to People.
The publication also reported that the large diamond was set in a platinum and 18-carat yellow-gold band that had Bloom's and Theroux's birthstones hidden inside.
Huma Abedin's new engagement jewelry is larger than life.
Huma Abedin speaks at the Forbes 50 Over 50 event in New York City.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images
The author and political staffer had her ring on display while speaking at the Forbes 50 Over 50 event in New York City in October.
Its massive emerald-cut diamond sat atop a thick, dazzling band crafted with smaller stones.
Christian Serratos received a statement ring with two unique features.
Christian Serratos attends ELLE's 2024 Women in Hollywood event in Beverly Hills.
Variety/Getty Images
Serratos, who previously starred in "The Walking Dead" and "Twilight," became engaged to musician David Boyd in August and shared close-up shots of her ring on Instagram.
Her custom Brilliant Earth design features a vibrant red band, rose-gold prongs, and a pink, pear-shaped diamond.
People reported that the latter piece is over 11.66 carats.
You could describe Emma Roberts' engagement ring as old-school chic.
Emma Roberts attends a Fashionphile event in Los Angeles.
Variety/Getty Images
The actor first announced her engagement to actor Cody John with an Instagram post in July.
However, it wasn't until a few weeks later that the "American Horror Story" star posted a closer shot of the dazzling jewelry piece she received that day.
Her vintage-looking ring has a large, round stone set on a striped gold band.
The feud between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively heat up in December when Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment.
John Nacion/Variety/Getty Images; Gotham/WireImage/Getty Images
These Hollywood feuds offer a glimpse into the sometimes-fraught world of entertainment.
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni's reported feud has already solidified its place in pop-culture history.
Though some make up after spats, other celebs never quite get over their friction.
"It Ends With Us," the long-awaited film adaptation of the Colleen Hoover novel of the same name, had no shortage of controversies, starting with its subject matter — some critics said the story "romanticizes" domestic abuse.
Still, that's not the only reason you might have seen this movie in the headlines. Internet detectives became convinced there was drama between Justin Baldoni, the director (who also starred in the film), and Blake Lively, who played protagonist Lily Bloom earlier this year.
Those theories were proven right when Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment in December, confirming that the two did not get along during filming.
However, Baldoni and Lively aren't the only director-actor pairing to have reportedly dealt with on-set friction. This feud is frequent in Hollywood history, going back to the 1960s at least.
Here are some of movie history's most infamous feuds between actors and directors.
Melina Glusac contributed to an earlier version of this story.
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively
Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni reportedly did not get along on set.
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images
Whispers of a feud started on social media after it became clear that Baldoni, who both directed and starred in "It Ends With Us," wasn't doing press with the rest of the cast. Then, internet sleuths discovered that while Baldoni follows the entire cast on Instagram, none follow him back.
Over the summer, reports emerged that there were two cuts of the movie: one approved by Baldoni and another done by editor Shane Reid, who has worked with Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, which Lively commissioned, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rumbles of a feud continued as Lively began getting called out for how she promoted the movie. Baldoni hired Melissa Nathan, a seasoned crisis PR manager, as this happened. Nathan is known for working with Johnny Depp during the Amber Heard trial.
After a quiet few months, their rift returned to the headlines when Lively sued Baldoni for sexual harassment in December 2024 and said that he worked with Nathan and his publicist, Jennifer Abel, to start a smear campaign against her.
Baldoni's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement, "It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, as yet another desperate attempt to 'fix' her negative reputation."
Lively's representative directed Business Insider to a statement she shared with The New York Times: "I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted."
Celebrities have begun to support Lively publicly, including her "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" costars and "It Ends With Us" author Colleen Hoover. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Baldoni has been dropped by his agency, WME.
Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh
Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh never stood next to each other during any of the film's press.
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Rumors about Wilde and Pugh not getting along began in July 2022, when Page Six reported that Pugh was "displeased" about Wilde's relationship with "Don't Worry Darling's" other costar (and pop music sensation) Harry Styles. Wilde and Styles have since broken up.
Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Pugh did little to no promotion of "Don't Worry Darling" on social media. Pugh also was not involved in any of the film's events besides its premiere at the Venice Film Festival (notably missing the much-memed press conference) and declined to comment about Wilde in a profile on the director in Variety.
At the premiere itself, fans seemed convinced that Pugh refused to make eye contact with Wilde, didn't stand next to her in any photos, and generally seemed unbothered.
"As for all the endless tabloid gossip and all the noise out there, the internet feeds itself. I don't feel the need to contribute; I think it's sufficiently well-nourished," said Wilde during the Venice press conference.
David O. Russell and George Clooney
George Clooney still has hard feelings about David O. Russell.
Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images
Mounting tensions on the set of 1999's "Three Kings" reportedly led to a physical fight between the film's star, Clooney, and its director, Russell.
According to one of the film's producers, Charles Roven, Clooney was tired from working on both "ER" and "Three Kings" simultaneously, and Russell was experiencing budget pressure from the studio. Reportedly, when Clooney saw Russell yelling at a crew member, it was the final straw. The two engaged in a "tussle," per The Hollywood Reporter.
In a 2000 interview with Playboy, Clooney said Russell's aggression was a widespread problem on set, and that the director also made the script supervisor cry, physically pushed an extra, and embarrassed a camera-car driver.
After the reports about Harvey Weinstein came out in 2017, stories surfaced about Russell, with former co-workers accusing him of on-set abuse, as reported by Vulture.
It's been 25 years since "Three Kings," but the bad feelings have not disappeared. In an August 2024 GQ profile, Clooney said it was "not worth it" to work with a "miserable" person like Russell, who made every person on set's life difficult.
David O. Russell and Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin and David O. Russell buried the hatchet.
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic via Getty Images
A video leaked a few years ago shows Russell screaming at Tomlin while filming 2004's "I Heart Huckabees."
The video is profanity-laden: After Tomlin complains to Russell about his constant re-writing of lines and scenes, he has a complete meltdown. Russell shoves and knocks items over on the set as crew members flee.
But the episode did not harm Russell and Tomlin's relationship for more than a few hours. She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, "We've overcome it. It dissipates and it's gone." The two have said they would gladly work together again.
Joel Schumacher and Val Kilmer
Joel Schumacher called Val Kilmer "psychotic," but conceded he was a good Batman.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc/Getty Images
Schumacher told Entertainment Weekly in 1996 that the two even "had a physical pushing match" on set.
"He was badly behaved, he was rude and inappropriate. I was forced to tell him that this would not be tolerated for one more second. Then we had two weeks where he did not speak to me, but it was bliss," he continued.
Kilmer was eventually replaced in the sequel by George Clooney.
Time did not heal this wound, though — in 2019, 24 years after the film, Schumacher doubled down on their beef. In an interview with Vulture, he called Kilmer "psychotic," though he did admit that he was a "fabulous Batman."
It's unknown if the two reconciled before Schumacher's death in June 2020.
Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor
It took years for Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor to mend their friendship.
Rob Kim/Getty Images
McGregor and Boyle were close friends due to Boyle casting McGregor in his directorial debut "Shallow Grave" and his follow-up, the critically acclaimed "Trainspotting" in 1996.
However, when it came time for Boyle to direct "The Beach" in 2000, he chose Leonardo DiCaprio to be his leading man, instead of McGregor. According to a 2021 interview between McGregor and The Hollywood Reporter, this fractured their relationship for years.
McGregor said the two did not speak for "a long time" and even sat together in a first-class cabin on a transatlantic flight "without exchanging a single word."
"It wasn't handled very well. There was probably both sides to it," McGregor said. "I was upset. But at the same time, it's part of life, it's just part of growing up."
Boyle has said he felt "great shame" about what happened, even admitting that he had given McGregor the impression that the role in "The Beach" would be his.
"I handled it very, very badly, and I've apologized to you," Boyle told McGregor on "The Graham Norton Show" in 2017. "I felt a great shame about it. I was not proud of the way I handled it," Boyle added.
Eventually, the two reconciled and worked together again on the 2017 sequel "T2 Trainspotting."
Roman Polanski and Faye Dunaway
There were many rumors about the set of "Chinatown."
Steve Schapiro/Corbis via Getty Images
Dunaway and controversial director Polanski apparently clashed on the set of 1975's "Chinatown."
At one point during filming, Polanski was upset by a stray piece of Dunaway's hair that was ruining his shot, so he walked up to Dunaway and yanked it out of her head. One urban legend even said that Polanski's refusal to allow Dunaway bathroom breaks led to her throwing a cup of her own urine at the director.
Dunaway vehemently denied the urine incident to The Guardian but did tell the Sabotage Times that "the friction between Roman and me began from the start" of filming.
Henri-Georges Clouzot and Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Bardot and Henri-Georges Clouzot worked together on "La Verite."
Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images
French director Clouzot was well-known in the horror genre during the '50s and '60s. While filming "La Vérité" ("The Truth") in 1960, he wanted his lead actor, Bardot, to realistically fall asleep and drool for a scene.
So he apparently gave Bardot sleeping pills, claiming that they were painkillers, The Guardian reported. Bardot took too many and ended up having to get her stomach pumped as a result.
After the fact, Bardot called Clouzot "a negative being, forever at odds with himself and the world around him," according to the outlet.
This was just one of many incidents for Clouzot, however, as he reportedly slapped Suzy Delair while filming "Quai des Orfèvres" in 1947.
Stanley Kubrick and Shelley Duvall
Stanley Kubrick was known for being a perfectionist on set.
Keith Hamshere/Getty Images and Michael Childers/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images
"The Shining" is one of the most iconic films in American history — and the reported feud between Duvall and Kubrick is just as infamous.
Kubrick's masterpiece took 13 months to shoot, and every bit of it seems to have been torture for lead actor Shelley Duvall. A perfectionist, Kubrick apparently nitpicked her performance, re-shooting scenes and lines and reaming her in front of the crew for missing cues, reported Rolling Stone. To get real desperation out of Duvall, he apparently filmed one emotionally taxing scene 127 times.
After "The Shining" was released in 1980, Duvall said to critic Roger Ebert, "Going through day after day of excruciating work. Almost unbearable ... in my character I had to cry 12 hours a day, all day long, the last nine months straight, five or six days a week."
Later in her career, though, Duvall celebrated the director. In a video posted to X by the Shelley Duvall Archive, Duvall (who died in July 2024) said she "wouldn't trade the experience" of shooting the film "for anything" because of Kubrick. "It was a fascinating learning experience," she said.
Tony Kaye and Edward Norton
Tony Kaye called Edward Norton a "narcissistic dilettante."
Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images and Frazer Harrison/BAFTA LA/Getty Images for BAFTA LA
"American History X" got off to a rough start: Controversial British director Kaye didn't even want to hire Norton to play the lead, but he told The Guardian in 2002 that he "couldn't find anyone better."
Norton and Kaye reportedly began to clash when the film was being edited. Kaye's 95-minute cut was not favorably received by New Line Cinema and Norton, who both began to offer Kaye some notes — and he did not take the suggestions well, reported Den of Geek.
Entertainment Weekly reported in 1998 that Kaye was so furious with Norton that he punched a wall and broke his hand. Kaye also threatened to replace his director's credit with the name Humpty Dumpty. Kaye even called Norton "a narcissistic dilettante" to the outlet.
Norton has never spoken publicly about Kaye.
Michael Bay and Megan Fox
Michael Bay and Megan Fox patched up their feud later on.
Michael Buckner/WireImage via Getty Images
Bay and Fox openly slammed each other in the press, and the animosity seems to have started on the set of "Transformers" in 2007.
In a 2009 interview with Wonderland magazine, Fox said of her director, "[Bay] wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is ... He has no social skills at all. It's endearing to watch him. He's so vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set, he's a tyrant."
Members of Bay's "Transformers" crew retaliated by writing an open letter that year that called Fox "the queen of talking trailer trash and posing like a porn star," reported Deadline.
Fox was then fired from the "Transformers" franchise in 2011 and replaced with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
"I've always loved Michael," Fox told Entertainment Weekly that year. "We've had our battles in the past but even when I've been really outspoken about difficulties we've had, I've always followed up by saying that I have a particular affinity to him."
Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren
Tippi Hedren and Alfred Hitchcock attended the Cannes Film Festival together in 1963.
Getty Images
Hedren ascended to stardom after scoring lead roles in Hitchcock's "The Birds" and "Marnie." But Hedren later told Variety that the director made unwanted sexual advances on her throughout the filming of "The Birds" in 1963 — and threatened her career if she didn't comply.
Hedren repeatedly rebuffed his advances. She said, "When he told me that he would ruin me, I just told him to do what he had to do. I went out of the door and slammed it so hard that I looked back to see if it was still on its hinges."
According to Hedren, the inappropriate behavior continued on the set of "Marnie." At one point, Hitchcock and Hedren were in the back of a limousine, and she said he lunged at her, begging her to kiss him.
"It was absolutely awful, and as soon as the movie 'Marnie' was over, I was out of there," Hedren said. "That was the end of the Hitchcock relationship."
Judd Apatow and Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl's career suffered after she made comments about "Knocked Up."
Jim Spellman/WireImage via Getty Images and Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
In a now-infamous Vanity Fair interview from 2008, Heigl insulted her "Knocked Up" director, Apatow, by calling the movie "a little sexist."
Heigl went on to express discontent with her character's personality in the film: "It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight," she told the magazine. "It paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys."
Both Apatow and Heigl's costar, Seth Rogen, did not take this critique well. Apatow commented on Heigl's lack of an apology on "The Howard Stern Show" in 2009, saying, "[You'd think] at some point I'll get a call saying, 'Sorry, I was tired ...' and then the call never comes."
The incident dampened Heigl's career, leading her to apologize (via the press) in 2016. In 2017, Apatow told Vulture he still hasn't spoken to Heigl since the Vanity Fair interview came out a decade ago.
In 2021, Heigl spoke to The Washington Post about being branded as "difficult" in Hollywood after her "Knocked Up" comments.
"I may have said a couple of things you didn't like, but then that escalated to 'she's ungrateful,' then that escalated to 'she's difficult,' and that escalated to 'she's unprofessional,'" she said. "What is your definition of difficult? Somebody with an opinion that you don't like?"
Kevin Smith and Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis and Kevin Smith later became friendly again.
CHANCE YEH/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
Smith discussed the making of the 2010 film "Cop Out" on an episode of "WTF with Marc Maron" in 2011, almost a year after its release. He told the comedian that one of the stars of the film wouldn't sit for a poster photo shoot — and once Maron pressed the director for a name, he let loose.
The "Mallrats" director confirmed that it definitely wasn't Tracy Morgan," who he called "a dream" and said he would "lay down in traffic for."
"Were it not for Tracy, I might've killed myself or someone else in the making of that movie," Smith said. "It was difficult. I've never been involved in a situation like that where one component is not in the box at all." He added it was "soul-crushing."
Wills, for his part, kept it simple in his response. "Poor Kevin. He's just a whiner," he told Time Out in 2013.
However, the two seem to have squashed their beef. Almost a decade later, in 2019, Smith told a story on his podcast, "Fatman Beyond," about the action star texting him to ask for his address, as Willis had some pictures he wanted to send Smith.
"Reach out to an old friend or to someone you never thought would be a friend again. You never know what bridges you can mend," said Smith.
In 2022, Willis' family announced the actor was stepping back from acting after he was diagnosed with aphasia, and the director had some kind words to say on X. "Long before any of the Cop Out stuff, I was a big Bruce Willis fan - so this is really heartbreaking to read," he wrote. He also expressed regret for his previous comments.
Harold Ramis and Bill Murray
Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were best friends for years before the feud.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Murray and Ramis were longtime friends and "Ghostbusters" costars, but they had a bitter falling out on the set of Ramis' 1993 film "Groundhog Day."
Murray was the star of the film, and, according to Ramis' daughter Violet's book "Ghostbuster's Daughter: Life With My Dad, Harold Ramis," his behavior became increasingly erratic while shooting — he was repeatedly late to set and threw many a tantrum. The issue came to a head when Ramis, at one point, is said to have grabbed Murray by the collar and shoved him against a wall.
Ramis' daughter also wrote that "Bill was going through a difficult time in his personal life, and he and my dad were not seeing eye to eye on the tone of the film."
She added, "Eventually, Bill just completely shut my dad out ... for the next 20-plus years."
Ramis became terminally ill in 2010, and it was then that Murray extended an olive branch, arriving at Ramis' house with a police escort and a dozen doughnuts. The two were friends until Ramis' death in 2014.
Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog had a volatile relationship.
The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Kinski was known for being a difficult actor to work with, and this seemed to prove true for director Herzog on the set of "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" in 1972.
Kinski and Herzog began to disagree about how Kinski should play his character, and Kinski became defiant. He reportedly threw wild tantrums on set and constantly threatened to quit the production. In one of the latter instances, Herzog is said to have held Kinski at gunpoint in order to make him stay, reported Indiewire.
The two went on to work together four more times, and Herzog made a documentary about their mercurial, decadeslong friendship called "My Best Fiend" in 1999.
Lars von Trier and Björk
Lars von Trier and Björk attended the Cannes Film Festival in 2000.
Pool BENAINOUS/DUCLOS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
Both Björk and von Trier won many awards and accolades for their 2000 indie film "Dancer in the Dark." But in light of the #MeToo movement, Björk claimed in 2017 that von Trier made unwanted sexual advances at her during filming.
In a series of Facebook posts, Björk alleged that von Trier made "unwanted whispered sexual offers from him with graphic descriptions," and he threatened to "climb from his room's balcony in the middle of the night with a clear sexual intention."
Von Trier denied the claims, saying that sexual harassment was "not the case. But that we were definitely not friends, that's a fact," reported The Guardian.
John Carney and Keira Knightley
John Carney ended up apologizing to Keira Knightley after insulting her in the press.
Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for HBO
Carney blasted Knightley in a 2016 interview with The Independent after their film "Begin Again" was released, calling her a "supermodel" who was unable to capture the essence of her musician character.
Carney said, "Keira's thing is to hide who you are and I don't think you can be an actor and do that ... being a film actor requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don't think she's ready for yet, and I certainly don't think she was ready for on that film."
Directors rallied to defend the Oscar-nominated actor on Twitter (now X), calling her "utterly spectacular" and "a joy" to work with. Carney then issued an apology on X in 2016, saying, "Keira was nothing but professional and dedicated during that film and she contributed hugely to its success."
In 2019, Knightley revealed in an interview with the Irish Times that Carney had privately apologized to her, and she had accepted it.
"It was a very difficult shoot. We didn't get on. It's just a thing that happens sometimes and I say that with no blame. It takes two to tango," she said. "I think we can both be very proud of ourselves for the film that we made because it's difficult when a lead actor and director don't get on. And I don't think you could tell that from watching the film."
Paul Thomas Anderson and Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds won a Golden Globe for "Boogie Nights," but there was no love lost between him and Paul Thomas Anderson.
Tim Mosenfelder/FilmMagic via Getty Images and Ron Davis/Getty Images
Anderson hit it big with his critically adored second film, "Boogie Nights," in 1997. But Reynolds, who won a Golden Globe for his performance, never saw the film.
Reynolds told GQ in 2015 that he and Anderson clashed on set, personality-wise. He found Anderson to be too pleased with his own ability, saying they butted heads "mostly because he was young and full of himself. Every shot we did, it was like the first time [that shot had ever been done]."
Anderson extended an olive branch by offering Reynolds a part in his next film, "Magnolia," but Reynolds told The Guardian he declined the offer, saying, "I'd done my picture with Paul Thomas Anderson; that was enough for me."
Adrian Lyne and Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger felt she was bullied by director Adrian Lyne.
Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images and David Livingston/Getty Images
Basinger spoke to The New York Times in 1986 about the grueling experience of shooting the erotic drama "9 1/2 Weeks."
Basinger was reportedly bullied by director Lyne, who also convinced costar Mickey Rourke to completely ignore Basinger off-camera in order to add to the duo's intensity on-screen. Lyne said to the Times, "In order for her to be angry I would rage at her and she would rage back at me."
It wasn't until after "9 1/2 Weeks" was released that Basinger realized the level of manipulation that was happening on set. She reflected, "Mickey was egging me on — I hated him sometimes. I got confused. I didn't know who I was after a while. My husband [Ron Snyder] and I had a bad time during this movie."
Even though Basinger said there were times she was ready to quit the movie, she holds firm that the experience — and the final product — were worthwhile.
Bernardo Bertolucci and Maria Schneider
"Last Tango in Paris" was controversial upon its release.
George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images
Though the scene depicting the rape of Schneider's character was in the script for "Last Tango in Paris," director Bertolucci created a disturbing last-minute addendum.
Bertolucci and actor Marlon Brando had the idea of using a stick of butter as a lubricant for the scene, but they apparently didn't warn Schneider beforehand because Bertolucci wanted "her reaction as a girl, not as an actress," he said in 2013.
In 2007, a few years before her death in 2011, Schneider told The Daily Mail that the scene felt real to her. "Marlon said to me: 'Maria, don't worry, it's just a movie,' but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears," she said.
Bertolucci said Schneider hated him for years after the film, and "Last Tango In Paris" received renewed media attention in 2016 before the #MeToo movement, as celebrities — both actors and actresses — rallied to defend Schneider on X.
As any December 24 or December 25 baby knows, it's hard to have a birthday around the holidays.
But they aren't alone — these celebrities were born on Christmas Eve or Christmas.
Justin Trudeau and Sissy Spacek will celebrate their birthdays on December 25.
Sometimes, sharing your birthday with a holiday can be fun — think: Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, or July 4. But trying to celebrate your day of birth while many others are celebrating Christmas can be tricky.
Christmas babies: We see you, and now you have 14 more celebrity friends to commiserate with. These 14 celebrities, from Stephenie Meyer to Ricky Martin, were born on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Keep scrolling to see who's sharing their birthday with the reason for the season.
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest.
Steve Granitz / Contributor / Getty Images
On December 24, Ryan Seacrest will turn 50.
Two years ago, Seacrest celebrated his birthday with a family gathering and playing games with balloon animals, according to Instagram.
Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin.
Brendon Thorne/Getty
Ricky Martin's 53rd birthday is on December 24, 2024.
To get into the Christmas spirit, Martin voiced a character in the Netflix holiday film "Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey."
Dr. Anthony Fauci
Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Al Drago/Getty Images
The most famous expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, will turn 84 on Christmas Eve.
Fauci was born on December 24, 1940 — and while he might not have been a huge celebrity for the first seven decades of his life, Decade No. 8 is shaping up to be his busiest ever.
Louis Tomlinson
Louis Tomlinson.
Vivien Killilea/GettyImages
Louis Tomlinson's 33rd birthday is on Christmas Eve.
Tomlinson is the oldest member of One Direction, and the oldest of seven siblings.
Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett.
Getty
Jimmy Buffett would have celebrated his 78th birthday on December 25, 2024.
Of the many, many, albums Buffett released over his decadeslong career, he put out two Christmas albums: 1996's "Christmas Island" and 2016's "'Tis the SeaSon."
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer.
Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images
"Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer will celebrate her 51st birthday on Christmas Eve.
In 2020, Meyer released the eighth installment in the "Twilight" saga, "Midnight Sun," a re-telling of the first "Twilight" book from Edward's perspective.
Lee Daniels
Lee Daniels.
Noam Galai/Getty Images for TIME
Lee Daniels turns the big 6-5 on December 24 this year.
The Oscar-nominated director is celebrating his 65th birthday this year, 19 years after his directorial debut, "Shadowboxer."
Barbara Mandrell
Barbara Mandrell.
Mark Humphery/ AP
Barbara Mandrell's 76th birthday is this Christmas Day.
The iconic country singer released a Christmas album in 1984, "Christmas at Our House."
Jeremy Strong
Jeremy Strong.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic via Getty Images
Jeremy Strong was born 46 years ago on Christmas Day, 1978.
The "Succession" star has a few things to celebrate this year. He's been receiving awards buzz for his performance as Roy Cohn in "The Apprentice" and won a Tony for his role in "An Enemy of the People."
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek.
AP
Sissy Spacek's 75th birthday is on Christmas Day.
The Oscar winner starred in the 2008 Christmas rom-com "Four Christmases."
Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Associated Press
On December 25, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau turns 53.
At 43 years old, Trudeau was the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history when he was elected in November 2015.
Dido
Dido.
Kieran Doherty/AP Images
Dido will also turn 53 on Christmas Day this year.
The British singer takes a page out of Paddington Bear's book to celebrate her birthday — since Christmas is already a holiday, she celebrates her birthday on June 25, according to The Guardian.
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox.
Vera Anderson/WireImage/Getty Images
Annie Lennox's 70th birthday is on Christmas Day.
The "Walking on Broken Glass" singer released her first and only Christmas album, "A Christmas Cornucopia," in 2010.
Helena Christensen
Helena Christensen.
Jason Mendez/Invision/AP
Danish supermodel Helena Christensen will turn 56 on December 25, 2024.
Christensen first gained mainstream recognition 35 years ago when she starred in the music video for Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game."
This year may not have been as jam packed as 2023 was for gaming, but there were still plenty of amazing new releases. Whether you love a good indie or a big-budget production, this year had you covered. All you needed to do was look a bit deeper than you might have in 2023.
Animal Well
The core of Animal Well isn’t that structurally complicated: It’s a lock-and-key Metroidvania. You go to places to unlock other places and abilities. There are puzzle bits. Platforming bits. Bosses. A sense of progression. Beating the core “story” opens up a couple layers of admirably elaborate and increasingly meta secrets, but let’s be real, most people interested in those are just going to look up the answers online.
And yet, you play it, and you can’t help but think there isn’t much like it nowadays. Why? It’s not just the lo-fi aesthetic. It’s the fact that you never learn what your little blob guy is. It’s giving you a map to mark up yourself instead of providing any instructions. It’s accidentally realizing the disc you’ve held onto for the last three hours isn’t just for throwing. It’s the big monkey that flings rocks at you, just because. It’s the way each screen is a static shot, the way the camera centers the world instead of the player. It’s the eternal wonder and pleasure of uncovering what lies in wait in the dark, behind us, under our feet, outside of our little wells. And then having no clue what it actually means. That’s real stuff.
Animal Well is that rare thing: a modern video game that trusts you to figure it out and has enough grace to let you stumble in the shadows. I bet the ending will leave you slack-jawed.
— Jeff Dunn, Senior Reporter
Astro Bot
Astro Bot is a paean to the three-decade history of PlayStation. It shines a spotlight on every crevice of the brand's timeline, turning both mascots and long-forgotten characters from Sony's archives into adorable bots that you collect along your journey.
More importantly, though, Astro Bot stands squarely in the pantheon of great PlayStation games in its own right. It's an exquisitely designed platformer that's bursting with personality, wit and gorgeous visuals. Team Asobi packed its ultra-charming game with clever ideas and mechanics to keep you on your toes. It even feels great thanks to smart use of the DualSense controller's haptic feedback.
Video games aren’t always supposed to be fun. But Astro Bot wrings pure joy out of every single moment — at least when it’s not kicking your ass in the tough bonus levels.
— Kris Holt, Contributing Reporter
Batman: Arkham Shadow
I never get sick of playing the Batman Arkham games. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve solved all the Riddler’s puzzles or foiled The Joker’s plans. Batman: Arkham Shadow does a superb job of replicating all the things that make the original Batman games fun, like using gadgets to rack up combos in hand-to-hand combat and swooping out of the darkness to pick off armed henchmen. The game’s most impressive feature, however, isn’t the fighting, Batarang-ing or the satisfying feeling you get when you make a Tyger guard’s leg bend in the other direction. It’s the story.
Batman: Arkham Shadow goes deep into the legend of Batman and its Rogues Gallery of thematic villains. It unpacks Bruce Wayne’s story of perpetual pain and need for emotional redemption just as well as any of the other games and even some of the big-screen adaptations. Batman: Arkham Shadow shows that VR games have a lot of potential to be more than just mindless shooting galleries and boxing simulators.
— Danny Gallagher, Contributing Reporter
Balatro
Of all the games you see on this list, not one was as universally loved as Balatro. Nearly every member of the Engadget team wanted to write about the game. So instead of limiting ourselves to just one blurb, we wrote an entire ode to Balatro.
Crow Country
When I first heard about Crow Country, a 2024 release that was heavily influenced by PS1 survival horror games, I was really intrigued but also a bit worried that it’d be little more than a nostalgia grab. But once I got to playing it, I totally fell in love, and found it to be a unique experience even with all the loving nods to its inspirations.
Crow Country follows Mara Forest, a somewhat shady protagonist, as she explores an abandoned amusement park in search of its missing owner, Edward Crow. There are constant hints to a terrible event that led to the park’s shutdown, and strange skinless monsters are all over the place. In typical survival horror form, you have to manage your resources like ammo and health kits, and you’ll encounter a bunch of puzzles that you’ll need to solve in order to progress. I played Crow Country before the introduction of Hard mode, and found it to be spooky and engaging — but, to my surprise, also kind of cozy, which I really liked. But there’s a game mode for everyone. If you want a more riveting experience, go for Hard mode. If you don’t want to face any enemies, there’s Exploration mode. Survival, the “normal” mode, falls in between those two.
Crow Country is a great game with some light horror and a story that was fun to piece together along the way. It’s perfect if you want to play a horror game that has a creepy atmosphere but won’t have your heart in your throat the entire time.
— Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend Editor
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Dragon Age: The Veilguard wastes no time showing off the full glory of its graphical prowess and epic storytelling. Once you’ve spent some time in its (excellent) character creator, it’s only a few minutes until you’re fighting to stop the end of the world. Solas, the previous game’s surprise villain, is trying to tear apart the boundary between the spirit and human world. And in the process, his magical ceremony fills the screen with a glorious array of neon lights, color and shadows. If you’ve got a modern GPU, you’re in for a ray tracing workout.
I’m a gamer of simple pleasures, and I’ll admit, that bombastic opening sequence alone was enough to make me fall for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. What kept me playing, though, was BioWare’s classic formula of intriguing characters and sharp storytelling. I’ll forgive the many missteps of Mass Effect Andromeda, Veilguard’s crew of ragtag heroes make it clear BioWare still has its narrative.
What’s truly surprising, though, is that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is also a decent action RPG, with fast-paced and challenging combat that feels more reminiscent of the recent God of War games than anything from Dragon Age proper. There’s a rich skill tree to follow, and you can always re-spec without penalty.
For a game that could take a hundred hours to truly finish, Veilguard still manages to feel fresh and exciting every time I sit down to play. So really, I don’t mind if it doesn’t hit as hard as previous entries, or if it doesn’t give you as many consequential choices as Baldur’s Gate 3. Sometimes it just feels good to hang out with your fantasy buds and crack a few demon skulls.
— Devinda Hardawar, Senior Editor
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
The second part of the anticipated remake of 1997’s Final Fantasy VII uses the power of the PlayStation 5 to create a more significant (if not entirely open) world. (It’s also one of the best games to showcase what the PS5 Pro is capable of, offering smoother framerates and crisper textures and detail.) It’s a bigger, better, game than Remake.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth expands Remake's often constricted alleys and buildings into expansive plains, mountain hikes, and Mythril caverns. What’s interesting about this middle chapter is that the ending of Remake seemingly cut ties with the story we all knew from the original. Despite that, Cloud, Aerith and the rest of the motley crew tour most of the same towns and destinations of the original game. That feeling of nostalgia is paired with a modern, further refined action RPG battle system, with new synergy attacks, materia and summon spells. It’s all a little convoluted, but also meant I got to lean into my favorite characters and their play styles. (No one likes Cait Sith.)
It’s a rolling adventure that folds in extra character and story detail. While exploration in this middle chapter isn’t as expansive as I might have liked, the themed areas are all different from each other, packed with their own battle and exploration themes. I just love the soundtrack of Rebirth – I love it so much that it made it into my most-played albums of 2024.
— Mat Smith, UK Bureau Chief
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
When I first learned an Indiana Jones game was in the works, it seemed instantly superfluous. What’s the point when the Tomb Raider and Uncharted games have spent decades translating Indy’s pulpy action into the world of video games? I should have known better than to doubt MachineGames, the developers behind the recent (and excellent) Wolfenstein games. If anything, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has more in common with Dishonored and Hitman than the bombastic set pieces that have plagued Uncharted’s Nathan Drake. It’s a first-person game, for one, and it focuses more on stealth and problem-solving than mowing down dozens of baddies.
The game begins with a stunning recreation of the opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, a sequence that had me continually dropping my jaw. Many shots are directly mirrored from the original film, the Indy model looks surprisingly life-like, and perhaps the biggest shock of all, voice actor Troy Baker delivers a solid interpretation of a young Harrison Ford. Honestly, his Indiana Jones sounds more like the character I remember than Ford does in the recent (and genuinely great) Dial of Destiny.
While you’re equipped with a gun early on, most of your time is spent investigating large areas like the Vatican, sneaking around restricted areas and punching fascists in the face. You’ll also encounter a few puzzles that pose just enough of a challenge to be satisfying, without being overly annoying.
Five hours into the game, I realized I hadn’t yet fired my gun. And it would take several more hours before that was actually necessary. I can’t think of many other action franchises that practiced such restraint.
MachineGames didn’t just make a good Indiana Jones game — it crafted one of the best Indiana Jones experiences ever made. I’ll take The Great Circle over Temple of Doom any day. It’s so good, it belongs in a museum.
— D.H.
Infinity Nikki
From the hours we spend transmogging items or building gear sets for max stats, fashion has always been low-key essential in video games. So it's about damn time that someone decided to take the plunge, accept that style is everything and put it at the heart of an extremely charming game. Infinity Nikki is the most time I have ever spent in a game's photo mode. How could I not? My in-game wardrobe has been filling up with pieces all over the style spectrum – from the ultimate cozy loungewear to absurdly frivolous pastel confections – and I love them all. Dressing up in fabulous outfits is a big part of Infinity Nikki's immaculate vibes, but there's a whole lot of game here that has wisely taken its design cues from other very good titles.
The influence of Genshin Impact is clear in the approach to gacha systems. The open-world exploration and side questing feel reminiscent of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. The Whimstar mechanics are right out of any 3D Mario. But every idea has been toned down so there's no stress and very little challenge. That sounds like it should be boring. It's not. Being in Miraland is a complete joy.
— Anna Washenko, Contributing Reporter
INDIKA
I haven’t stopped thinking about INDIKA since I played it in May. It’s not a constant train of thought or anything, but memories of the game float through my consciousness fairly often and I welcome them each time — funny, heartwrenching and all the emotions in between. And yet, INDIKA is not a game I freely recommend to every person. It’s a satirical and surreal tale about the devil living inside a nun’s head, and while it has laugh-out-loud dialogue and cute buddy-cop moments, it’s also laced with scenes of sexual violence. No matter how delicately and powerfully these scenes are handled, they’re still heavy.
But, if you’re up for it, INDIKA is an utterly unique third-person adventure that deftly balances levity and agony. It offers a flurry of whimsical absurdity, religious criticism and raw human suffering, always with a wink and a nod. INDIKA thrives in the messy area between pleasure and discomfort, and it’s worth a play for anyone seeking something mature and original.
— Jessica Conditt, Senior Reporter
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is composed of contradictions. It’s a distillation of everything that makes a puzzle game tick, and it’s also a complete subversion of the genre. It’s heartwarming but eerie, mysterious yet satisfying, chaotic and utterly logical. It’s modern, vintage and futuristic all at once.
In Lorelei, players are stranded at the gates of an otherworldly hotel, and the only thing to do is investigate the creativity and tragedy that’s touched its grounds over the decades. The hotel is vast and dotted with secrets, and each of its rooms houses at least one mystery. There are more than 150 puzzles in the game — memorization tests, logic riddles, perspective tricks, math problems, art projects, lunar phases, astrological clocks and mazes — and the solution in one room often unlocks secrets in other areas. It’s a nonlinear experience, though it feels like everything in the hotel is deeply connected. Even you.
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is for fans of puzzles, narrative twists and David Lynch — but really, it’s for anyone who likes rad new video games. This is a game like no other, and it’s proof that innovation is alive and well in the industry, especially among indie developers.
— J.C.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Metaphor: ReFantazio improves on the Atlus JRPG formula that I’ve loved across various Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games in every way. Perhaps the game’s greatest triumph is making that classic JRPG grindfest feel unique and purposeful. Rather than crawling through bleak, procedurally generated dungeons to level up between key objectives, you’ll be claiming bounties on monsters, helping locals rescue loved ones or searching for mysterious relics. Add to that an engaging and surprisingly grounded storyline, vibrant characters and a fine-tuned battle system, and you have a clear winner.
The one drawback is that I wish its technical underpinnings were stronger; all the beautiful artwork and stylish menus in the world can’t hide that the game is clearly built on the same engine as Persona 5, stretched to its absolute limits. Coming from the slick Persona 3 remake, which utilized Unreal Engine to good effect, it’s a little jarring to see low-res textures, fizzling lines and weird loads between areas. None of this is enough to stop Metaphor from being a game I recommend to anyone who will listen, though.
Here’s hoping that the next Persona game — which has to be around the corner, right? — takes the gameplay improvements of Metaphor and pairs them with an engine that wasn’t built to accommodate the PlayStation 3.
— Aaron Souppouris, Executive Editor
Neva
Nevapacks a hell of a punch. This action platformer tells a devastatingly affecting story about disease, entropy and the relationship between human and animal over time. It's mesmerizing on multiple levels: visually, aurally and emotionally.
The story plays out almost wordlessly, with Nomada Studio largely using its environments, enemy encounters and your progression to tell the tale. You play as a warrior named Alba who tries to cleanse the world of a corruptive force that plagues the environment and possesses animals. Her companion is a titular wolf. Neva grows from a pup to an adult throughout the seasons depicted in the game. Alba can call the wolf to her when they're apart, but the timbre of her cries changes depending on how fraught the situation is.
Neva is a relatively short game, but it's one that will stick with you. Just as the blight does to the landscapes and fauna of this sumptuous world.
— K.H.
Nine Sols
2024 may not be over yet, but I can safely say we probably won’t see Team Cherry release Silksong. In other words, it was another painful year for Hollow Knight fans. But if you love Metroidvanias as much as I do, 2024 was easily one of the genre’s best years since 2017. Even if you only count two of this year’s more popular releases, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown andAnimal Well, there was no shortage of incredible Metroidvanias to play over the last 12 months. But if you ask me, most people slept on 2024’s best release: Nine Sols.
Nine Sols is one of those rare experiences where the elevator pitch actually does the game justice. It’s a 2D Metroidvania with a Sekiro-inspired combat system. I’ll be honest, that alone would have been enough to get me hooked, but the reason I’m still thinking about the game months after it came out in May is because of its story. The only thing I’ll say here is that Nine Sols is the product of Red Candle Games. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because the studio’s previous game, Devotion, was at the center of a major censorship scandal involving the Chinese government. By all accounts, Devotion featured an incredible story, and I wish I could play it after experiencing Nine Sols. The team at Red Candle Games are master storytellers, and if the way Hollow Knight hid its best narrative elements behind item descriptions and environmental details left you wanting more, I think you owe it to yourself to give Nine Sols a try.
— Igor Bonifacic, Senior Reporter
Pepper Grinder
Pepper Grinder is a brisk, no-bullshit 2D platformer. Its hook is the titular device: a giant frigging drill that lets you chew and leap through each stage like a chainsaw-wielding dolphin. You’re never fully in control while the machine roars along, so navigating the quick stages comes to feel like a cross between bull riding and figure skating, as wild and destructive as it is elegant. Put another way, simply moving in this game is a kinetic thrill. The levels themselves refuse to repeat or linger on ideas for too long — some tedious run-and-gun segments toward the end aside — the boss fights are honest challenges and the whole thing is over in about four hours. That’s fine. Pepper Grinder knows what it is, does what it does and does it well. If only more games could be so focused.
— J.D.
Thank Goodness You're Here!
Dumb, funny, easy to play, I can’t tell if Thank Goodness You’re Here is a tribute to British comedy history or a pastiche about what Americans think British comedic sensibilities are. Either way, it’s a whole lot of fun. You control an unnamed, tiny man who goes around the fictional town of Barnsworth, helping people the only way he can: pummeling objects and people with his little fists. You can hit things, you can jump, and that’s it. That’s all you need to rustle together a flock of seagulls, deliver soup to a sickly man with spaghetti arms and even fix the local fish and chip shop’s fryer.
It looks like a fizzy cartoon that would look at home on Cartoon Network, squeezed through an aggressively Northern English lens. It’s just a shame it doesn’t last longer.
— M.S.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Two years in a row with absolutely stellarZelda games? Sign me up! The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is not nearly as expansive as Tears of the Kingdom, but it definitely shares some of the same DNA. Don’t let the cutesy toy-like art style fool you. This is a legitimate Zelda game, and not an experiment like Princess Peach: Showtime.
Here are the main takeaways. This is the first-ever game that actually stars the titular Princess Zelda, and no I’m not counting the Philips CD-i title from the 90s. Also, she’s an absolute badass summoner/mage who made me feel more powerful than Link ever did. It plays like a perfect mix between old-school Zelda (A Link to the Past was an obvious inspiration) and the more open-ended modern games like Breath of the Wild.
I spent hours upon hours trying to rig up contraptions to reach faraway sky islands in Tears of the Kingdom and, lo and behold, I did the same thing here to explore the entire map before I made a dent in the main story. There are 127 summonable echoes that combine in fascinating ways to allow for custom puzzle solves and unique methods of travel. It also has old-school dungeons, including one of my very favorites in the whole franchise. I hope we get more playable Zelda titles in the future, as the series bears her name. Also, the next Smash game had better let Hyrule’s princess embrace her inner dark mage. I want to murder that little Earthbound kid with five crows and a Lynel.
— Lawrence Bonk, Contributing Reporter
Phoenix Springs
I’ve never encountered a game quite like Phoenix Springs. I’ve played point-and-click adventures, sci-fi mysteries and narrative games, but I’ve never seen one that sounds this luscious, looks this dramatic or plays this hypnotically. Phoenix Springs is a noir detective novel come to life but it’s also a cyberpunk vision of the future, and it’s all presented in muted, hand-drawn hues blanketed in light blue shadows. Truly, every scene of this game is gorgeous.
Phoenix Springs stars Iris Dormer, a technology reporter who’s searching for her estranged brother, Leo. Her hunt takes her from the abandoned buildings of a rundown city, to a rich suburb, and finally to Phoenix Springs, a desert oasis bathed in golden light and occupied by a handful of odd, disconnected people.
There’s nothing rushed about Phoenix Springs. Iris walks leisurely through expansive wide shots, her silhouette cutting across high grasses and cold concrete at the same unhurried pace. When she speaks, she sounds like a jaded detective lost in time, her sentences stark and powerful. Haunting choir chords and droning bass lines share screen time with pristine silence and birdsong. Phoenix Springs excels as both a piece of art and a detective game, and it’s the perfect escape for anyone who wants to slow down and get lost in the grit of a neo-noir world.
— J.C.
Still Wakes the Deep
Still Wakes the Deep is quietly one of the best horror games of 2024 — and in a year that gave us Mouthwashing, Slitterhead and the Silent Hill 2 remake, that’s saying something. Still Wakes the Deep comes from the horror masters at The Chinese Room, and it’s a stunning first-person experience that introduces violent paranormal monsters to the Beira D oil rig in the middle of the icy North Sea.
In Still Wakes the Deep, horror comes in multiple forms. The invading creatures move with thin, too-long limbs that burst from their bodies like snapping bungee cords. Large pustules and bloody ribbons grow along the corridors, emitting a sickly cosmic glow. The ocean is an unrelenting threat, wailing beneath every step. And then there’s the oil rig itself, a mazelike platform supported by slender tension legs in the middle of a raging sea, groaning and tilting as it’s ripped apart from the inside. Each of these elements is deadly; each one manifests a unique brand of anxiety.
Amid the life-threatening terror, Still Wakes the Deep manages to tell a moving story about family and regret, thanks in large part to the game’s fabulous voice acting and compelling script. This one was easy to miss amid the glut of good horror games this year, but it belongs at the very top of that list.
— J.C.
Silent Hill 2
There isn’t much to say about Silent Hill 2 and its story that hasn’t already been said a million times; it is incredibly bleak, a masterclass in psychological horror. In the 2024 remake, the story is much the same, but there’s a new intensity to the enemies and environmental elements that takes the horror to another level. Silent Hill 2 (2024) really got under my skin at times, and at others, made me jump out of said skin.
In the game, you play as the confused and grieving James Sunderland, who traveled to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his dead wife telling him she’s waiting for him. They once vacationed there as a couple, but needless to say, Silent Hill is not as he remembers it. The game presents you with both a fight for survival and mystery that needs solving, as James fights off horrifying monsters and little by little uncovers clues that point to dark events. It’s extremely compelling and genuinely scary, not to mention emotionally effective as the story eventually reveals itself. Bloober Team did a great job with the remake and, as with the original, it’s the kind of game you’ll be thinking about well after you’ve finished playing.
— C.M.
Space Marine 2
At first glance, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is a simple, by-the-numbers action game in the mold of Gears of War. It’s loud, bloody, and over the top. But the more I played Space Marine 2, the more I came to appreciate how much depth and intelligence it hides just below its shiny Ceramite surface. For one, it absolutely nails the Warhammer 40K setting, both visually and in tone. It’s a game that knows its transhuman protagonists are just cogs in a brutal and repressive regime.
Then there’s the close combat system, which, once again, seems simple but rewards players who take the time to master its rhythm. Just because you’re a super soldier doesn’t mean you can simply charge into combat; instead, you need to block, parry and counter the most deadly opponents on the field. Plenty of other games have employed this rhythm, but Space Marine 2 makes its own and feel extremely satisfying. Add to that a compelling co-op mode that offers a great progression system, and you have a game that I’ve played more than any other this year.
— I.B.
The Last of Us Part 2 Remasted
I’m going to exploit a loophole to write about one of my favorite games that technically came out back in 2020, The Last of Us Part II. However, Naughty Dog released a remastered version for the PS5 in January. Yes, the core game is the same, and the graphics upgrade isn’t nearly as massive as the remake of the first Last of Us that came out in 2022. But as I said in my review of Part II Remastered, the new roguelike “No Return” mode was easily worth the $10 upgrade fee on its own.
I wasn’t going to write this up for our favorite games of the year, thinking it would be silly to go back to this particular obsession of mine yet again. However, my PlayStation 2024 wrap-up indicated that I spent a positively ridiculous 318 hours playing Part II. Yes, I went through the main campaign once this year and also finally got the platinum trophy that had eluded me on the PS4 version — but my rough guess is that I spent somewhere between 250 and 275 hours on No Return alone. Yes, that’s borderline obsessive behavior, but I think it also speaks to how good the combat system in Part II is. And getting to play these encounters with 10 different characters, each with their own traits and quirks, means there’s a ton of replay value here (if I haven’t proved that already). Add in the randomized mods that pop up (invisible enemies, healing when you land a melee hit, tripwire traps populating the arena) and you’ll never have the same run twice.
— Nathan Ingraham, Deputy Editor
Vendetta Forever
Fitness is one of the best selling points for VR headsets. It’s not just a static gaming experience. You can get up, jump around, squat, duck and dive your way in all sorts of different games. Meatspace Interactive may not have had fitness in mind when they designed the rapid action simulator Vendetta Forever, but it’s one of the most fun ways to work up a sweat on a VR headset. Vendetta Forever puts you in the shoes of the target of a series of minimalist assassins. Just like Superhot VR, the action ramps up the more you move, but Vendetta Forever has a unique “LO-KILL-MOTION” gimmick that makes it so addictive.
You zip between your faceless enemies as you snatch weapons out of the air like firearms, ninja stars and even pencils while contorting your body to avoid incoming fire. It’s easy to get caught up in the repeating action as you make your way through action movie staple scenes and learn from your deadly mistakes in gun run after gun run. Vendetta Forever is my favorite way to meet my daily cardio requirements.
— D.G.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/engadgets-games-of-the-year-2024-133005519.html?src=rss
Movie icon and super spy James Bond seemed to be on another rise to the top of the box office just a few years ago, but things have been almost as quiet as a shot from a Walther PPK with a silencer ever since then. Daniel Craig took on the role in 2006 with Casino Royale and passed the baton with 2021’s No Time to Die in one of the most heart-wrenching endings in Bond’s cinematic history (you cried, just admit it).
The only thing sadder is the reason why we haven’t seen a new Bond movie since then.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon and Barbara Broccoli, the producer who inherited the franchise from her father and film producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli when he died in 1996, are in the middle of an ugly fight that’s halted production on the next Bond film. Apparently, Barbara doesn’t trust Amazon with her family’s famous film franchise.
How bad is it? Well, here’s a quote from Barbara to some of her friends explaining how she feels about the people who run Amazon’s media empire: “These people are f—ing idiots.” Man, that’s awkward with a capital “awk.”
The stalemate started back in 2021 when Amazon bought MGM for $8.5 billion and thus acquired the rights to distribute Bond films, according to Variety. The deal seemed like a big move for Amazon to weave its way into Hollywood using one of its most storied and rock solid film franchises.
Unfortunately for Amazon, the true power over the James Bond films lies with Broccoli. She supplies the ideas for Bond’s big screen adventures and when they go into production, and Broccoli isn’t keen on working with Amazon anytime soon. The WSJ spoke to 20 people familiar with the feud who say Broccoli feels Amazon isn’t the right place for a Bond movie because its core business is retail and ecommerce.
When Amazon purchased MGM, clinching the rights to the Bond franchise was a key part of the deal’s value. Broccoli and co-producer Michael Wilson had some reservations but were assured they would still retain creative control. COVID lockdowns were already making it hard to jump into the next Bond film production as well. However, things seemed to be smoothing over between the two parties when Amazon also insisted that its next Bond movie No Time to Die would get a theatrical release.
But as soon as the deal closed, Amazon executives started thinking of ways to expand the Bond film franchise to other mediums like a Moneypenny spinoff series for Prime Video or a separate spy film or TV show that took place in the Bond universe. Broccoli refused to let any of these projects go forward. She also took umbrage with Amazon entertainment executive Jennifer Salke’s use of the word “content” to describe new James Bond projects and any ideas Amazon had for Bond were labeled “TBD” in memos. To date, the only Bond property Amazon could get Broccoli to sign off on is a reality series 007: Road to a Million that’s entering its second season.
Broccoli and her family have been part of the Bond movie franchise for almost as long as she lived so she’s fiercely protective of the brand and her father’s cinematic legacy. She’s also started training Wilson’s son Gregg to produce recent installments and possibly prepare him to take over the franchise someday. Even that has led to disagreements over who should play Bond in the next film. That’s assuming we get one and it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/james-bond-the-movie-franchise-not-the-spy-may-be-in-deep-jeopardy-211608094.html?src=rss
BEIJING, CHINA - NOVEMBER 12: (CHINA OUT) Actor Daniel Craig attends 'Spectre' premiere at The Place on November 12, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images)
In July 2023, multiple outlets including People magazine and TMZ reported that Grande, 31, and her "Wicked" costar Slater, 32, were dating. The reports came days after news broke of Grande's separation from her husband, Dalton Gomez.
Grande and Slater presumably met through their roles in the two-part film adaptation of the "Wicked" musical. Grande portrays Glinda, the popular girl at Shiz University, and Slater plays Boq, a classmate from Munchinland who has an unrequited crush on her but becomes the love interest of Elphaba's younger sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode).
Here's everything to know about Slater.
Slater is an actor who rose to fame playing Spongebob on Broadway
Ethan Slater as Spongebob in "Spongebob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical" in 2017.
Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Nickelodeon
For his star turn as the plucky yellow sponge in the 2017 musical adaptation of "Spongebob Squarepants," Slater received several accolades, including a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award win in 2018. He also starred in the Classic Stage Company's production of "Assassins," which ran until January 2021, and has had roles on shows including "Law & Order: SVU" and "Fosse/Verdon."
Slater more recently starred in the Broadway revival of "Spamalot," which closed in April after a 24-week run.
Shortly after news broke of his rumored relationship with Grande, Slater's Instagram page was made private. When viewed by Business Insider before Slater made the account private, the page mostly featured clips from his past and coming projects, as well as a blurry selfie with his then-wife, Jay.
Slater shares a son with his ex-wife, Lilly Jay
Ethan Slater at the UK premiere of "Wicked" in November.
Scott A. Garfitt/Invision/AP
Slater and Jay, a clinical psychologist in perinatal mental health and child development, met in high school and married in 2018. They welcomed their first child together, a son, in August 2022.
In People's July 2023 report about Grande and Slater's relationship, a source said that Slater and Jay had separated, though they didn't give an exact timeframe for the separation. TMZ reported that Slater filed for divorce from Jay on July 26, 2023.
Jay later addressed Slater's romance with Grande in an interview with Page Six, calling the singer "not a girl's girl" and saying her family was "just collateral damage" in the controversy.
Grande first sparked her own divorce rumors after she was spotted at a Wimbledon match without her wedding ring or engagement ring on July 16, 2023.
A day after the singer was seen without her rings at Wimbledon, TMZ reported that Grande and Gomez had been separated for several months and were "heading for divorce." The couple had been together since 2020 and married in 2021.
Grande and Gomez simultaneously filed for divorce in September 2023. Their separation date was listed in court documents as February 20, 2023.
Jay recently discussed her and Slater's divorce in an essay for The Cut, published on Thursday. In her essay, Jay avoided directly addressing Slater and Grande's relationship and instead focused on how her highly publicized divorce affected her. She also said that she and Slater continue to co-parent their child.
"While our partnership has changed, our parenthood has not," Jay wrote. "Both of us fiercely love our son 100% of the time, regardless of how our parenting time is divided. As for me, days with my son are sunny. Days when I can't escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker."
Libby Torres contributed to an earlier version of this story.
Paramount Pictures is hoping to spin-dash to success for a fourth time. The studio has confirmed that it is working on Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and is targeting a theatrical release of spring 2027 for the movie. No details have leaked about the plot, but it's likely that the project will see actors Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey reprising their roles as Sonic and Dr. Robotnik.
The recent film adaptations of Sega's famous game franchise have become a consistent hit for Paramount. The first film secured the biggest opening weekend in history for a video game movie, only to be dethroned in 2022 by its own sequel. Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which adds Keanu Reeves to the already star-studded cast of the series, releases tomorrow. Variety is currently projecting the third entry to fall short of the financial bar set by Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but anything could happen. The movies have also received a television spin-off on Paramount+ due to air next spring. The show will delve into the backstory of Sonic's echidna ally Knuckles, voiced by Idris Elba.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/sonic-the-hedgehog-4-movie-confirmed-by-paramount-190234137.html?src=rss
Robb Report curated the gift bags for the 82nd annual Golden Globes.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Robb Report curated the gift bags for the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards.
The selected products and experiences are worth $1 million in total.
The gift bag includes a private flight and stay in Finland to see the northern lights.
The gift bags offered at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards are, in a word, luxurious.
Hollywood's biggest stars will descend on The Beverly Hilton hotel on January 5, 2025, to attend the 82nd Golden Globes ceremony. Emmy-nominated comedian Nikki Glaser will host the event.
Not every nominee will snag a coveted award that night, but they can at least leave the venue with an impressive swag bag offering 28 products and experiences totaling $1 million. Each celebrity will also walk away with an Atlas Bespoke Weekender Bag.
Lifestyle outlet Robb Report curated this year's selection to encompass a wide breadth of interests, including culinary, beauty, and travel. Robb Report also curated the gift bag for the 2024 Golden Globes, which were valued at $500,000. Robb Report and the Golden Globe Awards are brands under Penske Media Corporation.
Luke Bahrenburg, head of luxury sales at Penske Media Corporation and the president of Robb Report, told the outlet that this year's gift bag is "the pinnacle of luxury."
The gift bag includes more than two dozen offers, but not every participant can take advantage of every offer. Although all 100 participants can opt for a one-night stay in a L'Ermitage Beverly Hills suite worth $1,500, only one can secure a private flight and vacation to Finland to view the northern lights. That trip is valued at $48,000.
The gift bag also advertises a $33,800 five-night vacation and wellness experience at Joali Being in the Maldives. A two-night vacation and whisky experience in Tasmania, Australia, is valued at $4,935.
Other gifts include a $469 LED light therapy face mask and a $2,000 rare bottle of Komos XO tequila. A wine tasting and dinner in Bordeaux, France, cost $272,000.
Representatives for Penske Media Corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Sabrina Carpenter in 2023 and Gwen Stefani in 2017.
Michael Kovac/Andrew Lipovsky/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Every year, celebrities try to capitalize on the holiday season by releasing festive music.
Singers like Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, and Michael Bublé managed to perfect the cheesy art form.
Others, like Taylor Swift, CeeLo Green, and Sia, released forgettable or cringeworthy Christmas albums.
The Christmas album is one of music's most storied and cheesy traditions.
While some celebrities have perfected the seasonal art form — either by reviving old classics or putting their own spin on the festive genre — others would've been better off leaving it alone.
Our six favorite and six least favorite examples are cataloged below, with each batch listed in chronological order.
Mariah Carey's "Merry Christmas" is the only modern Christmas album that can be considered a classic.
"Merry Christmas" was released in 1994.
Sony Music Entertainment
Mariah Carey's timeless Christmas album features many covers of classics and three original songs. The star, of course, is "All I Want for Christmas is You," which is so timeless that it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 a full 25 years after its release, and has continued to top the chart every holiday season since.
"There are the classics — the standards that everybody grew up with — and then there are the reinterpretations or new originals," Dave Bakula, a senior analyst for Nielsen Music, told The New York Times. "Mariah lives in that sweet spot of both."
Ariana Grande described "Christmas and Chill" as her "favorite body of work."
"Christmas and Chill" was released in 2015.
Republic Records
Ariana Grande's surprise-released Christmas EP experienced a surge in popularity after she added some of the project's six original songs to her 2019 Sweetener World Tour setlist. That year, it even surpassed "Thank U, Next" as Grande's most-streamed album.
"my favorite body of work," she wrote on Twitter. "she is rising from the dead ! thank u new listeners of christmas n chill and hello everyone that is just now discovering it. i'm so happy."
"The first thing you need to know about 'Christmas and Chill' is that, unlike most celebrity Christmas albums, it contains zero covers. Nay, this is an entirely original work; Grande does not perform a playful riff on 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' because she is too busy staying inside, having tons of unhinged sex to a trap beat," Handler wrote.
Michael Bublé's "Christmas" is his most-loved album.
"Christmas" was released in 2011.
Reprise Records
Michael Bublé's essential Christmas album is entirely comprised of classic covers, from "Jingle Bells" to "Santa Baby" — but "Christmas" actually benefits from Bublé's lack of originality. His rich, Rat Pack-worthy voice is perfectly suited to retain the chestnut-roasting, spirit-brightening, holly-jolly magic of the holiday season.
Justin Bieber's "Under the Mistletoe" is a surprisingly fun listen.
"Under the Mistletoe" was released in 2011.
Island Def Jam
These days, Justin Bieber's brand may not scream "holiday cheer," but his 2011 album "Under the Mistletoe" molds the genre to suit his sound.
Anyone who convinced Busta Rhymes to hop on a delightfully unhinged cover of "Drummer Boy" (Bieber's trap-tinged version features the lyric "Playing for the king, playing for the title / I'm surprised you didn't hear this in the Bible") deserves a spot on this list.
"A Legendary Christmas" is endearingly cheesy, thanks to John Legend's charm.
The deluxe version of "A Legendary Christmas" was released in 2019.
Columbia Records
John Legend's aptly titled "A Legendary Christmas" includes eight covers (including his much-debated woke version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Kelly Clarkson) and six jazzy original tracks, which are equal parts endearing and cheesy. (When it comes to holiday music, cheese is the whole point.)
Legend is ideally suited for this kind of project, which would've fallen flat without the sincerity that defines his voice and brand. "A Legendary Christmas" was even nominated for best traditional pop vocal album at the 2020 Grammy Awards, alongside other legends like Elvis Costello and Barbra Streisand.
Sabrina Carpenter's "Fruitcake" is a fresh and charming take on holiday themes.
"Fruitcake" was released in 2023.
Sarah Carpenter/Island Records
Save for the closing track, "White Xmas," Sabrina Carpenter's "Fruitcake" is full of original bops, each equally as catchy as the last.
Much like Grande's EP, "Fruitcake" blends contemporary pop production, wintry innuendos, and Carpenter's signature wit to great effect: "A Nonsense Christmas" is a festive twist on her viral hit, "Buy Me Presents" is a cheeky ode to Santa as the ideal romantic suitor, while "Cindy Lou Who" stands out as the sole genuine tear-jerker.
David Hasselhoff's "The Night Before Christmas" has been widely panned.
"The Night Before Christmas" was released in 2004.
Edel Records
Davis Hasselhoff's Christmas album would be endearing if it had leaned into the weirdness (like, why does this exist?). Instead, it's just plain bad. As CBC Music put it so elegantly, the "Baywatch" star's attempt to recreate holiday classics was just "incredibly unnecessary."
Unfortunately, Taylor Swift's "Holiday Collection" is peak cringe.
"The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection" was released in 2007.
Big Machine
Taylor Swift was still a teenage country darling when she released "The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection" and botched seasonal favorites like "Last Christmas" and "Silent Night." As Courteney Larocca previously wrote for BI, her "Santa Baby" cover is the EP's worst offender: "It's difficult to listen to her croon about how she's been an 'awful good girl' while trying to flirt her way into a light blue convertible without gagging."
Even though "The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection" features two original songs from this generation's preeminent lyricist ("Christmases When You Were Mine" and "Christmas Must Be Something More"), neither is executed well enough to rescue the experience.
Seth MacFarlane takes himself way too seriously on "Holiday for Swing."
"Holiday for Swing" was released in 2014.
Republic Records
Seth MacFarlane has a surprisingly robust singing voice, but it's hard to separate his brand from "Holiday for Swing" — especially if you associate his vocals with Brian, the talking dog from "Family Guy." The album barely reimagines any of its holiday classics and takes itself way too seriously for MacFarlane's boyish comedy instincts.
"CeeLo's Magic Moment" is underwhelming and unnecessary.
"CeeLo's Magic Moment" was released in 2012.
Elektra Entertainment Group Inc.
"CeeLo's Magic Moment" was an obvious extension of CeeLo Green's rebrand as the family-friendly coach on NBC's "The Voice," a much duller version of the iconic Gnarls Barkley singer who once gave us transcendent jazz-pop-funk fusion hits like "Crazy."
As a result, "CeeLo's Magic Moment" comes across as forced and contrived.
Sia's "Everyday is Christmas" is underwritten and forgettable.
"Everyday is Christmas" was released in 2017.
Monkey Puzzle Music, Inc.
Do you remember (or even know) that Sia released a Christmas album within the last decade?
The powerhouse singer tried to infuse a bit of tropical funk into the holiday season with "Everyday is Christmas," but it just doesn't work the way she clearly intended. As Katherine St. Asaph wrote for Pitchfork, the album "feels inconsistent and underwritten, like opening a gift where someone's forgotten to remove the tags."
Gwen Stefani's "You Make It Feel Like Christmas" is the antithesis of cool.
"You Make It Feel Like Christmas" was released in 2017.
Interscope
Making holiday music is always a bit of a risk; it usually reeks of a cash grab, rather than a serious artistic pursuit. That can be a death knell for pop stars who already have to fight against that anti-artistic stereotype.
Such is the case for Gwen Stefani, who used to make albums like "Return of Saturn" and "Love. Angel. Music. Baby." but now makes flavorless country-pop about being married.
For many fans, Stefani's fourth solo album, "You Make It Feel Like Christmas," punctuated her unfortunate fall from the cool-girl pedestal. The album bears no hint of personality or idiosyncratic spin — just Stefani delivering the billionth faithful rendition of "Jingle Bells" and dueting with her husband, Blake Shelton, on the cookie-cutter title track.
If you're looking for a holiday gift, Masterclass has something that may catch your attention. As part of a special holiday offer, you can get two MasterClass annual memberships — one for yourself and one to give away as a gift — for the price of one. Memberships start at $120 per year, which lets you watch on one device at a time, $180 grants access to two devices simultaneously and allows for downloads, and a Family membership covers six devices. Your giftee will get the same level of membership you buy for yourself.
If you have a loved one interested in filmmaking, cooking, business, writing or just generally improving themselves, MasterClass is the ideal gift. A membership includes access to 180 different big name instructors teaching on topics they know a lot about. Classes on offer sound like an A-list roll call: Martin Scorsese and Jodie Foster teach lessons on filmmaking, Mark Cubain lays out his business knowledge, Questlove shows you how to DJ and Margaret Atwood gives a seminar on writing.
Classes range from around two to six hours and are broken up into shorter lessens, usually between 10 and 20 minutes. There are even exercises and community forums to get you actually doing the things the teachers teach. Recently, MasterClass added series as part of its lineup, such as GOAT, which are 20 minute episodes covering a single topic (such as making a grilled cheese or playing pickleball) that feel more like a mini documentary than a lesson. The mobile app also offers series of short, swipeable videos, for a highly polished TikTok feel.
Engadget has tried out the service and found it to be like a really smart streaming service, where you get to watch masters talk about how they go about their craft. Even if you bought it to mostly learn about filmmaking, for instance, you can also about peripheral elements like comedy from Steve Martin, Kevin Hart and Judd Apataow.
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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/masterclass-subscriptions-are-buy-one-get-one-free-in-this-last-minute-gift-deal-140039669.html?src=rss
The current generation of consoles landed in roughly the same week in November 2020. At launch, the PS5 had seven new exclusive games to the Xbox Series’ two. Sony had a better showing too, with the likes of Demon Souls (sure, a remake) and Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Four years on, the difference between the two consoles remains. We returned to the PlayStation 5 (in its slim iteration) and the Xbox Series X to see how the two approaches have fared. If you’ve been paying attention, you know the conclusion: estimates put PS5 console sales around double the latest Xboxes’.
Microsoft had two consoles, the entry-level Series S and the powerful Series X, while Sony went for largely the same power PS5, but with a disc-less iteration.
The Xbox Series X is a solid way to play Microsoft titles, popular third-party games and everything Microsoft has available on Game Pass. But if you had to choose between buying the Series X or PlayStation 5, the latter has better exclusive games, a bigger base of gamers and a better controller. (Editor: Mat’s opinion, there.)
The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, God of War Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2, and Astro Bot have all been platform exclusives, while long-running series like Final Fantasy appear first on Sony consoles.
The strongest weapon in Xbox’s arsenal, Game Pass, has been neutered over time too. The Game Pass Ultimate plan also feels less, well, ultimate. The company increased the monthly price of its top plan to $20, including day-one access to new titles and a large library of games for Xbox and PC. The new $15 a month Standard plan doesn’t give day-one access but does include a library of hundreds of games.
Things could change, however. Sony is now drip-feeding its games to PC, diminishing the draw of console exclusives, while Microsoft’s game developer spending spree has to bear fruit eventually. Right? Right?!
That might be a discussion for the next wave of consoles.
Just in time to make your mid-cycle console seem under-specced, we may see the next HDMI standard, HDMI 2.2, in a matter of weeks. According to an email from the HDMI Forum, a new HDMI specification will be announced on Monday, January 6, in Las Vegas. (Ready for all those huge expensive TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony and the rest.) It’s been seven years since HDMI 2.1 arrived. The new specs will bring higher bandwidth, according to the email. But that’s all we know, for now.
A curious-looking post on X from US Rep. Josh Gottheimer got the New Jersey congressman in some mild trouble. Spotted by 9to5Mac, he shared what appeared to be his Spotify Wrapped playlist for the year, with one list consisting of Springsteen’s classic tracks. However, it was filled with formatting mistakes. He’d faked it.
He admitted to NJ Advance Media that he made a fake Spotify Wrapped list but says the tracks on each list are accurate. Gottheimer has since taken the post down and replaced it with a list of his most listened-to Springsteen tracks. He’s trying to save face because he’s in a heated race for New Jersey governor — and you know where Springsteen is a big deal? New Jersey.
Genmoji are custom emojis you can create if you’ve installed the iOS 18.2 or iPadOS 18.2 update. They are the emojis of your imagination, made real with help from Apple Intelligence — you describe what emoji you want to see, like a sad cowboy or an octopus DJ. You’ll need a device compatible with Apple Intelligence. That includes every iPhone 16 model, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, as well as iPad models with the M1 chip or later, and iPad mini (A17 Pro). Then, well, read on for a confusion-free guide.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/engadget-newsletter-playstation-vs-xbox-in-2024-121559189.html?src=rss
Theo Wargo/Getty Images; Netflix; KMazur/WireImage
Modern Christmas songs are gaining popularity alongside classic holiday tracks.
Artists may be motivated by the seasonal streaming boost for holiday music.
Our 15 favorites include hits by Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Sabrina Carpenter.
Come December, everyone is bound to hear the seasonal staples, from Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" to Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" and, of course, reigning queen of year-end festivities Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
But if you're looking to enjoy newer additions to the holiday music canon, look no further.
Many singers are eager to dabble in sleigh bells, stocking-stuffer puns, and Yuletide cheer — and surely the annual streaming boost for holiday favorites is a compelling factor.
Our 15 favorite modern Christmas songs are listed below, in chronological order of release.
"8 Days of Christmas" by Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child in "8 Days of Christmas."
Destiny's Child/YouTube
"8 Days of Christmas" was released as the lead single from Destiny's Child's 2001 holiday album of the same name. The R&B hit was cowritten by Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, and Errol McCalla Jr. and interpolates the traditional carol "The 12 Days of Christmas."
"Mistletoe" by Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber in the "Mistletoe" music video.
Justin Bieber/YouTube
"Mistletoe" was released as the lead single from Justin Bieber's 2011 Christmas album, "Under the Mistletoe" — a time when many young Beliebers dreamed of kissing him beneath the seasonal sprig. The song was certified 3x platinum by the RIAA in 2021, nearly a decade after its release.
"Santa Tell Me" by Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande in the "Santa Tell Me" music video.
Ariana Grande/YouTube
Ariana Grande has described her 2015 EP "Christmas & Chill" as her "favorite body of work," but she originally dipped her toe into holiday tunes with 2013's little-known collection "Christmas Kisses."
"Santa Tell Me" was included with the special edition of "Christmas Kisses," released exclusively in Japan in 2014 before the song was released worldwide.
"Santa Tell Me" later received radio promotion and a music video, which has accumulated over 300 million views to date. Earlier this year, it rose to a new peak of No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Glittery" by Kacey Musgraves featuring Troye Sivan
Kacey Musgraves and Troye Sivan perform "Glittery."
Kacey Musgraves/YouTube
Kacey Musgraves and Troye Sivan performed "Glittery" as a duet during her 2019 variety special, "The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show," which aired on Amazon Prime.
Musgraves cowrote the gentle ballad with Daniel Tashian, who also cowrote the majority of tracks on her Grammy-winning album "Golden Hour."
"We wrote 'Glittery' really quickly. It had this easy groove to it, and I thought conga drums would be perfect on it and kind of give it a Marvin Gaye type treatment," Musgraves told i-D magazine. "It's a sweet little song. And then Troye Sivan joined me during the special for it. I think the imagery in that scene might be my favorite. I just want to eat it."
"Two Queens in a King Sized Bed" by girl in red
"Two Queens in a King Sized Bed" was released in 2020.
Girl in red/YouTube
Girl in red, aka Marie Ulven, is renowned for writing intimate indie-pop songs about sapphic love. As the title suggests, her 2020 holiday single "Two Queens in a King Sized Bed" fits nicely within that tradition.
"It's about the beauty of Christmas and being young and not having too much stuff and just wanting to be together and cuddle and never leave bed," Ulven told The Line of Best Fit.
On the song's subtly festive production, she explained, "I feel like that's the new Christmas vibe, it's the Gen Z Christmas vibe."
"Another Year" by FINNEAS
"Another Year" was released in 2020.
OYOY/AWAL Recordings
FINNEAS — better known as Billie Eilish's producer and brother, Finneas O'Connell — released "Another Year" as a single in 2020, in the thick of COVID-19 isolation.
Written and produced by O'Connell alone, the song serves as a reminder that quality time with loved ones is precious, yet never promised.
"Here we are tonight, drunk by the firelight / The future could be bright though no one's sure about it," he sings in the second verse. "And if the ending's sad, at least these times we've had / The good outweighs the bad, you wouldn't know without it."
"I wrote this song this time last year but if I had known what would happen in the following 12 months, I wouldn't have changed a line," O'Connell explained on Instagram. "Hope it gives you a little comfort."
"'Tis the Damn Season" by Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift performs "'Tis the Damn Season" during the Eras Tour.
John Shearer/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Taylor Swift's "'Tis the Damn Season," while not strictly a holiday carol like her 2019 single "Christmas Tree Farm," should still be considered one of the great December anthems.
Released as the fourth track on "Evermore," the second of Swift's 2020 sister albums, "'Tis the Damn Season" captures the specific yet universal experience of returning to your hometown for the holidays and getting swept up in the nostalgia.
"Home to You (This Christmas)" by Sigrid
"Home to You (This Christmas)" was released in 2021.
Island Records
"Home to You (This Christmas)" is a festive spin on Sigrid's own single "Home to You," an ode to connection and belonging that was recorded for the Amazon movie "The Aeronauts."
"'Home To You' has always had a Christmas spirit since we wrote it," the Norwegian singer said in a press release. "It's about my hometown and the house I grew up in with my family. I always go back for Christmas, so it felt natural to make a Christmas version. I hope it'll give some cozy vibes when it's getting darker outside."
"So Much Wine" by Phoebe Bridgers
"So Much Wine" was released in 2022.
Dead Oceans
From 2017 through 2022, Phoebe Bridgers would release annual Christmas covers and donate the proceeds to charity.
The 2022 installment in the series, Bridgers' take on the Handsome Family's "So Much Wine," is the perfect wintery blend of peaceful and melancholic.
Bridgers assembled a star team to reimagine "So Much Wine," including her go-to producers, Tony Burg and Ethan Gruska. The song even features backing vocals from Bridgers' then-fiancé, Paul Mescal.
"Snow in LA" by PJ Harding and Noah Cyrus
"Snow in LA" was released in 2022.
Records Label, LLC/Columbia
"Snow in LA" is a more somber take on the holiday music tradition. The duet between PJ Harding and Noah Cyrus, who also share writing credits, is a "dark Christmas song for what feels like a pretty dark time," the duo said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
"It's reminiscent of traditional Christmas carols (with all their reverence and hope) but contrasted by images of catastrophic climate change and looming fascism that represent so many of our fears for the future," they said.
"Last Christmas" by Remi Wolf
"Last Christmas" was released in 2022.
Island Records
Remi Wolf took on a bonafide pop classic by Wham! with her signature zeal. Her cover of "Last Christmas" was released in 2022 as one in a set, paired with the '30s ballad "Winter Wonderland."
"Silver Second" by quinnie
"Silver Second" was released in 2022.
Quinn Barnitt/Columbia Records
Quinnie, aka Quinn Barnitt, became a breakout indie-pop star in 2022 when her song "Touch Tank" went viral on TikTok. Later that year, she released "Silver Second" as a tender tribute to her family members, depicting them as huddled together in the winter months.
"In part, I wrote it knowing that my grandmother wasn't doing so well, and hoped to express the importance of being uber present, especially during the holiday season," quinnie wrote on Instagram.
"A Nonsense Christmas" by Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter performs "A Nonsense Christmas."
Netflix
"A Nonsense Christmas" was originally released in 2022, capitalizing on the viral popularity of Sabrina Carpenter's ad-libbed "Nonsense" outros during her Emails I Can't Send Tour.
Carpenter's self-described "Christ-smash" later became the core of her Netflix holiday special, as well as the highlight of her 2023 EP "Fruitcake" — but don't neglect the rest of the tracklist, which is stuffed with festive pop gems like "Santa Doesn't Know You Like I Do," "Buy Me Presents," and "Is it New Years Yet?"
"DJ Play a Christmas Song" by Cher
"DJ Play a Christmas Song" was released in 2023.
Warner Records
"DJ Play a Christmas Song" was released as the lead single from Cher's 2023 album "Christmas." It became her first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in over two decades, since "Song For The Lonely" in 2002.
This year, she released three new duet versions with Kelly Clarkson, Giovanni Zarrella, and Belinda.
"Better Than Snow" by Norah Jones and Laufey
Norah Jones and Laufey perform "Better Than Snow."
Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images
"Better Than Snow" was released in 2023 in a two-song pack called "Christmas With You," paired with a cover of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
The duet between Norah Jones and Laufey, who share writing and production credits, juxtaposes the season's cold weather with the warmth of romance and intimacy.
"It's more a national holiday than a religious one," Laufey told The Boston Globe of her upbringing in Iceland. "It's the one time of year we can romanticize the terrible snowy weather."
