Nerd News

Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 is going to be a big hit with the web's vibe coders.

⚡ Quick Take

• The second popcorn bucket for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a Trojan Horse whose belly opens and spills out buttery goodness.

The elaborate popcorn bucket is now a staple of the moviegoing experience. Every big movie has them, even if some of them are decidedly unimaginative. Remember the Melania popcorn bucket? How many landfills are those ones filling up already? Well, the latest big blockbuster with a fancy popcorn bucket is none other than Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated mythological epic, The Odyssey. And appropriately enough, the popcorn bucket for said film is the legendary Trojan Horse. But instead of an army hiding inside, it’s yummy buttery popcorn kernels. You can check out what The Odyssey popcorn bucket looks like in the post below:

The Trojan Horse Popcorn Bucket has arrived. Experience The Odyssey in theaters 07.17.26: https://t.co/sk8jwTAKih pic.twitter.com/FPS8ZwJNGs

— The Odyssey Movie (@odysseymovie) June 9, 2026

We have to admit, this popcorn bucket is reminding us of two things. First, that one horse statue Bobby Brady broke with his basketball on The Brady Bunch (and in The Brady Bunch Movie). And second, the way its belly opens up is giving us “Han Solo slices the tauntaun open to stuff Luke inside” from The Empire Strikes Back. We can’t be the only ones who think this, right? It doesn’t, we hasten to add, remind us of the Trojan Horse.

This isn’t the only popcorn bucket for The Odyssey, however. There’s also one of an IMAX camera, which feels like the most Nolan-esque, film nerd thing ever. Although it’s somewhat less off-putting, we’d say. So there are options.

Universal Pictures

We’re fairly certain this is the first Christopher Nolan movie with a popcorn bucket attached to promote it. Nolan’s Batman movies came before this current popcorn bucket craze, or they would have surely had some. You just know there would have been fifty Heath Ledger Joker heads out there to collect. We surely can’t imagine what an Oppenheimer popcorn bucket would have looked like, or Dunkirk, at least ones that were not in terrible taste.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, Jon Bernthal, and a metric ton of other names, arrives in theaters on July 17.

The post THE ODYSSEY Trojan Horse Popcorn Bucket Is Really Odd appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• The latest comedy video from Auralnauts has that weird box on Darth Vader’s chest work as an actual cassette player that plays music.

It’s the question Star Wars fans have been asking since 1977. What the heck is that box on Darth Vader’s chest that looks like an old cassette player? Of course, we now know that it’s Vader’s life support control panel, to keep the big guy breathing and functional. But back then, to most people watching A New Hope, it was just a doohickey with big buttons that looked like something you got from Radio Shack. Well, this video from the YouTube channel Auralnauts (via Laughing Squid) has fun with this idea, presenting Vader walking around the Death Star with an actual tape player attached to him and playing music with it. You can watch Cassette Deck Vader – Episode 1 below:

We can’t help but chuckle when our favorite Sith Lord (sorry, Maul) plays his own theme music when walking around Princess Leia’s ship. Look, if John Williams had given us a kickass theme like “The Imperial March,” we’d probably do the exact same thing when we entered a room. Vader playing a different music as he chokes out that one Imperial Admiral whose lack of faith he finds disturbing? That also put a smile on our faces. Grand Moff Tarkin still had no time for this Sith foolishness, though. Not when there’s a strategy meeting to get to.

Lucasfilm

Another hilarious part has Darth wandering around the halls of the Death Star playing the Bee Gees’ “Staying Alive.” That thing on his chest is keeping him alive after all, so using that particular song does track. Besides, Saturday Night Fever also came out in 1977, just like George Lucas’ original Star Wars, so it fits. The folks at Auralnauts have been making comedic Star Wars edits for years. They were the ones responsible for the Ahsoka ’80s sitcom-style video, and Zack Snyder’s Star Wars. (The intentionally funny one, not Rebel Moon.) For more of their wackiness, be sure to head on over to their YouTube channel for more.

The post What If That Box on Vader Was an Actual Cassette Player? appeared first on Nerdist.

A few years ago, we heard that Kingdom Hearts IV was on the way. And, right after that announcement, it seemed like things went almost radio silent about this next installment. Sure, there was a trailer back then but there was no firm release date or much else to chew on. Fast forward to June 2026, and Square Enix finally gave us a gameplay trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV.

Now, we still don’t have a release date for it yet. But Kingdom Hearts I-III will come to Nintendo Switch 2 on October 8. We can’t imagine this release would be too far behind that, especially after being in the works for so many years.

Nintendo/Square Enix

And, the franchise’s 25th anniversary is coming up in March 2027, so that could be a target release date for Kingdom Hearts IV, which has fans buzzing right now with that trailer. 

RELATED ARTICLE

KINGDOM HEARTS 4 Is Happening, First-Look Footage Revealed

In it, we go to Quadratum, complete with rain-soaked streets, high rise buildings, and Heartless. Sora swings from building to building with a Keyblade for a lot of straight up action. One foe even looks very kaiju in nature. Overall it’s a taste of what you can expect in this next installment that will hopefully be available before you know it.

The post KINGDOM HEARTS IV Unveils Epic Gameplay Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

If those same AI workloads can be handled by cheaper models without affecting quality, it would mean a massive shift in the economics of AI.

⚡ Quick Take

• Sony and PlayStation are looking for a new Helldivers star after Jason Momoa unexpectedly dropped out of the movie adaptation for unknown reasons.

You might say Sony’s plans to bring a live-action Helldivers movie to theaters have…gone to Hell. But yeah, maybe don’t say that if you work for Sony. Director Justin Lin’s planned adaptation is probably a pretty sore subject at both the studio and PlayStation headquarters at the moment. Jason Momoa has unexpectedly dropped out of the film for unknown reasons. But his departure won’t mark the end of the project. The Helldivers movie is now seeking a new star to keep Super Earth super safe.

Warner Bros.

Deadline reports Jason Momoa will no longer headline Sony’s big screen take on the best-selling video game franchise. As of now it’s unclear why the Supergirl and Dune: Part Three star stepped away from the film. Needless to say this poses a big time crunch on the movie. We only learned he would star in the intergalactic war film earlier this year. It’s supposed to premiere on November 10, 2027.

Regardless of when it comes out now, it’s coming out eventually. Or at least it is once Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions can find a new big name to take over its suddenly abandoned leading role. Deadline says they have already begun looking.

RELATED ARTICLE

Who Is Jason Momoa’s SUPERGIRL Character Lobo? His DC Comics History, Explained

Since Momoa leaves both literal and metaphorical big shoes to fill, that will be easier said than done. But live-action video game adaptations have never been hotter (because they’ve never been better), so it’s no surprise Sony and PlayStation are eager to make a Helldivers movie. The video game’s two installments have been a huge success with gamers. Helldivers 2 alone has sold more than 12 million copies since its release in 2024.

PlayStation

As for why Momoa left, it could be as simple as not having the time or even the old “creative differences.” But “why” is not the concern for Justin Lin and the studio now. It’s “who,” as in who is going to replace him.

With the game’s built-in audience, though, we don’t actually think it will be hell to replace Momoa. Someone is going to be super excited to keep Super Earth safe.

The post Jason Momoa Leaving Justin Lin’s HELLDIVERS Movie appeared first on Nerdist.

Check Point said hackers broke into dozens of organizations by exploiting a VPN bug in several of its products used across the government.

⚡ Quick Take

• A whale eats a guy, like we see the whole thing, in the teaser trailer for Whalefall, a movie about a whale eating a guy. And it’s not a comedy.

Move over, Jonah and Pinocchio, there’s a whole new “whale eats guy story.” And that’s exactly what we get in the the trailer for Whalefall. This teaser gives us the whole thing. We see the entire “whale eats guy” scene… in the trailer for a movie about a whale eating a guy. He just….the whale swims up and eats him. And that’s the trailer. It’s so exactly what the movie is about that the Whalefall trailer is nearly entirely just that. Nearly two minutes of a whale eating a guy. Swallows him whole. Have I lost my mind? Yes, absolutely, but it will make sense when you see the trailer for this film, which somehow includes Josh Brolin. And now… here’s the Whalefall trailer.

That’s the most “whale eats guy” trailer possible for a story about a whale eating a guy. (It’s called “truth in advertising,” people. Look it up!) But it turns out there’s other stuff, too. There’s a reason that guy is scuba diving. There’s also gonna be stuff post “whale eats guy.” Here’s Whalefall‘s official synopsis from 20th Century Studios and Imagine Entertainment to go along with its trailer:

Following the death of his father (Brolin), Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams) goes diving off the central Coast of California in search of his remains, but is swallowed by a massive sperm whale. While trapped inside its belly with only one hour of oxygen left, Jay comes to realize that the hard-earned lessons his father imparted may be the key to his escape.

Isn’t that always the way? We can only appreciate the hard-earned lessons of our fathers inside a whale’s belly….after we go scuba diving to find his remains.

20th Century Studios

For the record, I lost my mind before I saw that synopsis. Reading it only made things worse.

I can only imagine what will happen when I see this “survivor thriller” from director Brian Duffield. He co-wrote it with Daniel Kraus and it’s based on Kraus’ book by the same. It also stars Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, and Emily Rudd.

Presumably, the whale won’t eat any of them when the film debuts on October 16, 2026. If it did, they probably would have put it in the Whalefall trailer. The trailer that is mostly just a whale eating the guy.

The post A Whale Eats Guy in WHALEFALL Trailer, a Movie About a Whale Eating a Guy appeared first on Nerdist.

On June 9, Nintendo dropped a ton of exciting gaming news for fans. While there are far more announcements than we’d be able to squeeze in one post, we are super excited about this news that takes us back to Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the 1998 classic Nintendo 64 game, is getting a remake and coming to the Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo

There’s no official release date yet, but it is happening sometime in 2026. Considering we are nearly halfway through the year, that’s not long to have to wait. We can easily envision the Nintendo Switch 2 version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time becoming available just in time for the holidays. The trailer for this announcement doesn’t give away much but we do get the gift of an adorable sleeping Link. 

This makes a ton of sense considering that the franchise turns 40 years old this year. And, if you are looking for the right mood music to accompany your journey through Hyrule, this jazz version of Ocarina of Time’s soundtrack will get you in the mood. We love when good rumors turn out to actually be true.

The post THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME Gets Switch 2 Remake appeared first on Nerdist.

Anthropic is releasing Claude Fable 5, its first Mythos-class model available to the public. The model comes with guardrails that block responses in high-risk areas like cybersecurity and biology.

Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe has called it "maybe the most important thing we've launched to date."

The iOS 27 developer beta includes code that references the fold state and screen angle of a device.

With SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI all eyeing massive public debuts, the tech industry may soon have a new class of corporate overlords — and a new acronym to match. Say goodbye to FAANG and hello to MANGOS.

⚡ Quick Take

• Ahead of The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice Immortal Universe head Mark Johnson shared in an exclusive, “We are getting closer” to a Night Island series.
• This is the first positive update we’ve heard on Night Island so far.
• A Night Island series would make more sense now than ever, given how much more we know about Armand, Daniel Molloy, and their relationship in the Anne Rice Immortal Universe.

In 2023, AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe shared an exciting new update. A Night Island series was in the works. At the time, the information we received didn’t promise this would be a show all about Devil’s Minion, that is Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat‘s Armand and Daniel Molloy. But Anne Rice fans know that Night Island is the name of the palatial complex featured in the book Queen of the Damned, which Armand and Daniel built together and played out many of their romantic, psychosexual, twisted, and adorable dramas. So, it would be silly, really, not to center them. Alas, 2023 was quite some time ago. And while Talamasca, the other Anne Rice Immortal Universe show announced alongside Night Island, has been released and canceled in these last years, we have not heard much, if any, news on the Armand and Daniel show. But during our conversation around The Vampire Lestat, Anne Rice Immortal Universe producer and head Mark Johnson offered us at least a POSITIVE, if still vague, status update.

AMCNight Island Is Getting “Closer” to Us

With a grin, Johnson shared of the Night Island series’ current state, “We’re getting closer.” And hey, at least that’s directional in the way we hope to hear. Johnson wouldn’t say much more than that, but as compared to the last time we heard about Night Island, in the fall of 2025, it sounds more promising. At that point, Johnson merely demurred, saying they had several books and projects in development and leaving it at that.

In many ways, though, it could be the perfect time for a Night Island series to arrive. As we mentioned, Talamasca ended up canceled late last year after a one-season run, leaving a vacancy in the lineup of the Anne Rice Immortal Universe. And, simultaneously, fans have never been more invested in the relationship between Armand and Daniel. Given the long canon history between them and the potential for Night Island to exist in both the past and the present storylines of the AMC series, it feels like there might be a lot to mine from giving the pair some screentime that’s all their own.

AMC

Recently, showrunner Rolin Jones shared that Luke Brandon Field, who perfectly plays young Daniel, would not be in The Vampire Lestat/Interview with the Vampire season three. But that he might be back for season four/”the future”—hinting at the idea that more past scenes of Daniel and Armand exist than we know of presently. In the meantime, Armand and Daniel’s present-day The Vampire Lestat storylines are inextricably bound together, given their relationship as Maker and Fledgling. Whether the Night Island series would center on Zaman and Field or Zaman and Bogosian, or preferably, all three—we know it would be a hit.

What Do We Already Know About the Anne Rice Immortal Universe Night Island Series?

To refresh everyone’s memories, here is the initial description of Night Island released by the AMC Anne Rice Immortal Universe. Night Island was said to be “a six-part series with ‘short-form’ episodes that will probably be about 10-15 minutes long. It will be written by Interview with the Vampire series writer Jonathan Ceniceroz. The story will follow human burglars who attempt to steal a valuable painting from the island. What they don’t realize is it’s home to a coven of the undead.”

AMC

At the time, AMC even released some Night Island key art, and Assad Zaman and Jonathan Ceniceroz both shared the image. Ceniceroz wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post, “Ikg fwd to sharing with you when the blood has dried… many new characters, a few bold choices… some expansions, contractions, amid a healthy dose of island weirdness and vampire hijinks we’ve come to love and respect…” Most likely, the series will have changed since then, but it does sound like the original version would also have been fun.

More About Armand and Daniel’s Island in Anne Rice’s Books

Additionally, we’d love to paint the picture of what a Night Island series might bring. Here’s a little bit of Night Island context from Anne Rice’s writings that we at Nerdist have shared before:

Many years into the relationship between Armand and Daniel, Armand decided to become “incalculably wealthy.” Using his knowledge of where old ships with treasure lay at the bottom of the ocean, he recruited Daniel, who now saw himself as “the Devil’s Minion,” to help him procure wealth. All while he was asleep during the day. With this fortune, Armand, with forged documents Daniel helped him create, purchased an island off the coast of Florida. Armand turned it into an entertainment and shopping paradise that came alive only after dark called The Night Island. (As Anne Rice shared, Night Island was “Armand’s own personal creation with its five dazzling glass stories of theaters, restaurants and shops.”)

Armand and Daniel lived at Night Island for years in the Vampire Chronicles. Daniel had everything he wanted from Armand, the finest clothes, the newest cars, all except the one thing he wanted most—to become a vampire himself. However, when Daniel’s life was in danger, on one of the many instances when he would run away from Armand, the 500-year-old vampire gave him what he wanted at last, and turned him. As Armand feared, however, making Daniel a vampire would only serve to drive a bigger wedge between them.

AMC

Of course, in the series, Daniel is already a vampire, although it is still fully possible that Night Island happened, but Armand simply removed the vision of it from Daniel’s memories. OR, Night Island COULD still happen, a refuge for Armand and Daniel that could come after the events of Queen of the Damned in the series. Like we said, in either case, we’re seated, and ready to party “from sunset ’til dawn.”

We could not imagine anything better than a series full of Armand and Daniel’s sometimes sweet snuggles and sometimes viciously petty spats.

It Could Be a Good Thing Night Island Has Been So Delayed

Ultimately, when Night Island was first announced, we had barely just met Armand in Interview with the Vampire, let alone understood his beautiful and complicated relationship with Daniel Molloy. Night Island would have been fun in 2023, but probably not half as meaningful. Although exploring Lestat is obviously central to the project of The Vampire Lestat, Armand and Daniel’s relationship is probably right up there in terms of importance. And so, more than ever, giving us Night Island now would make a lot of SENSE.

And hey, we are getting closer.

The Vampire Lestat airs at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+. You can also read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice today as you wait for the next episode of the series to air.

Rotem Rusak is Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. She is waiting for Armand and Daniel to finally get together so one of her canon ships can finally sail on The Vampire Lestat.

This post has affiliate links, which means we may earn advertising money if you buy something. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, we just have to give you the heads up for legal reasons. Click away!

The post ‘We’re Getting Closer’ on NIGHT ISLAND, Says THE VAMPIRE LESTAT Head Mark Johnson (Exclusive) appeared first on Nerdist.

⚡ Quick Take

• Disclosure Day works as an entertaining sci-fi heist with a world-class Emily Blunt performance, but as a serious drama it’s empty and trite.

If you’re looking for an entertaining summer blockbuster, then Disclosure Day is the movie for you. It’s a good time at the theaters if you watch it for what it is and not what you thought it might be. Steven Spielberg’s latest works as a well-made, mindless sci-fi heist that is elevated by a handful of powerful sequences and an Oscar-worthy performance from Emily Blunt. But if you’re hoping to see a truly great movie with something interesting or insightful to say, look elsewhere. Disclosure Day has no new ideas and doesn’t do a very good job exploring the old ones it relies on.

Disclosure Day works best as a moviegoing experience when you realize it’s spiritually a popcorn flick with a giant budget. It (mostly) looks great and has real scope. Disclosure Day feels big even when it’s driving through mostly abandoned farmland in the Midwest. Unsurprisingly, the director who made dinosaurs look real in 1993 didn’t forget what a deer or raccoon looks like. There’s a narrative reason for those unnatural CGI animals. The real issue with the visuals and cinematography come in the last 20 minutes. The end of this movie features sequences that look laughably bad. They also contribute to the film’s lame conclusion.

The movie also has some fun sci-fi elements that it wisely doesn’t over explain. You know as much as you need to know about alien artifacts and nothing more. That approach helps the pacing while avoiding needless exposition. Ultimately, in terms of structure and storytelling, Disclosure Day has far more in common with movies like Enemy of the State or The Firm than most science fiction, even if it does resemble Spielberg’s War of the Worlds.

Universal Pictures

I love both of those movies and consider them top notch popcorn flicks, which are some of my favorite movie experiences. I don’t use that term or “B-movie” as pejoratives. The issue for Disclosure Day is that it certainly thinks it’s so much more than that. It wants you to view it as a deep, insightful, powerful drama.

It ain’t. At all.

It’s genuinely shocking just how little Disclosure Day has to say. Its biggest ideas feel trite at best and stolen at worst. There’s not a single new or interesting idea in this film. Its most prominent themes feel like they were lifted directly from Men in Black and Contact, two vastly superior movies that both do a much better job exploring the ideas Disclosure Day is apparently most interested in. I say apparently because screenwriter David Koepp’s script is sort of a sneaky disaster. It deals a lot with what the existence of aliens would mean for faith. It’s the idea the movie spends the most time on. And yet it still feels like an incomplete exploration with very little payoff.

Universal Pictures

The movie’s main idea, which is about co-existing and empathy, somehow feels like less than afterthought. It’s barely mentioned, let alone developed. How can I say an idea that’s barely present in a film is clearly its main theme? I can’t tell you without spoiling the ending, but I can tell you I didn’t know whether to laugh or groan when the credits rolled. It’s just….nothing. And, fair or not, I expected a whole lot more from a sci-fi movie made by the same director behind Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and Minority Report.

Instead of Disclosure Day giving me something to think about, all I could think was, “I’ve heard all of this before in better movies.” I’m not exaggerating when I say the iconic bench scene between Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in Men in Black, the one where they discuss how “a person is smart, people are dumb,” has far more heft and intellectual power than any equivalent idea or scene in Disclosure Day. (That’s not a knock on Men in Black, a perfect movie. I’m saying that one great scene bests the entirety of Disclosure Day‘s own attempts at deep thought.) Every exploration of faith and the concept of aliens existing in this movie was done with more care and thought by Contact.

Universal Pictures

Another big reason to only watch Disclosure Day as pure entertainment rather than a serious drama is because its plot is essentially nonsense. If you think critically about what happens for more than five seconds the whole thing falls apart. The more you reflect on this movie the more it becomes downright stupid. People with unfathomable power do (or do not do) obvious things because the plot needs that to happen. The result is many moments and plot points that feel entirely inauthentic. There are also a handful of scenes that are at best not earned and at worst clunky and awkward. On a few occasions, the dialogue also suddenly gets hammy. It reads as a desperate attempt to give the story a meaning it never comes close to offering.

When it ended my first thought was, “That was it? Why did they make that movie?” My next thought was—despite a dud of an ending that gets lamer the more you sit with it—“I’m far more interested in what happens next than what I just watched.” Disclosure Day feels like a subpar prequel to a far more interesting movie they forgot to make.

Universal Pictures

It might seem impossible I can be this harsh about a movie I found banal and empty yet still say it was generally entertaining, but it really does work as a well-crafted B-movie. It’s also buoyed by what might be the best performance of Emily Blunt’s career. She’s incredible as the weather woman for a local news cast who suddenly finds herself possessing unexplained gifts. Her Margaret Fairchild is in a far more interesting film than anyone else. She also has scenes so good and so emotional, I found myself on the verge of tears multiple times.

Margaret’s own story does fit into what the film is attempting to do say about being heard and understood. But her journey is far better than the bigger one she finds herself caught up in. It’s truly beautiful and profound and I wish it got even more focus than it did. The script just doesn’t fully appreciate what it’s doing with her. It also fumbles Margaret’s arc (along with everything else) in the end. But at least along the way Blunt, who is truly a powerhouse presence in the film, gives us a reason to keep watching all on her own. The problem is every time we leave Margaret, we go right back to the empty sci-fi heist. And that movie has little else to hold on to.

Universal Pictures

The rest of the cast is also really good, but the script simply doesn’t give them enough to do. Colin Firth gets a couple of great scenes as the primary villain Noah Scanlon, but it’s not nearly enough. I was desperate to get even more from his character. That was even more true of Josh O’Connor’s abnormally brilliant hacker Dr. Daniel Kellner. O’Connor is good. He’s just not asked to do much despite being the co-lead. The same is true of Colman Domingo’s Hugo, a character so underwritten it’s a testament to Domingo’s talent that Hugo doesn’t disappear into the background. He’s mostly walks around one same small room and talks while smiling.

Besides Blunt’s Margaret, the script really only gives Eve Hewson’s Jane a chance to shine. She’s the character who most struggles with her faith and whether or not to tell the world the truth about aliens. Then the movie bungles her story the same as it bungles everything else.

For what I hoped and expected from one of cinema’s greatest directors, Disclosure Day is disappointing. Outside of Emily Blunt’s performance, it’s just not a good movie. At least not on its own terms. But if you treat it as entertainment it is a fun one.

Disclosure Day hits theaters on June 12.

Disclosure Day ⭐ (3 of 5)

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He wants to talk about the absurd end of this movie after you see it. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post DISCLOSURE DAY Is an Entertaining Sci-Fi Heist but a Drama With Nothing New To Say appeared first on Nerdist.

Apple may begin removing existing apps that it considers stale, low-value, or unable to attract users.

While iOS 27 isn't bringing major changes, it's still got many small features that could improve everyday usage for iPhone users.

⚡ Quick Take

• Yes, Masters of the Uninverse crashed out hard at the box office. But here’s why we may not have seen the last of He-Man and friends.

Despite an atomic level of hype online in the months leading up to its premiere, Amazon MGM Studios’ Masters of the Universe live-action film crashed hard at the box office on its opening weekend, making a mere $29 million domestically. This happened despite getting largely positive critical and fan reviews. Amazon MGM Studios (and Mattel) poured a ton of money into creating awareness for the film, with huge drone shows, TikToks, and a metric ton of product tie-ins. All of this was topped off by a huge premiere at Hollywood’s Chinese Theater, where a massive Castle Grayskull facade was built for just one night. So, what went wrong with the Travis Knight sci-fi/fantasy film? Why couldn’t it connect, despite the hype? And is this the final nail in the coffin of this 44-year-old franchise? We don’t think it is over yet.

Amazon MGM Studios

The conventional wisdom going into this was that MOTU, as a brand, was for a very specific audience. And the exit demographics for this weekend show that to be the case, with the largest demographic consisting of men ages 45-54. That’s just not a demographic that rushes out to see movies on opening weekend in big numbers, or at all. Gen X (and even elder Millennials) are content with waiting for streaming, as Gen Z is now the largest moviegoing demographic. And Gen Z has next to no awareness of MOTU as a brand, except perhaps as memes online. Those going this weekend under 18? A meager 11%. And they have movies out right now made by them and for them, like Obsession and Backrooms. They’re not flocking to grandpa’s IP. MOTU becoming a box office hit was always an uphill battle.

Mattel

That’s not to say all “old IPs” are all just for old people. Batman was a fifty-year-old property when it set box office records in 1989. Marvel heroes had been around for fifty years when the MCU exploded. TMNT recently did well too, and that’s just about as geriatric an IP as He-Man. So what’s the difference? All of those others were brands that never died. Thanks to cartoons, toys, or comics, they stayed in the public consciousness. MOTU lasted from 1982 to 1987, flamed out hard, and all future attempts to come back strong fizzled out. It thrives now as a nostalgia brand for older collectors. So why should younger audiences even care? And without younger crowds, it’s nearly impossible to have a box office hit. The olds usually stay home.

Amazon MGM Studios

As we stated two years ago, MOTU should have always been a streaming series or movie. Netflix was producing a MOTU film for its service just a few years back. A MOTU movie such as this one would have likely cleaned up in the 2000s, when Gen X was still young enough to be a prime moviegoing audience, and taking their young kids to see things like Transformers. Those same Xers would have eaten MOTU up this year as a streaming movie. The people who want this movie are very happy to stay on their couch, unless the movie is a must-see event. And MOTU just was not that. This is likely why Amazon MGM decided to skip Henry Cavill’s $100 million Voltron from going to theaters.

RELATED ARTICLE

How MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Lore Evolved Over 40 Years

So what becomes of MOTU next? Should Mattel give up all attempts at making the brand relevant and just keep selling high-end replicas of older toys to its AARP-ready audience? Maybe. But Amazon, which still has the rights, should think outside the box. The movie may not have a promising box office, but the word of mouth on it is good. You’re unlikely to see many bad things said by those who have seen it on social media. There seems to be an overwhelming feeling of “pleasantly surprised.” They should simply read the tea leaves on the non-theatrical future of MOTU, and release the film to Prime Video now. Don’t wait two or three months. Do it in three weeks. Drop it while the film is still in the conversation. And if the streaming numbers are good, then pivot. Let MOTU become a streaming franchise.

Amazon MGM

There’s some indication that Amazon MGM Studios is already doing this. After the disappointing first weekend, Amazon MGM’s domestic distribution chief Kevin Wilson said: “Travis Knight and the entire cast and filmmaking team have delivered something truly special, and this opening is exactly the kind of critical first moment that validates our holistic distribution strategy—building awareness and engagement that will carry well beyond the theatrical window.”

Now, he could just be trying to save face in front of the shareholders. Or, the theatrical release of MOTU was a test run to see if it could work in theaters. But the true success or failure would always depend on its streaming numbers. And movies with theatrical releases tend to draw larger viewership, as they are seen as “real” movies more. This is likely why MOTU ended up getting a theatrical window at all.

Amazon MGM

Amazon MGM Studios is not like other Hollywood studios. They’re dabbling in theatrical now with some success, like Project Hail Mary. But streaming is still where their bread is buttered. And nothing is keeping MOTU from being a streaming franchise. None of its stars are so big and famous that they can’t appear in a streaming project. (Most come from TV.)

Only Jared Leto might see himself as too famous for a streaming franchise. (He’s not, but he probably thinks he is.) And any other decent actor can play Skeletor, and few would know the difference. Amazon should make the most of its investment and simply switch gears. Treat the theatrical release as an extended reintroduction to the brand, take the box office bruises, and reimagine things for streaming. Because we’d sure like to see that She-Ra tease pay off somewhere, even if it’s not on the big screen.

The post Does MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE Have a Future, Or Is It DOA? appeared first on Nerdist.

Apple is expanding its App Bundles feature to allow developers to partner with one another on discounted subscription packages.

⚡ Quick Take

• The Interview with the Vampire season two finale gave fans a Daniel/Armand pairing straight from Anne Rice’s novels. Here, we provide context about the Devil’s Minion pairing from the books.
• Armand and Daniel’s relationship features in “The Story of Daniel, the Devil’s Minion, or the Boy from Interview with the Vampire” from Queen of the Damned.
• AMC’s Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat series continue to adapt the pair’s tale.

The finale of Interview with the Vampire season two had quite the twist, as a flash forward showed the audience that the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman) had turned the reporter Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) into a vampire, some time before or after published his interviews with Louis and Armand as a book. We don’t know exactly how and when this happened. It seems to be an act committed more out of spite towards Daniel than love. However, Armand making Daniel a vampire on Interview with the Vampire does have its origins in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series of novels.

AMC

In the novels, Daniel Molloy doesn’t even have a proper name until the third novel in Rice’s series, The Queen of the Damned. In the 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire, the young reporter was simply referred to as “the Boy.” At the end of that first novel, he ran off, with Louis’ tapes in tow, hoping to find Lestat. In book two, The Vampire Lestat, we find out that the boy had the recordings transcribed and published as the book Interview with the Vampire. A recently reemerged Lestat discovered that his name and much of his life was put on public display for mortals, passed off as fiction. Yet we never learned what became of the young reporter until Rice’s third novel.

“The Story of Daniel, the Devil’s Minion, or the Boy from Interview with the Vampire“ from Queen of the Damned

In 1988’s Queen of the Damned, we learned in Part 1, Chapter 4, a chapter called “The Story of Daniel, the Devil’s Minion, or the Boy from Interview with the Vampire” that the anonymous boy went searching for Lestat after his fateful interview with Louis in San Francisco in 1973. We also now had a proper name for him—Daniel Molloy. Lestat was slumbering at the time of Daniel’s search, and he didn’t find the undead French aristocrat. Instead, the Vampire Armand finds Daniel while he searches for Lestat, during a time when Armand made New Orleans his home. No other vampires lived there, as Lestat had long ago gone to sleep. Armand had “cleaned out” the city of any younger vampires. No one else dared to call New Orleans home at this time, as it was Armand’s territory.

AMC

Scanning Daniel’s thoughts upon encountering him, Armand discovered this young mortal boy knew his name, and his true vampiric nature, and became fascinated. He began stalking him, and no matter what city or country Daniel ran to, Armand would find him. At first, he casually threatened to kill him if he ever published his book. Yet he continued to allow him to live for his own amusement. Then something unexpected happened. After years of cat and mouse, Armand came to actually love the mortal Daniel. Even so, he constantly refused to give him the Dark Gift, no matter how much he begged.

Daniel, Armand, and the Night Island

Many years into their relationship, Armand decided to become “incalculably wealthy.” Using his knowledge of where old ships with treasure lay at the bottom of the ocean, he recruited Daniel, who now saw himself as “the Devil’s Minion,” to help him procure wealth. All while he was asleep during the day. With this fortune, Armand, with forged documents Daniel helped him create, purchased an island off the coast of Florida. Armand turned it into an entertainment and shopping paradise that came alive only after dark called The Night Island.

Armand and Daniel lived at Night Island for years in the Vampire Chronicles. Daniel had everything he wanted from Armand, the finest clothes, the newest cars, all except the one thing he wanted most—to become a vampire himself. However, when Daniel’s life was in danger, on one of the many instances when he would run away from Armand, the 500-year-old vampire gave him what he wanted at last, and turned him. As Armand feared, however, making Daniel a vampire would only serve to drive a bigger wedge between them.

Daniel and Armand in AMC’s Interview with the Vampire AMC

All we know from the AMC Interview with the Vampire series is that sometime after Daniel reveals to Louis the truth about Armand, and how he planned to let his Paris coven execute him along with Claudia, he turns Daniel into a vampire out of spite. (Or so Louis says.) But when did this happen? We don’t know yet. Do Interview with the Vampire‘s Daniel and Armand engage in a relationship similar to the one they had in the books? There doesn’t seem enough time for that intense love/hate relationship to have happened offscreen. Unless there is one further wrinkle to Daniel and Armand’s story that Interview with the Vampire is waiting to spring on us.

We know from episode five of season two of the series, that Armand encountered Daniel back in 1973, interrupting Louis almost killing Daniel. Not only encountered him, but very nearly killed him, and erased his memories of the event. Yet he clearly had a fascination with Daniel, and Interview with the Vampire leaves space for the possibility that the pair had a relationship decades ago. One that Armand then wiped from Daniel’s mind. After all, there is a limited series AMC announced called The Night Island. Could this series, at least in part, involve Interview with the Vampire‘s Armand and Daniel and their relationship?

AMC+Devil’s Minion in The Vampire Lestat

For now, all we know is that when asked to describe what lives between Armand and Daniel, Eric Bogosian, who plays Daniel Molloy shared, “I feel that Armand’s love for Daniel is like when a kid has a stuffed animal, and he drags it around with him for like years until it has one button, and a hole for an eye. And he loves that little stuffed animal. So, it’s as romantic as that can be.” Well, we’ll take it!

Additionally, in a recent tease for the upcoming series, Armand’s actor Assad Zaman, revealed he’d be saying the following line to Daniel Molloy. “Love between vampires can be one thing… Or it can be many things.” But whether that line is discussing the love between Armand and Daniel the the love between other vampires, we don’t yet know.

I FAINTED I SCREAMED I CRIED pic.twitter.com/2VyJyBAkvk

— emme | 3 DAYS TILL YSPSFAGSIL (@danielsjournals) May 11, 2026

The human brain cannot begin to anticipate which lines from #TheVampireLestat will take up residence in its every crevice. pic.twitter.com/vabPUDrQBC

— The Vampire Lestat (@AMCsAnneRice) May 11, 2026

Ultimately, there are lots of ways this story could go for Daniel and Armand, and we’re eager to see how Interview with the Vampire tackles this fan-favorite pairing going forward.

Originally published July 1, 2024.

The post The Book Inspirations Behind the Armand/Daniel Vampiric Pairing in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (And What ‘Devil’s Minion’ Really Means) appeared first on Nerdist.