Entertainment

A new Hotel Transylvania film is headed to theaters.

Sony Pictures Animation and Amazon MGM Studios are set to release the fifth film in the animated franchise, The Haunting of Hotel Transylvania, in theaters on Oct. 8, 2027.

“Drac has happily settled into retirement while Mavis takes the reins of the legendary monster hotel. But when a series of spooky and unexplained happenings sends chills through the resort, the Drac Pack embarks on its most spellbinding adventure yet: uncovering the mystery behind The Haunting of Hotel Transylvania,” according to the new film’s official description.

Jennifer Kluska and Alan Hawkins are set to direct the film while Lawrence Jonas will produce it. Additionally, Genndy Tartakovsky and Michelle Murdocca are set to executive produce.

“From the beginning, Hotel Transylvania has invited audiences into a world where monsters feel like family,” Kristine Belson and Damien de Froberville, the presidents of Sony Pictures Animation, said. “These films have been a cornerstone of Sony Animation’s storytelling identity, blending a unique visual style with heartfelt, character-driven comedy. With this next installment, we’re honoring that legacy of heart and humor while delivering the unexpected surprises audiences love.”

Courtenay Valenti, the head of film at Amazon MGM Studios, said Hotel Transylvania is “one of those rare franchises that has become a beloved tradition for families around the world.”

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Sony Pictures Animation to bring the Drac Pack back to the big screen and continue this legacy of inventive, character-driven storytelling that audiences have embraced for over a decade,” Valenti continued.

Hotel Transylvania premiered to theaters in 2012. It featured the voices of Selena Gomez, Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg and spawned three previous sequels, two of which debuted in theaters. The fourth installment, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, premiered to Prime Video in 2022.

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It’s a girl!

Barbara Palvin and Dylan Sprouse have announced they are expecting a baby girl. The model and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody star announced the sex of their first child on the second episode of Sprouse’s new podcast, Wildmen.

“We’ve been calling her principessa,” Sprouse said. “It’s Italian for princess.”

He continued, “We are having a baby girl, which I’m very excited about. … I’m excited to be a girl dad, actually.”

“You’re gonna be so stressed about the princess,” Palvin said, before Sprouse joked, “I just also unironically love a tea party.”

The couple announced that Palvin is pregnant with their first child in an Instagram post on May 14. Sprouse and Palvin were married on July 15, 2023, in Palvin’s home country of Hungary.

Later in the podcast, Palvin opened up about having endometriosis.

“We knew we wanted to get pregnant, but we also knew because I have endometriosis, we knew we wanted to get that surgery done before we start trying,” Palvin said.

In August 2025, Palvin revealed she’d had surgery for endometriosis in an Instagram post.

“For some years now I’ve been dealing with the difficulties that can come with my periods. Fatigue, severe pain, heavy and irregular flow, sleepless nights on the bathroom floor. I thought this was just how it works for me,” Palvin wrote. “[The surgery] helped me a lot, and I’m grateful I did it. Early diagnosis and treatment are very important to prevent long-term complications, and now I’m more mindful about my body to act fast if needed.”

Palvin ended her post by saying she is “excited about this new chapter of my life and now ready to get back to work.”

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Tyriq Withers is set for a new rom-com. Deadline reports the Reminders of Him actor will star in and executive produce the upcoming romantic comedy Love Love. He will star alongside Isabel May in the film. Joey Power is set to write and direct the movie, which follows a struggling tennis star who falls for the local ball boy at the US Open …

Monopoly is headed to Netflix. The streaming service has announced that it will bring the board game to life in a brand-new competition series that will find contestants competing for the chance to win $2 million. The show will take place in a life-sized Monopoly town square and find 12 players competing for the grand prize. Casting is open now for the series, which will premiere in 2027 …

Prime Video has shared the first photos from its upcoming series Carrie. The show marks the first TV adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel. It has been reimagined by horror showrunner Mike Flanagan and stars Summer Howell as the misfit high schooler Carrie White. Carrie is set to debut worldwide this fall …

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Get ready for another Nightmare on Elm Street.

Paramount Pictures has closed a deal for the U.S. rights to adapt the original screenplay for A Nightmare on Elm Street, ABC Audio has learned.

The U.S. rights are being licensed from the Wes Craven estate, which includes Iya Labunka and Jonathan Craven.

This deal marks the first project for Paramount Primal, a new genre label at the company set to be led by J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules.

The currently untitled film is in priority development at the label. While plot details have not been revealed, the movie will be set in the world of A Nightmare on Elm Street and will be based on the original film’s screenplay.

Labunka, Jonathan Craven and Marc Toberoff will produce while Lifshitz and Margules will executive produce for Paramount Primal.

“Jonathan and I are so excited to be partnering with J.D. and Rafi along with the terrific team they’ve assembled at Paramount Primal. We look forward to bringing the world of Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street to a new and completely engaged generation of fans,” Labunka said. “We know that Wes would have been thrilled to see how horror is taking its long overdue place in the cultural canon. We can’t wait for all of us to sit together in a dark theatre — around the campfire of today — as the next chapter of the Nightmare story unfolds.”

In a statement, Lifshitz and Margules said, “We can’t remember a time before we were fans of Wes Craven. The fact that Iya and Jonathan have entrusted us with this opportunity to help usher a new story into this world is an honor beyond words. We look forward to working alongside them to bring a terrifying new nightmare to audiences everywhere—and to welcome Freddy home.”

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Ted Lasso star Cristo Fernández made his professional soccer debut in the U.S. over the weekend.

Fernández made his debut for El Paso Locomotive FC in the team’s match against New Mexico United at Southwest University Park in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday. The actor played fan-favorite Dani Rojas in the Apple TV+ series.

As Fernández entered the game, a broadcaster calling the match described the moment as “what everybody came to see tonight … the long anticipated debut.”

“Cristo Fernández: ‘Fútbol is life!'” another chimed in, referencing Dani’s famous catchphrase in Ted Lasso.

Fernández came on in the 79th minute of the game, which his club ultimately lost 2-0. Fernández recorded a yellow card in the 87th minute, according to the game statistics.

Fernández, 35, joined the USL Championship side after completing what the club described as an “extensive” two-month trial.

During that stretch, the Mexican actor and forward trained regularly with the team and appeared in a preseason match against New Mexico United.

“Yes, it’s really him,” Fernández’s player biography on the El Paso Locomotive FC website states.

Long before his acting career took off, Fernández began a promising soccer career, playing youth soccer for Mexican club Guadalajara Estudiantes Tecos Club and Puerto Rico’s Guayama FC before injuries ultimately sidelined him, according to ESPN.

He later decided to pursue acting while attending university in Mexico, and eventually moved to England, where he graduated from the Guildford School of Acting at the University of Surrey.

In recent years, Fernández has shared his journey back to soccer on social media, posting videos of himself training with professional clubs across the country, including teams connected to Major League Soccer organizations.

In an interview posted to social media back in May, Fernández opened up about the opportunity to play for El Paso Locomotive FC.

“I love the city. I love the team. It’s a dream come true,” he said at the time.

He added, “Since day one they welcomed me, they let me compete, and they treated me like another player, and it’s a great team.”

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Can’t beat it! The Michael Jackson movie has hit another milestone.

Michael has surpassed the $1 billion mark at the box office, becoming the first biopic to cross that threshold.

In June it claimed the title of highest-grossing biopic of all time, taking over from the Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer. It’s also the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, surpassing Bohemian Rhapsody, and the biggest film ever for Lionsgate.

“Audiences have embraced the film from the beginning, turning it into a unique cultural phenomenon in theaters around the world,” Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson said in a statement. “Their passion speaks to the enduring appeal of one of the greatest recording artists of all time, and it underscores the continued strength and vitality of the theatrical moviegoing experience.”

Director Antoine Fuqua called the milestone “a deeply humbling moment.”

“This achievement belongs to everyone who came together with a shared vision to honor one of the greatest artists the world has ever known,” he continued in a statement. “I am profoundly grateful to the audiences around the globe who embraced this film, showed up in theaters, and connected with this story across generations and cultures. This historic milestone is a testament to the enduring power of cinema to bring us together, and it is a chapter in movie history I will never forget.”

The movie, starring the King of Pop’s nephew Jaafar Jackson in the title role, debuted in April with an impressive $217 million globally.

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Dig up the official trailer for Tom Cruise’s new film, Digger.

Warner Bros. Pictures released the new trailer for the upcoming film on Monday. It finds Cruise completely transformed into the character Digger Rockwell, a billionaire who has a thick Southern accent, a potbelly and combed-over white hair.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) director Alejandro González Iñárritu helmed the movie. It is his first English-language feature since The Revenant.

Digger follows “the most powerful man in the world” who “embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything,” according to an official description.

The trailer starts with Cruise’s Digger enjoying a lavish lifestyle inside of his mansion. We soon learn that the company he owns is responsible for an ecological disaster that is likely to cause a nuclear war.

Digger then sets out to try to save the world, despite how unlikely the possibility may seem.

“If we can’t control the course of nature, at lease we can control the narrative,” Digger says. “When all else fails, you hit ’em with the truth. You know, the hard truth. Just bang, bang, bang!”

The film’s ensemble cast includes Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde and Emma D’Arcy.

Iñárritu also produces the film, which he co-wrote with his Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) co-writers Nicolas Giacobone and Alexander Dinelaris, along with Sabina Berman. Cruise also serves as a producer.

Digger arrives in theaters on Oct. 2.

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(SPOILER ALERT) Still they rise!

Fan-favorite contestants Trinity Tatum and Bryce Detloff were crowned the winners of Love Island USA season 8 during Sunday night’s finale of the reality dating competition series.

Emmy-nominated host Ariana Madix named Tatum and Detloff the winners of the season before awarding them the $100,000 prize.

The winners coupled up on day one inside of the villa. Throughout the season their connection blossomed, with Detloff eventually asking Tatum to be his girlfriend. He confessed his love for her during their date on finale night. Tatum immediately reciprocated by telling Detloff she also loves him.

Contestants Aniya Harvey and Carl Schmidt were the runners-up, while Melanie Moreno and Sincere Rhea got third place, and Kayda Bosse and Zach Georgiou came in fourth.

While this is the end of season 8, the Islanders are set to reunite at the Love Island USA season 8 reunion special, which will be co-hosted by Madix and Andy Cohen.

According to Peacock, the reunion special will bring together “this season’s winners, fan-favorite couples, and this year’s bombshells for an up close and personal look back at their experience in the villa.”

The season 8 reunion special will premiere Aug. 31 on Peacock.

Additionally, the spinoff series Love Island: Beyond the Villa has been renewed for season 3. The new season will premiere in 2027 with its cast to be confirmed later in 2026.

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The Hollywood community is remembering Sam Neill following news of his death Monday.

Toni Collette, who starred with Neill in 2014’s A Long Way Down and 2002’s Dirty Deeds, called Neill a “legend” in an Instagram tribute.

“I love you, dear Sam. You hero. You legend. You sweetheart. Our great friend. You are already missed so very much. Continue in peace wherever you are,” Collette wrote.

Richard E. Grant, who co-starred with Neill in 2019’s Palm Beach, remembered his longtime friend in an Instagram post.

“Knew @samneilltheprop for 3 decades and finally worked with him on PALM BEACH in 2018,” Grant captioned the post, which included several photos of Neill. “An officer and a Gentleman in the truest sense. Guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my Life.”

He added, “Sail on, kind Sir.”

Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow, who worked with Neill on 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion, described Neill as a “deeply soulful and beautiful man.”

“He was a friend and collaborator at a challenging time, and his strength gave us all strength,” Trevorrow wrote in an Instagram tribute. “I’ll remember him for his tranquility, his love of wine, and for the calm assuredness he brought to his characters. It’s not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend. Forever grateful.”

Fellow New Zealand actor Karl Urban expressed condolences for Neill’s family and friends in a comment on Instagram.

“Sam was truly brilliant. An inspiration for many who followed in his trailblazing footsteps,” he wrote. “A beautiful man, a national treasure who gave so much to New Zealand and the to world. God speed Sam.”

Neill died Monday at the age of 78, according to a statement shared on the actor’s social media account.

The veteran actor had revealed publicly in 2023 that he had undergone treatment for blood cancer, including taking a monthly chemotherapy drug, but had announced he was cancer-free in April this year.

In a statement released Monday, Neill’s family and loved ones said the actor was cancer-free when he died.

“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life,” the statement read. “The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”

The statement also expressed “deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care.”

“More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss,” it added.

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It’s time to head back to the ballroom for the new Dancing with the Stars spinoff, The Next Pro.

The brand-new series, which premieres Monday night on ABC, follows young professional dancers competing for the chance to become a pro on Dancing with the Stars.

Mark Ballas serves as a judge on the new series. He caught up with ABC Audio on the red carpet of the 2026 Disney Upfront, where he spilled details on what fans can expect.

“It’s a fascinating show, because it feels like Dancing with the Stars, which it kind of is, but it’s also very different because of the format,” Ballas said. “We’re looking for a pro that’s gonna take on the role of being a pro on Dancing with the Stars. Which is very complex, it’s very nuanced.”

How exactly does The Next Pro do this? Ballas said “the show did a really great job of setting up challenges for these dancers.”

“Whether it’s from choreographing, group work, chemistry, teaching challenges, these are the things that you face as a pro on Dancing with the Stars,” Ballas said.

He isn’t the only judge. His mother, Shirley Ballas, sits beside him to help determine who has what it takes.

“My mother is one of the most elite Latin American dance coaches in the world,” Ballas said. “Having her level of expertise on the panel is always an asset. No one knows the craft more than her.”

That being said, Ballas teased they approached the job in different ways.

“She’s been on the side as a judge, and I’ve always been on side as the pro,” Ballas said. “We had a couple of disagreements out in the field … but we also agreed a lot. She’s very good at what she does, she’s very direct. And when you’re improving on being a professional in this field, you need that.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC and ABC News. 

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