Lady Gaga Sings Soulful Rendition of ‘D— in a Box’ with Andy Samberg to Kick Off Epic Lonely Island Medley for “SNL” Concert

Lady Gaga lent her award-winning vocals to an iconic (and a little naughty) Saturday Night Live tune during the sketch show’s special 50th anniversary concert.

The pop megastar took the stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Friday, Feb. 14 alongside Andy Samberg, where the pair kicked off a star-studded tribute to Samberg’s beloved comedy troupe The Lonely Island.

After a pitchy rendition of Gaga’s A Star Is Born hit “Shallow,” the pop star pivoted Samberg to something more in his wheelhouse: 2009 SNL parody song, “D— in a Box,” which Samberg originally performed with Justin Timberlake.

Gaga took on Timberlake’s vocals while playing the piano, giving the comedic hit a soulful twist. They also segued into “Motherlover,” another Timberlake and Samberg pairing from SNL in 2009.

The pair’s duet led into a years-spanning revisit of some of the Lonely Island’s most iconic sketches and songs. First, former castmember Chris Parnell took the stage to perform an updated version of 2009’s “Lazy Sunday” with Samberg. There were nods to other the Lonely Island sketches — “Laser Cats” and “Dear Sister” — sprinkled in.

Bad Bunny returned to the stage to sing an operatic version of 2011’s “I Just Had Sex,” before T-Pain arrived — with mermaids — to revisit his lyrics in 2009’s “I’m on a Boat.” The entire Lonely Island reunion was concluded with a rousing rendition of 2011’s “Jack Sparrow.”

Toward the end of the concert special, Gaga returned and did sing “Shallow” — without Samberg’s help.

The SNL 50: Homecoming Concert telecast also featured performances from Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Jelly Roll, Backstreet Boys, Arcade Fire, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Chris Martin, David Byrne, DEVO, Eddie Vedder, Jack White, Mumford & Sons, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Robyn, The B-52s and The Roots.

Related: Saturday Night Live Turns 50! PEOPLE Celebrates the Sketch Show’s Storied History with Special Edition Issue

Late last month, after dropping a series of teasers on her official website, Gaga announced her seventh studio album Mayhem will be released on March 7.

The project will feature 14 songs, including the previously released songs “Disease” and “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars.

In a press release, the Grammy winner revealed Mayhem will be all about returning to her roots in a new way. “The album started as me facing my fear of returning to the pop music my earliest fans loved,” Gaga said in a statement.

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Related: Lady Gaga Thanks Fans After 14th Grammy Win: ‘All I Want to Do Is Tell Stories That Touch People’s Hearts’

She also compared the project to “reassembling a shattered mirror: even if you can’t put the pieces back together perfectly, you can create something beautiful and whole in its own new way.”

According to the release, Mayhem is about “chaos and transformation, celebrating music’s power to unite, provoke, and heal.”

SNL50: The Homecoming Concert kicked off at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 and is available to stream on Peacock.

Kid Rock Leaves Bill Maher Speechless With Kendrick Lamar Halftime Show Commentary

Bill Maher isn’t left speechless often, but he was after hearing Kid Rock’s thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show.

During the latest episode of HBO’s Real Time, the host asked the singer-rapper (a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump who has previously spoken out against DEI initiatives) what he thought of this year’s halftime show, as some anti-DEI folks criticized the performance for only including people of color.

“To put it nicely, it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I got to respect it,” Kid Rock responded. “And here’s why: I grew up loving, emulating all things hip-hop, break dancing, deejaying, graffiti, rapping, and so I understand the culture a little bit more than most. And when I say most, of course, I mean white people.”

He continued, “So watching it… after it’s a lot of things going through your head, you know, everyone’s like that sucks, this that and the other. I’m like, this kid pretty much came out figuratively with both middle fingers in the air, doing what he does for the people who love what he does unapologetically. And I don’t think he gives a frog’s fat ass what anyone thinks about it. So I go, huh, it’s pretty much how I built my whole career. I gotta respect it.”

The “All Summer Long” artist went on to claim that Colin Kaepernick (the former NFL quarterback who is known for kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality) should be credited for helping Lamar get the halftime show gig.

“I’ve heard nobody answer this question: how did he get that gig? Jay-Z. What happened there? I think Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar should both send Colin Kaepernick a Bundt cake and a six-pack of beer and a ‘thank you’ note with a bunch of money in it, because without him kneeling and getting everyone’s panties in a bunch over the anthem, self-included, I don’t think that happens,” Kid Rock said.

Before Maher could get a word in, Kid Rock also wanted to note that the “Not Like Us” rapper’s booking for the Super Bowl halftime show “was the epitome of DEI blowing up because the NFL was all this DEI and racism, all this stuff. They got Jay-Z in their booking this, and like Kendrick Lamar goes out there and basically turns DEI into an IED.”

“It’s like all Black people or all people of color speaking to his crowd in the hood, Black people. It was like the most exclusive thing ever and I’m like, ‘Fuck yeah, that’s awesome.’ I’m laughing my ass off,” he added, leaving Maher visibly speechless.

Kid Rock previously performed in the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, which also featured Janet Jackson, among others.

Mickey 17 review – Robert Pattinson proves expendable in Bong Joon-ho’s eerily cheery cloning drama

The Parasite director delivers an intriguing yet baffling sci-fi epic, featuring panto gnashing bad guys played by Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette

The Korean auteur Bong Joon-ho has delivered his first movie since the Oscar-winning Parasite six years ago, and it’s a great, big, slightly soft-edged sci-fi-fantasy. Adapted by Bong from Edward Ashton’s novel, it stars Robert Pattinson as a bio-clone menial worker of the future, condemned to eternal life, or eternal death, being repeatedly killed in the service of a space-exploration corporation, doing fatally dangerous jobs and then reincarnated.

It’s a broad-brush futurist satire on the theme of Elon Musk-type tech bros who say that whining about the environment is for libtards because we’re all shooting off for space really soon, where there have to be viable planets somewhere, and any current alien inhabitants are expendable — as indeed are the working humans who are getting us out to new worlds.

Mickey 17 is something in the style of his Snowpiercer (2013) or Okja (2017) and Bong’s “creature feature” reflex is an extravagant style that’s been enjoyable in the past. Mickey 17 is visually spectacular with some very sharp, angular moments of pathos and horror — maybe inevitably, these come in the first act when the bizarrely shocking premise is established and before the story grinds more sympathetically into gear. But at two hours and 17 minutes, this is a baggy and sometimes loose film whose narrative tendons are a bit slack sometimes; the goofy comedy with its panto-villain turns from Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette sometimes makes it look — not unpleasantly, in fact — like a kids TV special.

Pattinson himself plays Mickey Barnes, a hapless loser who owes money to a terrifying loan sharks, along with his equally rackety business partner Timo (Steven Yeun). To escape these goons, Mickey and Timo sign on for a dangerous interplanetary expedition masterminded by a creepy populist-plutocrat with shiny teeth and slicked-back hair: Kenneth Marshall (Ruffalo) and his lady wife Ylfa (Toni Collette); their presence reminds us of Bong’s apparent interest in Roald Dahl.

They blast off into space where poor, stupid Mickey agrees to be an “expendable”: he has to do all the suicidally dangerous jobs because when he dies, his body is just disposed off and a new one is bio-printed with all memories and personality reinstalled — something which Mickey accepts with stoic humility. The crisis comes as the ship approaches a likely looking planet whose “creeper” inhabitants, like giant fanged insects, have to be exterminated; Mickey himself, on his 17th incarnation, falls in love with fellow crew-member Nasha (Naomi Ackie) but things are complicated when Mickey fails to die as anticipated and now lives alongside his new version Mickey 18, his “duplicate” — who is as ruthless and violent as Mickey 17 is gentle and kind.

It’s a strange story in its way, like a sci-fi horror in which all the horror, as well as all the cynicism and pessimism has been removed. For all the bizarre violence and grossout display, Mickey 17 has a kind of optimism operating against the fear, and we can feel the happy ending’s eventual arrival — although with this running time, it’s a long way off. There is however a weird moment when one of the creepy creatures appears to suck on a crew-member’s face — the visual echo of Ridley Scott’s Alien is a reminder of something leaner, meaner and darker.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the film is something on which Bong spends least time: the fact that Mickey knows something of which the rest of humanity is ignorant. Crew-members keep asking Mickey about it: what is it like to die? Is it a feeling, an experience? Do you remember it afterwards? It’s happened to Mickey 16 times. Surely he knows the answer to this by now? Or is the eternally living, eternally dying Mickey as clueless on the subject as everyone else? Pattinson’s own saturnine look appears to give something mysterious the role of Mickey, but in years gone by, Bong could just as well as cast Tom Hanks and encouraged him to go into full Forrest Gump mode. It’s eerie, startling — and yet also unexpectedly benign.

Kid Rock: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance was ‘DEI’ for ‘in the hood Black people’

Kid Rock: Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance was ‘DEI’ for ‘in the hood Black people’

Jay Stahl, USA TODAY

February 15, 2025 at 5:33 PM

Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl 59 halftime show was “DEI” for “in the hood Black people,” according to Kid Rock.

The country rock rapper appeared on Friday’s edition of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” and offered his opinion on the Compton lyricist’s controversial halftime performance.

“To put it nicely, it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I got to respect it,” Kid Rock told Maher, who asked for an opinion on the show. “And here’s why: I grew up loving, emulating all things hip-hop, break dancing, deejaying, graffiti, rapping, and so I understand the culture a little bit more than most. And when I say most, of course, I mean white people.”

Kid Rock cuts off performance, storms off after asking crowd to clap: ‘I’m gone’

Kid Rock added: “Everyone’s like ‘that sucks,’ this that and the other. I’m like, ‘this kid pretty much came out figuratively with both middle fingers in the air, doing what he does for the people who love what he does unapologetically.’”

Kid Rock, 54, said that he doesn’t think Lamar, 37, cares “what anyone thinks about it,” adding that “it’s pretty much how I built my whole career. I got to respect it.”

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The “Picture” artist, an ally of President Donald Trump, then continued explaining his point of view, crediting former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began sitting and kneeling when the national anthem played during the 2016 NFL season to protest racial injustice in America.

Kid Rock credits ex-NFL QB Colin Kaepernick with Kendrick Lamar halftime show

Kid Rock told Maher that “I’ve heard nobody answer this question: how did he get that gig? Jay-Z” referring to the Roc Nation owner and billionaire rapper’s agreement with the NFL, first announced in 2019 and extended in October last year.

“What happened there? I think Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar should both send Colin Kaepernick a Bundt cake and a six-pack of beer and a ‘thank you’ note with a bunch of money in it, because without him kneeling and getting everyone’s panties in a bunch over the anthem, self-included, I don’t think that happens” Kid Rock said.

All the songs in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl 59 halftime show

Maher did not have a chance to respond before Kid Rock said Lamar’s selection as the halftime show performer “was the epitome of DEI blowing up because the NFL was all this DEI and racism, all this stuff. They got Jay-Z in there booking this, and like Kendrick Lamar goes out there and basically turns DEI into an IED.”

An IED (improvised explosive device) is a homemade bomb. The Pulitzer Prize-winning Lamar, considered by some to be the greatest rap artist alive, has garnered 22 Grammy wins out of 57 total nominations. Kid Rock has five Grammy nominations and no wins.

Lamar, who rose to fame with his standout sophomore album “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,” had a breakout year that catapulted him to mainstream superstardom. Last year, Drake diss song “Not Like Us” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, his first time atop the chart, and he swept his five nomination categories at this month’s 2025 Grammy Awards, including a pair of wins in the “Big Four” categories for record of the year and song of the year.

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During “Real Time,” Kid Rock continued explaining his position, leaving Maher briefly speechless in a rare move.

“It’s like all Black people or all people of color speaking to his crowd in the hood, Black people. It was like the most exclusive thing ever,” Kid Rock said, adding that he was “like … that’s awesome.”

Racial identities of Super Bowl have varied in recent years

The racial identities of main Super Bowl halftime show performers have ranged over the last decade.

From 2015 to 2019, white Super Bowl halftime performers delivered the show: Katy Perry, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and Maroon 5. But since 2020 and Roc Nation’s exclusive agreement with the NFL, the halftime performers have predominately been people of color besides Eminem.

Every Super Bowl halftime show since the first one in 1967

In 2020, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez lit up the stage followed by The Weeknd’s memorable Super Bowl Sunday show. 2022’s halftime show featured Lamar in a group medley alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem and Mary J. Blige in a tribute to the hip-hop genre. Rihanna performed in 2023 while Usher was the Super Bowl 58 halftime show performer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kid Rock calls Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl halftime show ‘DEI’

‘SNL 50’ The Homecoming Concert Packed With Star Alums and Epic Musical Acts

‘SNL 50’ put on a concert for the ages Friday night in NYC … as several superstar musicians and former cast joined forces to celebrate ‘Saturday Night Live’s half-century milestone!

Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon and Bill Murray were some of the highlights in the packed” SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert” show … which also featured performances by Bonnie Raitt and Chris Martin, Arcade Fire, David Byrne, St. Vincent and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Post Malone.

Miley worked the stage — and the audience — as the three-time Grammy winner performing at Radio City Music Hall early into the multi-hour celebratory event. MC belted Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” with Brittany Howard, as well as her Grammy-winning hit, “Flowers.”

Miley did her thing … very much entertaining the crowd with quippy remarks throughout her performance, including calling out to actor Paul Rudd in the audience mid-chorus of “Flowers.”

“I love you Paul Rudd,” Cyrus declared, with the camera cutting to a touched Rudd.

At one point, Cyrus also told the celebrity-filled audience at Radio City: “Are y’all doing that Grammys thing where you guys are famous and s**t and you don’t sing along, excuse my language?”

Lady Gaga lent her award-winning vocals to an iconic (and a little naughty) “Saturday Night Live” tune at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Friday, — alongside Andy Samberg — where the pair kicked off a star-studded tribute to Samberg’s beloved comedy troupe, The Lonely Island.

After a pitchy rendition of Gaga’s “A Star Is Born” hit “Shallow,” the pop star pivoted Samberg to something more in his wheelhouse: 2009 SNL super popular parody song, “D— in a Box,” which Samberg originally performed with Justin Timberlake.

Gaga took on Timberlake’s vocals while playing the piano, giving the comedic hit a soulful twist. They also segued into “Motherlover,” another Timberlake and Samberg pairing from SNL in 2009.

The fan-favorite ‘The Culps’ returned to catch us up on the past 20 years in music (and more recent music feuds) during the homecoming concert.

“Are Kenny Lamar and Drake Graham in the house, by the way? Maybe you two can hug it out tonight in the name of love and fellowship,” Ferrell’s Marty Culp joked. “No? Not in hell?”

Of course … the evening would not have been complete without a visit from ‘The Californians’ … “Stuart? What are you doing here?”

The familiar phrase was heard again amid the ‘SNL 50’ celebration as Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen reunited to reprise their roles from the classic Californians sketch series.

The trio was part of a commercial for Volkswagen, which sponsored the specials celebrating ‘Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary.

For the uninitiated … ‘The Californians’ was a recurring sketch on NBC’s late-night comedy show that mocked the California accent in a soap opera setting.

Wiig, Hader, and Armisen formed a love triangle in the series of sketches that featured the characters naming all the streets and freeways around the Los Angeles area … ’cause you have to know how to get around!

How do you possibly follow Miley Cyrus and Bad Bunny during the ‘SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert’? With a classic sketch character.

SNL alum Bill Murray graced the stage at Radio City Music Hall … reprising his smooth-talking character Nick the Lounge Singer (aka Nick Valentine), accompanied by Paul Shaffer on piano.

Following a humorous monologue about “an increasing acceptance of different types of families, different types of relationships,” before introducing “three of the most beautiful ladies a man could ever hope to meet.”

Murray, who created the character during his 1977-1980 run as an SNL castmember, was then joined by fellow alums Ana Gasteyer, Maya Rudolph and Cecily Strong in ’60s chic backup singer attire, accompanying him with a performance of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “You’re All I Need to Get By.”

Jimmy Fallon had the honor to kick things off at the ‘SNL 50: The Homecoming Concert,’ alongside The Roots to pay tribute to The Blues Brothers.

Following the performance, Fallon revealed he was “out of breath” and thanked the “collection of talent” who attended the homage.

The ‘Tonight Show’ host then took a jab at himself, answering why he was hosting the special, saying, “Well, it’s award season, which means I got nothing going on right now.”

JF noted that he has two things in common with SNL … they both turn 50 this year, adding, “And if we’re being honest, we both peaked around 25.”

Jimmy clarified that the three-hour show would only present musical guests and not hand out awards … which resulted in the hilarious moment of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson getting up and waking out.

And, the fun ain’t over yet … the ‘SNL 50: The Anniversary Special’ three-hour telecast will take place Sunday night.

‘Captain America: Brave New World’ post-credits scene explained

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Captain America: Brave New World.

Captain America: Brave New World marks a new beginning for the titular hero, as Anthony Mackie officially takes over the role for his first big screen mission carrying the shield. But he better get comfortable with the vibranium accessory fast because the post-credits scene teases his biggest battle(world) yet — and it’s coming sooner than he realizes.

Director Julius Onah’s brisk spy thriller ends with a win for Sam Wilson (Mackie) as he talks President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over for the late William Hurt) down from his Red Hulk rage, effectively stopping the revenge plan of Samuel Sterns — a.k.a. the Leader (Tim Blake Nelson) — to wreck Ross’ legacy. While Ross ultimately lands in a cell in the Raft, an isolated supermax prison, he does so voluntarily to save the global treaty regarding the sharing of adamantium. He’s rewarded for his sacrifice with a tearful reunion with his estranged daughter Betty (Liv Tyler, returning for a cameo more than 17 years in the making).

All’s well that ends well, right? Sam certainly thinks so. But when he returns to the Raft in the post-credits scene to gloat to Sterns about beating him, he gets an ominous warning instead.

“You want to know what’s funny?” Sterns asks.

“I’m not in the mood for your jokes,” Sam responds. “You killed a lot of good men trying to get your revenge. Trust me, we don’t share the same sense of humor.”

“We share the same world, don’t we? This world you would die to save,” Sterns says. “It’s coming. I’ve seen it in the probabilities. Seen it plain as day. All you heroes protecting this world, do you think you’re the only ones? Do you think this is the only world? We’ll see what happens when you have to protect this place from the others.”

To casual viewers, this may just seem like the rantings of a madman who’s angry that his plans failed. But for comic book fans — and anyone paying attention to the future slate of Marvel Cinematic Universe films — it’s actually a tease of what’s coming in the next Avengers movies: Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

The multiverse isn’t a new revelation at this point — we’re literally in the middle of the Multiverse Saga, after all — but most of the MCU characters are still unaware of its existence. Sterns is vaguely cluing in Sam to the fact that parallel universes exist — and they’re about to collide with his own. We’ve already seen similar incursions happen in the MCU (in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels), but they’re about to get a lot worse leading up to Secret Wars (based on the 2015 comic by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Esad Ribic). And you know what else that means?

Battleworld!

In the comics, incursions ultimately destroy the multiverse, leaving only Battleworld, a “patchwork” planet created from pieces of dead universes by Doctor Doom using the power he stole from beings called the Beyonders. The surviving heroes of the multiverse’s collapse are dropped onto the chaotic, ruthless planet that’s always at war, and they must band together to stop Doom (ruling as “God Emperor”) and save the multiverse.

‘Mickey 17’ Review: A Dopey Robert Pattinson Is Dying to Make You Laugh in ‘Parasite’ Director’s Disappointing Follow-up

‘The Light’ Review: Tom Tykwer Blasts Us With Issues but No Reason to Engage in Overlong Berlinale Opener 2 days ago

While two Mickeys may be better than one, by the time you get to seven or eight (the idea of Edward Ashton’s sci-fi novel “Mickey7”), or a number as unwieldy as 18 (the inflated figure in Bong Joon Ho’s big-screen adaptation), the prospect of an endless supply of gawping Robert Pattinson clones really starts to wear on us. The “Snowpiercer” director is back in familiar territory with “Mickey 17,” a bonkers sci-fi satire set in a grim future where Earth is no longer habitable, other planets must be colonized and the success of a four-year mission to the ice planet Niflheim depends on disposable human copies called Expendables.

Pattinson has traversed deep space before, doing so in Claire Denis’ relatively elegant arthouse feature “High Life.” Here, the star dumbs it down to suit Bong’s big-budget grunge-topian vision, playing a sucker so desperate to escape a ruthless loan shark on Earth that he books passage on a missionary vessel to another planet, accidentally enrolling in the Expendables program without reading the fine print. Doing so literally means signing his life away, as Mickey 1 (the OG version of his character) agrees to have his body scanned and his memories archived, so he can be replicated — and recycled — ad infinitum, every time an unlucky copy hits a snag.

That far-fetched premise should spawn a hundred plausibility questions — like, why is he the only Expendable aboard, and why don’t they do something more useful with that memory-duping technology? In Bong’s hands, it instead cues a bad-taste montage of assorted mishaps, which lead to dead (or almost dead) Mickeys being dragged to the incinerator chute and melted down for regeneration. Narrating in a wheedling Steve Buscemi-esque accent, Pattinson explains that each new iteration is made from salvaged waste — ashes to ashes, trash to trash — only to be spat out again on what looks like a giant 3D printer.

Bong’s impudent script underscores how little the human crew thinks of Expendables — and by extension, how little Bong thinks of human nature — through various gags, like the one where an oblivious technician forgets to put the gurney in place near the replicator, allowing a floppy, freshly printed Mickey to spill onto the lab-room floor. When a different tech trips over the plug mid-process, that hiccup in the process may explain why Mickey 17 comes out slightly less self-loathing than the others. And yet, they’re basically all made to die, as Mickey is thrust into situations for which his crew mates’ lives are considered too valuable to risk.

Ergo, in order to appreciate “Mickey 17” — which Warner Bros. will release on Imax March 7, two weeks after its Berlin Film Festival premiere — you need to be comfortable with laughing at all the cruel and unusual ways Bong thinks to off him, from vaccine tests to sampling the air on an unknown planet. If that seems like a perverse imagination for someone peddling a fundamentally humanist message, behold the central paradox of Bong’s sensibility: Maybe he’s not quite the humanist his adherents believe, but more of a blunt and adolescent-minded satirist, operating in the vein of Paul Verhoeven’s “Starship Troopers.”

For bona fide Bong fans, the film’s hectoring tone and irreverent sense of humor should feel like a return to that strange blend of sentimentality and cynicism we saw in the “Parasite” director’s two previous English-language projects: gonzo meat-is-murder comedy “Okja” and full-throttle eat-the-rich thriller “Snowpiercer.” Alas, that’s not the register where Bong’s vision works best, and though it earns points for sheer oddity (and the nearly monochromatic, future-noir look established by DP Darius Khondji and production designer Fiona Crombie), too much of “Mickey 17” turns out to be sloppy, shrill and preachy — ironically, the same things that make Mark Ruffalo’s deliberately Trump-styled villain so grating in this movie.

Starting four years into the mission to colonize another planet, the film opens on Niflheim, where Mickey 17 is left for dead in an icy cavern, abandoned by Timo (Steven Yeun), the same pal who got him into this fix in the first place. The last thing the hapless Expendable sees is the gaping mouth of what looks like a giant woolly armadillo — Ruffalo’s clueless-leader character, Kenneth Marshall, has dubbed these vaguely Lovecraftian creatures “Creepers.”

According to the movie’s muddled ethics, Expendables were outlawed on Earth, but it’s fine that they be used and abused off-world, giving Marshall — a failed politician turned insecure prophet of the church-company overseeing the migration — final say on Mickey’s fate. For silly reasons, the law demands that there never be more than a single copy of a person in circulation at a time (the polar opposite of the “Star Wars” policy, where countless Storm Troopers are copies of the same compliant super-soldier).

Though Timo assumes otherwise, the Creeper does not kill Mickey 17. By the time the half-frozen survivor makes it back to the ship, his successor has already been printed — which means one of them must be eliminated. Even though their genes and memories are the same, each iteration has a slightly different personality. Mickey 18 is more aggressive, immediately assuming the alpha role to Mickey 17’s more submissive nature, which Pattinson suggests via his hunched shoulders and childish-looking bowl cut.

They both want to live, which pits them against one another at first. They also both crave the company of Nasha (Naomi Ackie), a sexually voracious rule-bender aboard the ship, who rather enjoys the idea of having more than one Mickey to satisfy her — provided that her rival Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei) doesn’t rat them out. And so the two women selfishly agree to share the rogue doubles, while Mickey 18 plots a coup.

This plot is easy enough to follow, though the film insists on making it more complicated, as Ruffalo’s character (whom he plays with wavy Colonel Sanders hair, bright white dentures and an inconsistent accent) grows increasingly tyrannical the farther from Earth his mission floats. Leering over his shoulder at every stage is his manipulative wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), who encourages his worst instincts — like the assumption that Creepers are a threat and must therefore be exterminated — while indulging her obsession with sauces. The pair of them recall the garish corporate fools Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal played in “Okja,” with their flamboyant costumes and over-the-top acting style. Bong might argue that our current reality is no less ridiculous, though it’s all just so exhausting.

In Ashton’s book, the author imagined 10 fewer copies of Mickey, but Bong bumps the count up to 17, gleefully putting character and star alike through the wringer. Pattinson’s an incredibly good sport through it all, subverting the image “Twilight” followers have of him by playing such a thoroughly pathetic character. For most of the film, he’s stuck in a “Groundhog Day”-like infinite loop, where Mickey’s forever doomed to repeat the same thankless life, all the while being pestered with insensitive questions about what it’s like to die.

As it happens, modern science already does a version of the underlying cloning technology, experimenting on small clusters of stem cells (rather than full-grown, memory-imprinted bodies). That approach spares the indignity of putting a human through all that pain. Does slapping Pattinson’s scowling face on the phenomenon lead us to see it any differently? For all the film’s recycled themes — from condemning the chasm between social classes to espousing compassion for all creatures — it’s not clear that any useful allegories are to be drawn from Bong’s darkly comedic parable. A single viewing should suffice.

Rebellious Dressing Was Trending at ‘Yellowjackets’ Season Three Premiere With See-through Details, Gothic Inspiration and Edgy Silhouettes

EXCLUSIVE: Actress Eiza González Named David Yurman Ambassador

The dark, edgy and mysterious energy from “Yellowjackets” was embodied by the show’s cast during its Season Three Los Angeles premiere on Thursday. Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Sophie Thatcher, among other guests, delivered gothic inspiration with their outfits, embracing current red carpet trends such as sheer dressing and exaggerated silhouettes.

Fans can watch “Yellowjackets” Season Three on Paramount+ with Showtime starting this Friday. Here, WWD takes a closer look at the fashion statements from the premiere night.

Christina Ricci wore Mônot’s Seashell dress on the red carpet. The frock featured a column silhouette, crafted from a crepe fabric, with shell-inspired cups anchored with a halter neck strap. The actress has been working with stylists Kassidy Taylor and Julia von Boehm during the show’s recent promotional tour.

Styled by Sarah Slutsky, Sara Desjardins went sheer in a sequinned mesh dress by Alex Perry paired with Alexandre Birman shoes.

Sophie Thatcher’s edgy black dress came from Coperni’s spring 2025 runway. The ensemble featured a shredded maxi skirt and sequin panels. She finished the look with black platforms.

Coperni’s spring 2025 collection debuted at Disneyland Paris in October. “The coed collection was divided into three chapters, opening with what they called “park tribes” — teens in vintage Disney T-shirts, Victoriana blouses and pretty dresses covered in organza butterflies,” WWD’s Joelle Diderich wrote.

Jasmin Savoy Brown’s exaggerated and deconstructed tuxedo was from Viktor & Rolf’s fall 2022 couture collection. She was styled by Amanda Lim.

“It’s almost a trope to say that Viktor & Rolf play with structure and volume. But this season they took it quite literally by undressing a model center stage and, with a few strategic twists, changing up the entire look,” WWD wrote about Viktor & Rolf’s fall 2022 collection.

Ashley Sutton wore a gothic-inspired lace-up corset top, which she paired with a thigh-high slit skirt featuring romantic lacy details.

Monet Mazur wore a black minidress by Rodarte paired with mesh pumps and pearl earrings. The dress featured a floral lace cape.

Melanie Lynskey also wore Rodarte at the event. She chose the leopard-print silk dress from the brand, which featured bell sleeves and lace details on the neckline.

The Goonies Sequel Finally Gets an Update (and Fans Will Be Excited)

The long-awaited Goonies sequel finally takes a significant step forward, as the project now has a screenwriter attached. According to Deadline, Potsy Ponciroli has signed on to pen the screenplay, though the film remains without a director. The producing team consists of Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Holly Bario, Chris Columbus, and Lauren Shuler Donner. Story details are unknown at the moment, and no actors are currently attached to Goonies 2. Warner Bros. has not set a release date for the project, and it’s also unknown when it would begin production.

Though The Goonies ranks among the most beloved genre pictures of its era, a follow-up has lingered in development for quite some time. Even though those involved with the original film have long expressed interest in a sequel, it never gained any momentum. However, back in January, it was reported WB was developing new installments in the Gremlins and Goonies franchises as part of their upcoming film slate.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of The Goonies, and fans have enjoyed multiple cast reunions so far. Stars Ke Huy Quan and Sean Astin reunited for the new action movie Love Hurts, and even more Goonies cast members attended Quan’s hand-and-footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles earlier this month.

Considering the decades of conversations about Goonies 2, fans would be forgiven if they weren’t convinced that the sequel is definitely going to happen this time. But the fact that the film now has a writer is an exciting development, as it suggests it has emerged as a priority for WB. With legacy sequels remaining a hot commodity in Hollywood, it isn’t surprising the studio wants to tap into that trend and bring back one of their classic properties. It’ll be interesting to see what story the filmmakers look to tell in Goonies 2; given the family-friendly nature of the original, WB might be looking to make Goonies 2 a multi-generational event, with the older returning cast accompanying younger actors on a fresh adventure.

Goonies 2 will mark something of a change of pace for Ponciroli, whose previous credits include smaller titles like the drama Old Henry and CMT comedy series Still the King. At first glance, a Goonies sequel doesn’t seem like the kind of project that would be in his wheelhouse, but him landing the gig implies he has a fascinating take worth exploring. After fans have spent all this time waiting for Goonies 2 to come to fruition, it would be a shame if it didn’t live up to expectations. The creative team is likely aware of this and wouldn’t want to move forward with it unless it found a way to put a fun spin on the premise while honoring what came before.

There’s A Lot To Love In Bridgerton Season 4’s Sneak Peek, But It’s Anthony’s Beard The Internet Is Hilariously Hyper-Fixating On

Dear reader, it pains me to say that we shouldn’t expect everyone’s favorite Regency-era Netflix romance to return in the 2025 series. Certainly what we know about Bridgerton Season 4 had prepared us for that fact, although it doesn’t make it any less unpleasant. With the first footage from the set of the next chapter, the internet has been given a new obsession to help pass the time: marveling over the new facial hair shown on Jonathan Bailey’s Lord Anthony Bridgerton.

Surely this new wave of hysteria is just a case of the internet once more being overly thirsty, right? I mean, how good does Mr. Bailey’s beard look on the set of Bridgerton Season 4? Well, let’s take a look at the video tape and judge for ourselves:

The internet had it right with their all-caps reactions, seen below! Anthony’s beard is something that shows the experience and wisdom he’s gained in life, mixed with the rugged youth of a man settling into his true self. Clearly the love of Simone Ashley’s equally beguiling Kate has treated him well.

Well played, Jonathan Bailey, as you have the potential to steal this next season on The Ton with a smile and some well-curated facial hair. Should anyone doubt this idea, then you clearly don’t know the Bridgerton fandom.

Something tells me the statistics on Netflix subscription retention are about to get a healthy boost thanks to this star of stage and screen. Just as people were potentially cooled off from his braggadocious yet kindhearted charm as Prince Fiyero in Wicked, the big red streamer went and stoked the fires all over again.

With that in mind, here are some of the most vocal responses to this new look:

To agree with that last commenter, it truly didn’t seem as if Jonathan Bailey could get any dreamer for the masses. But life indeed found a way, and I’m willing to bet that Bailey’s role as Dr. Henry Loomis in Jurassic World Rebirth was part of the reason he had to stick with that look.

Seeing as a season of Bridgerton takes a while to produce, there’s a good possibility that the episodes involving Benedict and Sophie’s courtship overlapped with when Jonathan Bailey was shooting the footage we saw in the Jurassic World Rebirth trailer. And since the Shonda Rhimes-produced bodice ripper tends to demote previously featured couples to occasional appearances, it wouldn’t have made a lot of sense for the man to shave.

Gents, we’ve officially been given our example to step up our beard games, so as to charm the masses in the same fashion… which probably means the extended wait that could see Bridgerton Season 4 debuting in 2026 is even more of an advantage. Meanwhile, Jonathan Bailey’s rugged Disney academic style look will be seen in Jurassic World Rebirth, when it begins a new era in terror on July 2nd.