A new generation of AirPods Pro could be on the way
A new Bluetooth ID appeared in a database related to device syncing, and it may be a reference to the AirPods Pro 3 that are expected to launch in the fall.
Apple is fairly careful to avoid inadvertent leaks, but it isn’t immune to mistakes. A couple of small flubs occurred in 2025 already, one referencing AirPods Pro 3 directly and another stating AirPods Pro 2 or later.
The latest tidbit was discovered by MacRumors in an undisclosed codebase. The codebase was updated and normally contains a list of Bluetooth IDs for accessories like AirPods and Beats headphones, but the latest update added an extra value.
The identifier, 8239, doesn’t belong to any existing product, so it could be for the unannounced AirPods Pro 3. AirPods Pro 2 are 0x2024 (8228), for example.
All of these tiny leaks add up to seemingly confirm AirPods Pro 3 are at least imminent. Rumors point to late 2025, though a less reliable source also said 2026.
Squid Game arrived on Netflix in 2021, and the South Korean dystopian survival thriller horror series took the streamer by storm. It catapulted up the viewership charts, becoming the most-watched series at the time, and remains the streaming service’s most-watched series in its first 28 days. Following its tremendous success, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk devised a second and third season to be released in late 2024 and mid-2025.
This was presumably to be the end of the story. But it seems as though the series is primed to become a franchise. And that might not necessarily be a good thing.
There Might Be a ‘Squid Game’ Spinoff We Don’t Need
Netflix
In a recent interview with People, Dong-hyuk discussed the potential for a spinoff of Squid Game, which is set to premiere its third and presumably final season (of the original, at least) on June 27, 2025. “I cannot just tell right now when and how it’s going to happen,” he said. But he did confirm that “there is a chance.”
The story serves as a social commentary on class disparity and the desperation of people in dire circumstances. Put to the test, people proved they would sacrifice everything for the chance to win the almighty buck (rather, millions of them) by willingly entering literal life-or-death situations. Play devastating versions of seemingly innocent childhood playground games, and the last person to survive wins. At any point, the group can vote to end the games. However, in most cases, they continue as people see how the dollar amount rises with each elimination. In their eyes, they have nothing to lose, since they’ve already lost everything.
The first season played out until Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) was the sole winner. He got his money, but wasn’t happy; he was desperate to end the games and the suffering for more people. He believes deeply that people are, or can be, inherently good. So, he willingly returns to the games, at first to try to bring in a team to stop them. But when that doesn’t pan out, he’s forced to play again. While there, he attempts to start a revolt.
This, however, backfires when the player whom he befriended, Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), is actually the Front Man who runs the games. Infiltrating his own games, he is curious to get close to Gi-hun and prove to the man that he’s wrong. People are, and always will be, greedy, selfish, and money hungry.
The understanding among fans is that Season 3 will wrap up the story, and Gi-hun will eventually discover who the Front Man is, as slyly confirmed in the trailer. He would likely also end up as the last man standing once again, winning the games a second time around. The cost of getting there and what happens next are the big questions for the series. However, fans are ready for finality.
Why ‘Squid Game’ Needs To End
Netflix
Squid Game runs the risk of becoming a parody of itself should it continue. The concept has already been cheapened by a reality series on Netflix called Squid Game: The Challenge. It replicates the show’s concept without actual death, but with a record number of players and the second-largest cash prize ever for a reality competition series at $4.56 million. Ironically, it was beaten in cash prize amount only by Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson’s copycat competition series Beast Games, which was inspired by the series.
There’s also a supposed upcoming American adaptation, set to be directed by David Fincher, that has fans unsure about how to feel. These plans aren’t officially confirmed yet, but the rumor mill is abuzz, according to Deadline.
As fans eagerly await Season 3, there’s so much to discover by rewatching Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Squid Game.’
There are only so many times Gi-hun can play the games, and only so far he can fall before he descends into complete madness. Fans want a resolution with the Front Man, perhaps an eye-opening moment when he realizes that people can be kind, honest, and moral. Even a less satisfying end that suggests the games continue and Gi-hun is never able to stop them, similar in style to how The Handmaid’s Tale ended with June (Elisabeth Moss) enjoying a small victory versus total annihilation, could be enough to satisfy viewers.
A spinoff would have limited characters to pull from, since it’s almost certain that everyone in the games now, except Gi-hun, will be dead by the end. Could it be a show about the Front Man, perhaps exploring his backstory? Even this might ruin the concept because what makes him so interesting is his elusiveness. The despicable character is an enigma, and we sort of want to keep him that way.
Combining more stories from South Korea with the addition of an American version will create a franchise that is working to rival ones like The Walking Dead. So far, it has worked for that show, which has six major spinoffs, the majority of which have been hugely successful. However, the concept will eventually become tired, no matter how many different, colorful games are thrown into the mix.
‘Squid Game’ Was Supposed To Mean Something
Netflix
Furthermore, Squid Game was not just supposed to be about entertainment; it was supposed to mean something. The idea behind the show is to shed light on the treatment of people who aren’t part of society’s elites, the unlucky ones living paycheck to paycheck and getting caught up in addiction or other unfortunate circumstances. They are people, not numbers. Their lives have meaning, yet they are often treated as though they, and their lives, don’t matter.
The show also serves as a commentary on capitalism and the notion that money and wealth are all that matter. Not only are people willing to claw and kill to get more and more, but the wealthy enjoy sitting back and watching this happen for sport. There is far more beneath the surface of Squid Game than meets the eye. Developing spinoff after spinoff, game show after game show, inspired by the concept, cheapens it. We start to forget what the point was in the first place and resort to enjoying the entertaining or villainous characters, the fun yet lethal games, and the engaging surface story instead of the lessons it was supposed to teach and the philosophical questions it set out to pose.
The third season of ‘Squid Game’ might be confirmed to be the last. But that doesn’t mean the franchise can’t continue in a different way.
Squid Game has maintained a solid fanbase and relatively positive reception, but there’s a drop-off for Season 2. The first season received a 95% Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score and an 84% audience score, while Season 2 received an 83% critics’ score and a 63% audience score. The show has lost some of its magic. Though Jung-jae continues to do a superb job portraying the lead, and there’s an interesting mix of new characters, it’s also a lot of lather, rinse, repeat. There are new games and more fearless characters, more violent in-fighting, and an actual attempt to fight back. However, the season almost seems forced, as if it were made to appease the massive fan base that wanted more, rather than to continue the powerful social commentary that was present in the first season.
Fans waited more than three years for the second season, and while viewer numbers were still high and will likely continue to be high for the third and final season, the true meaning of the show has been all but lost. That’s evident in the cast of Season 2, which focuses on more colorful characters, like the arrogant rapper Choi “Thanos” Su-bong (Choi Seong-hyun) and pregnant Kim Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), and the outside storyline of Kang No-eul (Park Gyu-young), a former soldier who enters the games as a guard. These perspectives are worth exploring. But it’s time to end the concept and let its true message marinate, rather than overcooking it.
Sometimes, shows try too hard to squeeze as much as possible out of popular characters. Byung-hun is fantastic as the Front Man, but he needs to keep a level of mystique about him, no matter how the series ends. The show itself needs to conclude on a high note, with its moral lessons and social commentary at the forefront. Stream Squid Game on Netflix.
The 2010s saw the release of some of the biggest blockbusters in movie history, but the decade also produced its fair share of underrated gems that turned out to be modern masterpieces. As the Aughts ended and the 2010s began, the way audiences consumed movies was rapidly changing. Movie theaters were still putting up record box office numbers, but the advent of streaming slowly began to alter the landscape of cinema. By the time the 2010s drew to a close, massive streaming platforms like Netflix had become original content powerhouses, and a deluge of movies flooded the market.
Because of this, many films from the 2010s simply slipped through the cracks and went unnoticed. Smaller movies with smaller advertising budgets were shoved to the side in favor of huge tentpole franchise films, and many of the best movies of the 2010s didn’t get a fair shake upon initial release. Even while earning high praise from critics, there were masterpieces from the decade that failed financially. Whether they were lost in the shuffle of streaming or didn’t get a wide enough theatrical release, there are movies from the 2010s worth seeking out.
10
Fruitvale Station (2013)
Ryan Coogler’s Directorial Debut With Michael B. Jordan In The Starring Role
A few years before they re-teamed for 2015’s Creed, director Ryan Coogler and star Michael B. Jordan delivered the tense based-on-a-true-story drama, Fruitvale Station. Inspired by the shooting of Oscar Grant, the film follows the character during the final day, eventually culminating in his death. The low-budget film puts all its emphasis on character, and Jordan showed exactly what would make him a blockbuster star in the coming years.
Unlike a lot of other hidden masterpieces from the 2010s, Fruitvale Station actually fared quite well financially. Making almost all of its money domestically, the 2013 film snagged $17 million against a reported budget below $1 million (via Box Office Mojo).
9
Ex Machina (2014)
Despite Being Celebrated, Ex Machina Doesn’t Get Enough Praise
Alex Garland’s first film as a director proved he wasn’t just an amazing screenwriter, and Ex Machina is one of the best modern sci-fi movies. Despite exploring complex themes like the intersection of humanity and technology, and the sentience of robots,Ex Machina is a very human story. The film has only gotten better with age, as the ideas examined have become more frighteningly relevant in the years since.
Ex Machina was praised by critics and did decently at the box office, but was somewhat overlooked when award season rolled around. It won the Best Visual Effects Oscar, but it was relegated to second-tier status, likely because of its science fiction concepts.
Before Sean Baker got his flowers for Anora, the indie filmmaker delivered one of his most groundbreaking movies with 2015’s Tangerine. Shot entirely on IPhones, the slice-of-life comedy is an unflinching portrait of its characters without the veneer of conventional filmmaking methods. The raw quality of Tangerine is its biggest strength, and Baker has never shied away from portraying reality onscreen.
Since Baker’s career has hit new heights, more viewers are finally discovering his 2015 masterpiece.
The movie got a ton of great press, and excellent reviews from critics, but it naturally had a limited scope. After tearing it up on the festival circuit, Tangerine didn’t land a large theatrical release, and was therefore mostly seen by audience members who actively sought it out. Since Baker’s career has hit new heights, more viewers are finally discovering his 2015 masterpiece.
There was a campaign to get Tangerine nominated for an Oscar, but the film was not considered.
7
20th Century Women (2016)
An Early A24 Classic With Brilliant Writing
Though A24 is now a major player in movie production, their early years delivered plenty of hidden gems throughout the 2010s. 2016’s 20th Century Women is the quintessential early A24, and mixes elements of coming-of-age with dramedy to create a charming story about several women at different stages in their lives. Set in 1979, the movie cleverly uses its time period to contextualize the story and why the characters act the way they do.
The all-star cast includes Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig, and Elle Fanning, and there is a charming and low-stakes feel to the entire film. While not exclusively a comfort movie, 20th Century Women eschews exaggerated drama in favor of character beats that resonate much stronger.
6
Short Term 12 (2013)
An Understated Indie Drama That Deserves More Attention
Short Term 12 was the first leading role of Brie Larson’s career, but it was just a precursor to what she would accomplish in a few years’ time. The indie drama is set in the titular group home for teens, and is a complex exploration of Larson’s Grace as she tries to deal with her own emotional issues while working with the troubled kids.
Like a lot of indie films from the 2010s, Short Term 12 strikes a balance between realistic unflinching drama and cinematic storytelling, and there is an intimate quality not found in many bigger movies. The movie was a big success critically, but was considered an Oscar snub when it failed to secure even a single nomination.
5
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
One Of The 21st Century’s Best Movies Is Often Overlooked
The Coen brothers are one of the rare examples of artistic and expressive filmmakers breaking into the mainstream, but Inside Llewyn Davis is overlooked. Oscar Isaac gives one of his best performances as a struggling folk singer in the early ’60s, and the film deftly balances its drama and humor. Unlike the sprawling musical biopics that would come later, Inside Llewyn Davis is focused on its storytelling.
A Complete Unknown’s encapsulation of the ’60s New York folk scene makes it the perfect double feature with the Coen brothers’ own musical drama.
The movie was met with widespread acclaim when it debuted, and fared well financially, but its reputation hasn’t grown beyond its critical reception. Despite being regarded as one of the best movies of the 21st century so far, Inside Llewyn Davis is missed among many other excellent Coen movies.
There are plenty of great films about coming-of-age, but Frances Ha is a rare dramedy about the struggles of young adulthood. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach teamed to pen the script, with Gerwig starring as the titular wannabe dancer who tries to find her place in the world. Playful and fun, the movie examines its concepts without getting too bogged down in sappy drama.
it was ignored by most major awards and has been further buried by the dizzying heights that Greta Gerwig’s career has reached since.
Gerwig is electric as Frances, and there is a realness to the filmmaking that is offset pleasantly by the quirky script. The black-and-white film was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics, and helped usher in a new era of female screenwriters. However, it was ignored by most major awards and has been further buried by the dizzying heights that Greta Gerwig’s career has reached since.
3
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
A Groundbreaking Queer Romance From The Late ’10s
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a French romantic drama set in the late 18th century. The 2019 release explores the relationship between two women, and is anchored by the performances of Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel. Unlike other period dramas and romances of the time, the movie’s unabashed portrayal of queer love also allowed for deeper storytelling possibilities.
While many period romances tend to opt for an anachronistic approach that ignores the real circumstances of women in previous centuries, Portrait of a Lady on Fire leans into them. The movie succeeds on multiple levels because it is not only a compelling romance, but a fascinating character drama too.
Animated films are tricky in the American market, and Your Name is a prime example of how a classic in one country fails to move the needle elsewhere. The Japanese romantic fantasy features beautiful artwork and a one-of-a-kind story, and Your Name is one of those films that works best in the animated medium. Despite its over-the-top fantasy, it is the heartfelt drama at the center of the story that’s the most powerful element.
Your Name, a 2016 animated film, combines an emotional love story with a sci-fi time travel element in a plot that can be hard to follow.
It’s one of the highest-grossing movies in Japanese history, and though it was acclaimed internationally, Your Name never really caught on in the West. None of the major American awards even nominated the film, and it only made about $5 million in the U.S. on the way to grossing over $400 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).
1
The Handmaiden (2016)
The South Korean Classic Could Have Been A Worldwide Smash
Hearkening back to the classic thrillers of older eras, Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden had all the ingredients to be a worldwide sensation. The epic-length erotic historical drama combines the grandeur of costume movies with a stunningly modern story of intrigue among the higher classes. It’s also uniquely Korean in that it explores a certain piece of the country’s long history.
The film did modestly well in its native country, but missed the opportunity to become something more in international markets. While it is still Chan-wook’s highest-grossing movie in the U.S., The Handmaiden came just a few years too early. Parasite was another great Korean film from the 2010s, and it helped to pave the way for the country’s cinema in the West.
No pop artist today has a more tangled relationship to a venue than the Weeknd has with SoFi Stadium.
First, he chose SoCal’s flagship stadium as the site to film the denouement of his cult-campy HBO series “The Idol” during one of his concerts. Unfortunately, during the set, he lost his voice four songs in and had to send fans home for the night so he could recover and make up the date. For such a perfectionist, that must have been a body blow.
He rebounded a few months later with a triumphal return and the concert doc “The Weeknd: Live at SoFi Stadium.” But that nerve-racking experience stuck with him. He revisited it again in his recent feature film (and album) “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” where a fictional version of the Weeknd loses his voice onstage, kicking off a surrealist, violent night with Jenna Ortega. A brief interlude from that LP is titled “I Can’t F— Sing.”
So Abel Tesfaye must have had a range of mixed feelings when he walked out at SoFi on Wednesday night, the first of four nights at the site of some of his greatest triumphs and most bitter disappointments as a live performer. “This is bigger than me — it’s a reflection of the power of music and its impact on people,” Tesfaye told The Times in a brief email just before the show.
The Weeknd performs during his After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour at SoFi Stadium.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
This slickly cryptic, immaculately performed 2½-hour set covered the whole of his era-defining catalog. But is this run of SoFi dates a swan song to one of the most successful recording projects of our time?
Since first emerging as an anonymous voice atop gothic, coked-up R&B productions on a trilogy of 2011 mixtapes, Tesfaye’s tastes and his unlikely commercial success grew together.
An underground fan base turned up for the nihilism of “Wicked Games” (“Bring the drugs, baby, I could bring my pain.”) But with assists from Max Martin and Daft Punk, he became a bona fide pop star. His mournful Ethiopian melodic lilt stood out like nothing else in Top 40, and he hung onto enough art-freak sensibility that he could headline the Super Bowl halftime show with dancers in full-face plastic-surgery bandages. His ’80s-noir, 2019 single “Blinding Lights” remains the most-streamed song on Spotify, ever.
Darryl Eaton, his agent at CAA, told The Times that the 200,000 tickets sold for this SoFi run alone is “like selling out an entire American city.”
Yet Tesfaye has recently hinted at retiring the Weeknd as a premise. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he told Variety recently. “It never ends until you end it.”
Whether he wants to release less conceptual, more personal music, or if he’s simply run out of gas with this all-consuming pop entity he’s created, this SoFi run is likely one of the last chances L.A. fans will get to see the Weeknd. Tesfaye will surely keep making music and films, but it makes cinematic sense that he’d come back to the scene of his most painful night onstage to put this all to bed.
After a brief and typically roiling set from Tesfaye’s recent collaborator Playboi Carti, Tesfaye emerged in black and gold, eyes lit with LED pinpicks, over a ruined cityscape. Opening with the “BoJack Horseman”-riffing “The Abyss,” he grimly promised, “I tried my best to not let you go / I don’t like the view from halfway down … I tried to be something that I’ll never be.” It sure felt like he was saying goodbye to this way of being an artist.
The show kicked into gear with Tesfaye surrounded by a trim live band and minimalist, moving-sculpture dancers in rose-colored robes. He didn’t need much more to let that once-in-a-generation voice carry everything. Tesfaye’s a uniquely dedicated live vocalist on the stadium circuit (it’s kind of honorable that any serious vocal troubles might mean the show’s over). For all his high-concept misdirections in videos and films, you could feel the troubled intimacy that’s kept fans invested in this music over so many aesthetics.
For all his close-reads of Michael Jackson’s records on singles like “Can’t Feel My Face,” Tesfaye’s not an especially physical dancer onstage. But he knows exactly how to inhabit and set-dress this music to make it eerie and monolithic, even at its poppiest.
The Weeknd.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
“After Hours” made a seductive case for letting an obviously toxic man back into your life (“Different girls on the floor, distracting my thoughts of you.”) After finally taking off his face mask, he played “Take My Breath” like a revving, neo-disco floor-filler that still winked at the darker choke-kinks of his old music.
When he cranked up the pyro on the midcareer lurker ballad “The Hills,” the front rows of SoFi got a bracing reminder of how volatile this music is even when it sits atop streaming charts. Alongside Carti on their collaborations “Timeless” and “Rather Lie,” Tesfaye grounded his pal’s smeary Atlanta noise with evilly pretty melody. This is a voice you just can’t help but believe, even when it’s calling you to self-destruction.
The Weeknd performs at SoFi Stadium.
(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
If this tour is indeed at the end of his tenure as the Weeknd, at more than three dozen songs, Wednesday’s set delivered every possible angle of valediction — the thrumming decadence of “Often,” the desperate sincerity of “Die for You” and “Is There Someone Else?” Newer material like “Cry for Me” and “São Paolo” showed that, whatever his exhaustion with this aegis, he’s got tons of startling ideas still brimming.
When Tesfaye buried the hatchet with the Grammys back in February, it was a generous gesture to an organization that inexplicably locked him out of honors for “Blinding Lights” that he should, obviously, have contended for. When he played that double-time, neo-New Wave single toward the end of his Wednesday set, it felt like a strange pearl that he’d discovered — one of the biggest pop songs of all time, played by a guy whose music emerged from a murk of MDMA licks and mournful threesomes.
With perhaps the exception of his (exceedingly stylish if critically skeptical) film career, he’s always found his voice, over and over again. SoFi Stadium has dealt the Weeknd his greatest defeat and some of his his finest hours as a performer. Now it’s sending him off to Valhalla, wherever that takes Abel Tesfaye.
Prosecutors have spent the last month trying to convict Sean “Diddy” Combs under an organized crime law usually deployed to go after mobsters and cartels. Trying to stick the landing during closing arguments, a government lawyer used the gangland language of “kingdoms” and “foot soldiers” as she zeroed in on Combs’ alleged racketeering enterprise.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik delivered the closing argument on Thursday (June 26) for the prosecution’s case against Combs, who’s accused of using violence, bribery and blackmail to coerce women into participating in marathon sex shows dubbed “freak-offs.” Combs says his sex parties were entirely consensual.
Combs is charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly known as “RICO,” a powerful tool that allows prosecutors to tie together various criminal acts into a single “enterprise.” The statute is traditionally used to convict mobsters and cartels, but it’s also been wielded in recent years against alleged sexual predators like R. Kelly and Nxivm founder Keith Raniere.
Slavik focused heavily on Combs’ supposed criminal enterprise as she tried to convince the jury to convict the music mogul of RICO violations on Thursday. She argued that Combs sat atop a large, organized syndicate and described his employees as “loyal lieutenants” and “foot soldiers” — words typically associated with mafia capos who report to gang bosses.
“The defendant was at the top of this enterprise,” Slavik said, according to CNN. “Remember, it’s his kingdom. Everyone was there to serve him.”
To convict Combs under RICO, the jury will have to find that the rapper and his associates committed at least two underlying crimes together. Slavik argued that there’s evidence of Combs’ enterprise engaging in a whole host of illegal acts, including distributing drugs for freak-offs, bribing a hotel security guard with $100,000 for surveillance footage of Combs assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer Cassie Ventura, and setting Kid Cudi’s car on fire.
Perhaps most importantly, Slavik said Combs and his employees committed the underlying crime of sex trafficking — which he is charged separately with — by forcing Ventura and another anonymous ex-girlfriend known as “Jane” to participate in the freak-offs.
Slavik told the jury that while both Ventura and Jane may have agreed to some of the freak-offs — dayslong hotel room parties where Combs would masturbate while watching the women have sex with male escorts — many of these events were obviously coerced.
The prosecutor said Combs blackmailed both women into participating in freak-offs by threatening to release their sex tapes. Slavik argued the rapper also plied the women with drugs to make them compliant and manipulated them with money — by paying Jane’s rent and threatening to stop unless she complied, and by controlling Ventura’s music career.
Combs additionally used violence, Slavik said, to traffic the women by making them think they had to participate in freak-offs if they didn’t want to get hurt. The prosecutor pointed to Jane’s testimony that she gave oral sex to an escort in 2024 after Combs dragged her by her hair and choked her, and claims from Ventura and numerous corroborating witnesses that Combs regularly beat her throughout the decade they dated.
“It all comes down to this — what choice did Cassie have in the end?” Slavik said. “Viewed through the entire context of their relationship, Cassie did not have the freedom to make voluntary adult choices.”
Combs’ defense lawyers will get the chance to make their own closing argument to the jury on Friday (June 27), when they’ll likely say Ventura and Jane participated in the freak-offs willingly.
Prosecutors will get a final chance to address the jury with a rebuttal argument after Combs’ lawyers finish on Friday; the judge will then read out lengthy legal instructions. The jury could begin deliberating late on Friday, or when they return from the weekend on Monday (June 30).
Announced by Deadline, the upcoming series is reportedly approaching a pilot order. No official confirmations from FX have been made at this time, though. But as we eagerly anticipate the possible show’s future, we’re breaking down everything we know so far about the series based on the 1974 cult classic film, ranging from who is making the series to when it could air, and beyond.
What is Very Young Frankenstein?
According to Deadline, Very Young Frankenstein is a series based on Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein that is approaching a pilot order. Plot details about the show are being kept under wraps at this time, but for those less acquainted with the film, it’s a satire filled with references to classic Frankenstein films.
In the movie, Gene Wilder plays Frederick Frankenstein, a scientist who inherits his grandfather Victor’s Transylvania castle. In an effort to prove his grandfather wasn’t insane, Frederick attempts to create his own monster with the help of Igor, the grandson of Victor’s former assistant.
Currently, Taika Waititi, Stefani Robinson, and Garrett Basch are attached as executive producers alongside Mel Brooks. Robinson would serve as showrunner and writer, while Waititi would direct the pilot. Other executive producers include Kevin Salter and Michael Gruskoff, with 20th Television serving as the studio.
Has anyone been cast in Very Young Frankenstein?
No one has been cast in this project yet, but stay tuned for any updates about Very Young Frankenstein‘s ensemble as the pilot takes shape.
When would Very Young Frankenstein air?
The series doesn’t currently have a premiere date as it awaits a green light from FX for the pilot. But stay tuned for any updates regarding the show’s future.
Could Very Young Frankenstein crossover with What We Do in the Shadows?
Considering the expansive universe built by What We Do in the Shadows, it definitely feels like there would be room in that supernatural world for a Frankenstein family. Only time will tell what the creatives have in mind, but it’s something we’re certainly thinking about.
When the Trump family unveiled a new phone before a giant American flag at its headquarters earlier this month, the pitch was simple and succinct, packed with pure patriotism: “Made in the U.S.A.”
Those are the two words that have replaced the “Made in the USA” pitch that just a few days ago appeared on the website where customers can pre-order the so-called T-1 gold-toned phones with an American flag etched on the back.
Trump Mobile unveiled the $499 T-1 gold-toned phones with an American flag etched on the back last week. Trump Mobile
Elsewhere on the site, other vague terms are now being used, describing the $499 phone as boasting an “American-Proud Design” and “brought to life right here in the U.S.A.”
The Federal Trade Commission requires that items labeled “Made in USA” be “all or virtually all” produced in the US and several firms have been sued over misusing the term.
The Trump Organization has not explained the change and has not responded to a request for comment. Neither did an outside public relations firm handling the Trumps’ mobile phone business, including a request to confirm a statement made to another media outlet.
“T1 phones are proudly being made in America,” said Trump Mobile spokesman Chris Walker, according to USA Today. “Speculation to the contrary is simply inaccurate.”
Analysts say it’s nearly impossible to build a smartphone here given the higher cost and lack of infrastructure to do so. Getty Images
The language change on the website was first reported by the news site The Verge.
An expert on cell phone technology, IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo, said he’s not surprised the Trump family has dropped the “Made in the USA” label because it’s nearly impossible to build one here given the higher cost and lack of infrastructure to do so.
But, of course, you can claim to do it.
“Whether it is possible or not to build this phone in the US depends on what you consider ‘build,’” Jeronimo said. “If it’s a question of assembling components and targeting small volumes, I suppose it’s somehow possible. You can always get the components from China and assemble them by hand somewhere.”
“You’re going to have phones that are made right here in the United States of America,” said Trump’s son Eric to Fox News recently, adding, “It’s about time we bring products back to our great country.”
The Trump family has flown the American flag before with Trump-branded products of suspicious origin, including its “God Bless the USA” Bibles, which an Associated Press investigation last year showed were printed in China.
The Trump phone is part of a bigger family mobile business plan designed to tap into MAGA enthusiasm for the president. Above, Eric Trump, left and Don Trump Jr., far right, unveil the phone. Robert Mecea
The Trump phone is part of a bigger family mobile business plan designed to tap into MAGA enthusiasm for the president. The two sons running the business, Eric and Don Jr., announced earlier this month that they would offer mobile phone plans for $47.45 a month, a reference to their father’s status as the 45th and 47th president. The call center, they said, will be in the US, too.
“You’re not calling up call centers in Bangladesh,” Eric Trump said on Fox News. “We’re doing it out of St. Louis, Missouri.”
The new service has been blasted by government ethics experts for a conflict of interest, given that President Donald Trump oversees the Federal Communications Commission that regulates the business and is investigating phone service companies that are now Trump Mobile rivals.
Trump has also threatened to punish cell phone maker Apple, now a direct competitor, threatening to slap 25% tariffs on devices because of its plans to make most of its US iPhones in India.
President Donald Trump has finally moved the United States past the traumas of the Iraq War.
With the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz, the United States made the world a safer place in the long run.
But the attack and subsequent cease-fire between Israel and Iran also represents a reset of American foreign policy.
The president rejected both the naivety of neoconservatism and the shortsightedness of isolationism.
For one thing, Trump, to the dismay of “non-interventionists,” came to terms with the serious limitations of diplomacy with Islamists.
Iran was given decades to strike an agreement. It was more interested in a nuclear weapon.
Even after Israel had severely degraded its military capabilities and nuclear facilities, seizing supremacy of the air, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wouldn’t surrender his program.
Stay up to date on the latest developments in the US airstrike on Iran
The idea that diplomats were on the cusp of forging a deal with Iran is dubious.
Trump also realized that diplomacy is useless without enforced red lines.
For decades, the Iranian leadership, hard-liners and “moderates” alike, ignored its commitments without any repercussions.
Simply because we were misled about the extent of Iraq’s WMD program doesn’t mean that no other country is pursuing them. Iran didn’t make much of a secret about its intent, after all.
Also, let’s not forget that the Islamic Republic has been assailing Americans for 45 years.
Some of us are old enough to remember hostages being paraded by revolutionaries, the bloody Beirut bombing and servicemen being killed and maimed by Iranian IEDs.
All of this should have been unacceptable. But every president since Bill Clinton has been made a fool of by the Iranians on the nuclear issue.
Trump, though, accepted that Iran was not Iraq.
Few argue that our experiment of imposing a democratic government on Islamic nations failed. Neither Afghanistan nor Iraq evolved into anything resembling a free nation.
US drops $500M bombs on Iran
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Iran, though, was never going to be another social engineering project.
The Trump administration’s goal was to deny the regime nuclear weapons. There could not have been a clearer objective.
Our long-standing ally did the heavy lifting, severely degrading Iran’s military capabilities. We, hopefully, finished the job without a single American casualty.
Yet the failures of a foreign technocratic nation-building project have turned many Americans into cynics and panic-mongers.
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There was hysteria after Trump posted that though it wasn’t “politically correct” to use the term regime change, “if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a regime change??? MIGA!!!”
Attempting to divine the president’s heavily punctuated thinking is a precarious undertaking.
Still, it’s extraordinarily unlikely Trump ever meant the United States was mulling a way to install a new Iranian government by force. The president was likely attempting to frighten the mullahs into a cease-fire.
An invasion of that nation would have taken a major buildup of troops and movement of military assets. There was never any sign that such a plan was in motion.
Nor has anyone suggested such an undertaking. Nor is there any popular will to do it.
Yes, the Israelis also talked up “regime change.” Stirring up paranoia and anxiety in an opponent is a psychological component of warfare.
Israel, moreover, is fighting an enemy that’s incessantly threatening its existence. It, quite rationally, wants to destroy its foe.
It’s also quite rational for the United States to desire a less fundamentalist and bellicose government in Iran.
Simply because Iraqis rejected our ideas doesn’t mean those ideas aren’t worthwhile — or that we shouldn’t help those who organically embrace them.
Our primary concern is American interests. But engaging in a foreign policy wholly stripped of any idealism also leads to ugly places.
There have been five uprisings in Iran over the past decade. If the Iranian people have the means and ability to overthrow an autocratic regime and cobble together a less destabilizing government, however unlikely, we certainly shouldn’t stand in their way.
Perhaps most importantly, Trump understands that a superpower doesn’t act terrified when threatened.
Others should be terrified of us.
The United States seems to have forgotten its own strength after the failures of the Iraq War, which convinced an entire generation that even limited conflicts would spiral us into World War III.
This week’s Iranian “attack” on a US base in Qatar had all the earmarks of a face-saving, symbolic maneuver designed for a domestic audience.
The truth is that we humiliated our enemy and denied them a chance at a nuke.
We have no clue how all this ends.
What we do know is this: The United States is no longer paralyzed by the past.
David Harsanyi is a senior writer at the Washington Examiner.
The three-day wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez is well underway, and celebrities from around the world are streaming in for the weekend festivities.
The star-studded guest list, which is expected to number about 200, began arriving over the last few days. Many of the celebrities — including media mogul Oprah Winfrey, first daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, and football star Tom Brady — were spotted leaving Marco Polo airport via taxi boat.
The extravaganza, or so-called “Wedding of the Century,” is expected to cost about $46.5 – $55.6 million, according to Reuters. The wedding’s hefty price tag has been met with criticism from activists, whose threat of disruption resulted in the wedding venue being changed to a more secure location.
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez emerge from Aman Venice on June 25 prior to their wedding.
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“Extinction Rebellion” activists protest under the slogan “Tassare I Ricchi Per Ridare Al Pianeta” (Taxing the Rich to Give Back to the Planet) against the backdrop of St Mark’s Campanile in Venice on June 23.
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Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump arrive in Venice on June 24.
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Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Domenico Dolce and Khloé Kardashian gather in Venice on June 26 ahead of the wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.
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Queen Rania of Jordan prepares to board a taxi boat after arriving in Venice on June 26.
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Oprah Winfrey prepares to board a taxi boat after arriving in Venice on June 26.
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Jordan’s Princess Rajwa and her husband, the Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah, board a taxi boat with their daughter Iman Bint Hussein after landing at Venice on June 26.
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(Left) American film producer Barry Diller arrives in Venice on June 25. (Right) Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg arrives in Venice on June 24.
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Film producer Brian Grazer and his wife Veronica Smiley Grazer arrive in Venice on June 26.
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Tom Brady prepares to board a taxi boat after arriving in Venice on June 26.
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Introducing the 2025 Fortune 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in America. Explore this year’s list.
