Thrillers get ranked too neatly when people talk about them. As if there is one obvious answer and the rest are just honorable mentions orbiting below it. I do not buy that for a second. The greatest thrillers do radically different things to your nervous system. Some tighten one room until it feels like the whole world is trapped inside it. Some weaponize curiosity. That is why the best thriller ever argument never really ends, and thank God for that.

What matters is not only quality. It is a specific kind of possession. The movie that keeps you leaning forward even when you know the turn. The one where every rewatch makes the setup feel more ingenious or the dread feel more intimate. The one whose images have stopped being scenes and turned into permanent furniture in your mind. These ten all qualify. I could absolutely imagine somebody planting a flag on any one of them and saying, no, this is it, this is the greatest thriller ever made. And honestly, on the right day, I might agree with them.

10

‘Zodiac’ (2007)

Image via Paramount Pictures

What makes Zodiac worthy of this conversation is that it understands obsession as suspense. That sounds simple until you really sit with what David Fincher is doing. The killer is terrifying, yes. The murders matter, yes. But the movie’s deepest hook is that the case becomes a slow spiritual infection in the lives of the men trying to understand it. Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) does not just get curious. He gets claimed. The further he moves into the case, the more the movie stops being about crime-solving in the ordinary sense and starts becoming about the terrifying human need to force pattern onto chaos before chaos humiliates your whole idea of order.

That is why it gets better every time. The basement scene is famous for obvious reasons, though the movie’s real power lies in how mundane obsession can look while it is eating a life. Offices, paperwork, handwriting samples, phone calls, awkward home-life deterioration, long stretches where nothing thrilling in the conventional sense is happening, yet the movie keeps tightening. That is a rare skill. Zodiac proves a thriller can be procedural, melancholic, and almost anti-climactic on purpose.

9

‘Memories of Murder’ (2003)

Image via CJ Entertainment

Pain is what gives Memories of Murder its place in this conversation. It starts with the shape of a serial-killer procedural, rural detectives, women being murdered, clues half-grasped, mounting panic, incompetent local policing trying to become adequate under pressure. The cops are often foolish, brutal, improvisational, vain, out of their depth. That is the point. Evil has entered a world not prepared to meet it, and the unpreparedness becomes part of the horror.

The reason somebody could call this the greatest thriller ever is that it never treats the murders as isolated mystery beats. They alter the moral atmosphere of the town, the investigators, the weather, even the fields. Rain starts feeling cursed. Darkness starts feeling like accomplice terrain. Detective Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho) becomes the movie’s central wound, a man who begins with arrogant instinct and gradually discovers instinct is useless against certain kinds of absence. It is a thriller about the unbearable emptiness after the thrill should have ended.

8

‘Oldboy’ (2003)

Image via FilmDistrict

There are thrillers that twist. Then there are thrillers that take your sense of emotional safety out back and beat it with a hammer. Oldboy is in the second category. The premise is already bizarre enough to hook anyone, a man imprisoned for years without explanation, suddenly released, then thrown into a revenge mystery where every answer seems designed to make the question worse, but that only explains the skeleton. What makes the movie genuinely great is the way revenge mutates from purpose into poison here. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) moves through the story like a person whose whole identity has been distorted by captivity and hunger and the need to know why.

That is what gives the film its terrible rewatch power. The corridor fight is spectacular and brutal and deservedly iconic, but the real violence in Oldboy is architectural. The villain has built a psychological space for Dae-su to suffer inside long before the two men meet face to face. Every encounter, every clue, every erotic beat, every tenderness, all of it has been contaminated in advance. That is why someone could argue it is the greatest thriller of all time. Very few thrillers are this formally alive and this emotionally cruel at once. It is not content to surprise you. It wants to leave your soul feeling rearranged.

7

‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)

Image via Orion Pictures

Control alone would give The Silence of the Lambs a place in this argument. It is almost offensively precise. Not a wasted scene. Not a wasted gesture. Not a wasted piece of information. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster)’s journey works because the film understands from the start that suspense becomes more charged when it is running through a character who is not just trying to solve a case but trying to move through rooms built to diminish her. That is the first genius. Clarice is always reading menace on more than one level, literal violence, sexual scrutiny, institutional condescension, male pathology dressed as intellect, and Foster makes all of that visible without ever turning Clarice into a symbol instead of a person.

Then there is Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), obviously, but what makes him unforgettable is not mere creep-show brilliance. It is that the film uses him as a different kind of threat than Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). Lecter attacks psychologically, aesthetically, conversationally. He makes insight feel invasive. The movie becomes extraordinary because Clarice has to move between two distinct nightmares, the cultivated one that wants to know her and the chaotic one stalking women’s bodies in literal space. That is why the climax works so hard. The basement sequence, in particular, is the whole movie cashing its emotional checks at once. Gender, vulnerability, darkness, training, fear, instinct. It all converges. If someone called this the greatest thriller ever made, I would not fight them much.

6

‘Se7en’ (1995)

Image via New Line Cinema

Disease is what gives Se7en its claim. Fincher here does not just stage a murder investigation. He creates a whole city where moral decay seems to have turned into weather. Rain, grime, cramped apartments, fluorescent fatigue, everyone in the movie looks like they have already been sleeping badly for ten years. That matters. John Doe’s (Kevin Spacey) crimes do not feel like intrusions into ordinary life but like a monstrous logic emerging naturally from a world already halfway broken. That is what makes the film so sickeningly persuasive.

The structure is brilliant because it keeps the two detectives from becoming simple archetypes. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is not only weary wisdom. David Mills (Brad Pitt) is not only a hotheaded youth. They are two different reactions to living in a world that keeps forcing the soul into uglier and uglier shapes. Their conversations matter because the movie is really asking whether despair is intelligence or surrender. Then once John Doe enters physically, the whole film changes temperature without losing momentum. That is hard to do.

5

‘Rear Window’ (1954)

Image via Paramount Pictures

This may be the purest movie ever made about the way suspense and spectatorship are secretly married. Rear Window gives you L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) stuck in his apartment with a broken leg, looking out at windows across the courtyard, watching strangers live pieces of their lives, and then slowly starting to believe he has seen evidence of murder. That setup is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s most beautiful acts of cruelty.

It makes the audience complicit immediately. Watching becomes the movie. Curiosity becomes danger. Distance becomes intimacy. You are not just seeing Jeff be trapped. You are trapped inside the same act of looking. What makes the film universal is that it understands voyeurism as something almost embarrassingly human. You do not need to be bad to start looking too long. You only need time, proximity, fragments, boredom, imagination, and a slight suspicion that what you are seeing may add up to something awful. Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly) and Stella (Thelma Ritter) are incredible additions because the suspense gains extra emotional texture once Lisa starts entering the danger physically while Jeff remains forced to watch. That helpless-watchfulness is the whole genius of the movie.

4

‘North by Northwest’ (1959)

Image via MGM

Elegance is what lets North by Northwest make its case. Hitchcock takes Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) mistaken for a nonexistent spy and turns the whole American landscape into a running misidentification nightmare. Thornhill is witty, vain, poised, and then slowly forced to discover that poise is not protection once the plot stops caring who you think you are. That gap between style and vulnerability becomes part of the movie’s rhythm, and it is one of the reasons the film remains so easy to fall into.

The set pieces are immortal, the crop duster, the auction, Mount Rushmore, all deservedly, but they are not iconic just because they are well staged. They are iconic because the movie knows how to isolate a person inside open space. Vastness can be as claustrophobic as a locked room if the threat is organized correctly. Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) matters enormously too, because the romance is not decorative. It is part of the trap and part of the thrill. North by Northwest makes suspense feel sexy, funny, and expansive without ever going soft. That is almost impossible.

3

‘Jaws’ (1975)

Image via Universal Pictures

Jaws is such an unbeatable contender for thrillers too and precisely because of primal fear. The shark matters, obviously. The attacks matter. The beach dread matters. But the film is perfect suspense because it never relies on the creature alone. It gives you town politics, masculine pride, public denial, class arrogance, economic cowardice, parental terror, sea-myth bravado, and one of the best dramatic escalations ever built in studio filmmaking. Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) becomes the center of that escalation because fear enters through the shark and then infects the whole social body around him.

Once the movie leaves the shore and goes onto the Orca, it becomes almost impossibly good. Brody, Quint (Robert Shaw), and Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) are three different relationships to fear, knowledge, and masculinity locked on a boat with a force of nature that does not care about any of them. By the end, the water is no longer setting. It is judgment. That is why Jaws sits near the very top of this argument.

2

‘Psycho’ (1960)

Image via Paramount Pictures

This is such a radical piece of thriller storytelling that even now, after decades of imitation, Psycho still feels like the genre realizing how much it can get away with. The film begins as one movie, stolen money, guilt, escape, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) making increasingly bad choices while the audience gets pulled into the nervous momentum of her attempted reinvention, and then Hitchcock tears that movie apart midstream and replaces it with something much stranger and more destabilizing. That move alone would secure Psycho’s place in the canon forever.

But the reason somebody could call it the greatest thriller ever is that the film keeps getting better even after the famous shock. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is the reason for that. He is unsettling not just because he is off, but because he is recognizable. Lonely, eager to please, trapped inside family poison, awkwardly boyish, desperate to seem gentle. That is what makes the horror inside him so effective. The Bates house, the motel, the stuffed birds, the swamp, the conversations, all of it feels like a complete psychological landscape. And the shower scene is not only iconic because of violence. It is iconic because the film has taught you to care about Marion’s panic before it destroys her. That is the deepest thriller trick of all: take away the future you had already started projecting. Psycho still does that better than almost anyone.

1

‘Vertigo’ (1958)

Image via Paramount Pictures

This is number one because Vertigo feels like the thriller genre dreaming about itself and then waking up sick with desire. It is not the most propulsive film on this list. It is not the most overtly violent. It is not even the one with the most conventional suspense clock. What it has, and what almost no other thriller has in this exact measure, is obsession as atmosphere. Everything in the movie bends toward fixation, Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart)’s fear, Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton (Kim Novak)’s performance, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore)’s scheme, San Francisco’s dreamlike geography, color, repetition, mistaken identity, the impossible fantasy that love can be preserved by remaking the object of love until it becomes what your grief and desire demand. That is extraordinary thriller material because it makes looking itself dangerous.

Every rewatch deepens the wound too. The first half plays like haunted romantic mystery. The second becomes one of the cruelest studies of male obsession and erotic control ever put on film. Stewart is astonishing. Scottie’s weakness is the movie’s engine. It makes Steward a man whose acrophobia, yearning, vanity, and susceptibility make him usable by the plot long before he understands he has been used. Novak has one of the hardest jobs in cinema and delivers something uncanny, split, vulnerable, manufactured, and heartbreaking all at once. Vertigo is the greatest thriller ever, or close enough that the argument barely matters, because no other thriller on this list fuses suspense, romance, pathology, and visual hypnosis with this much power.

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Vertigo

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Release Date

May 28, 1958

Runtime

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128 minutes

Writers

Alec Coppel, Samuel A. Taylor

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• 

  James Stewart

  Det. John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson

• 

  Kim Novak

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  Madeleine Elster / Judy Barton

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Social media users believe Latto revealed her baby’s gender on her recently released album ‘Big Mama.’

RELATED: Mommy Era?! Fans Say Latto Is Giving Full “Big Mama” Energy With Baby Bottle Prep In Interview Teaser Clip (WATCH)

Did Latto Just Reveal Her Baby’s Gender On Her New ‘Big Mama’ Album?

On Friday, May 29, Latto’s fourth studio album was released to the world. On the 17th track, titled ‘Mama,’ Latto initially paid homage to her mom, Misti Pitts. But then, on the second verse of the song, Latto seemingly directed her focus to her newborn baby. Ultimately, she seemingly revealed that she’s now a girl mom.

Social Media Users Think So

Social media users gathered in TSR’s comment section, sharing their thoughts on Latto seemingly becoming a girl mom.

Before Latto Seemingly Revealed Her Baby’s Gender On ‘Big Mama’ Album, 21 Savage Showed His Love

Hours before Latto’s ‘Big Mama’ album was released, 21 Savage showed his love. As The Shade Room previously reported, social media users believe Latto welcomed her first child with 21, who previously shared three children with two women.

RELATED: Congrats! Latto Shares Personal Footage Showing Her Pregnancy Journey As 21 Savage Makes Cameo (WATCH)

On Thursday evening, 21 took to Instagram to share a post promoting Latto’s album.

RELATED: That’s You? Social Media Users Are In 21 Savage’s Comment Section Following His Post About Latto’s Album (PHOTO)

Social media users are diving into 21 Savage’s comment section following his post about Latto’s recent album release.

RELATED: Awww! Fans Think 21 Savage Confirmed The Arrival Of His Baby With Latto & The TL Is In Shambles (PHOTOS)

21 Savage Posts About Latto’s Album

On the evening of Thursday, May 28, 21 Savage took to Instagram to share a post in promotion of Latto’s latest album, ‘Big Mama.’ To note, the album was released at midnight on Friday, May 29. Furthermore, 21 captioned his post, which featured the album’s cover art, “Midnight 🤯🤯🤯🤯”

Social Media Users Are In 21 Savage’s Comment Section Following His Post About Her Album

Social media users hopped into 21 Savage’s comment section following his post about Latto’s album.

More On Latto & Her Album

As The Shade Room previously reported, on Thursday, April 28, Latto teased that her interview with Apple Music would be dropping on Friday. Furthermore, the interview would seemingly highlight her now-released album and her stepping into the new chapter of motherhood. Latto teased the sitdown by sharing a short visual of what her life is looking like nowadays.

RELATED: Mommy Era?! Fans Say Latto Is Giving Full “Big Mama” Energy With Baby Bottle Prep In Interview Teaser Clip (WATCH)

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 7 seconds ago

Unless you’re counting the spice that Han Solo smuggled, or maybe the death sticks that Obi-Wan turned down, Star Wars isn’t a franchise that most fans associate with drugs. Nonetheless, one of this millennium’s earliest video games set in a galaxy far, far away included a blatant homage to one of the most controversial drug films ever made. This was in the form of an Easter egg that kinda/sorta includes Ewan McGregor, the highly acclaimed actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the much-maligned Prequel Trilogy. 

The game in question is Obi-Wan, an early Star Wars title for the original Xbox. If I’m being honest, the game is really, really bad, like the younger, far dumber brother of beloved third-person titles like Jedi Outcast. There’s almost nothing remarkable about the game except for a bizarre video that plays the first time that you beat it. You see, anyone who makes it to the end of this stinker is treated to a montage of Phantom Menace action scenes narrated by a bad McGregor impersonator doing a cringeworthy, Star Wars version of the opening monologue from Trainspotting!

The Star Wars Game That Time Forgot

These days, pretty much nobody talks about the Star Wars: Obi-Wan game for the original Xbox, and there’s a good reason for that: it sucks! It was a third-person action game in which you took control of the titular Padawan as he hacked and slashed his way through the events of The Phantom Menace. It’s inferior to pretty much every other Star Wars game of this era, which is why (unlike titles such as Knights of the Old Republic, Republic Commando, and even Star Wars Episode I: Racer) it was never ported or re-released. 

The only really notable thing about Obi-Wan is that after you beat it for the first time, you are treated to a weird monologue from voice actor Lewis MacLeod. In his best (which is still the worst) Ewan McGregor impression, he starts ranting about all the things you can choose (like the Dark Side, the Council, destiny, and the Force) before rhetorically asking, “Why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose the Dark Side. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got a lightsaber?”

So Much Worse Than Death Sticks

Now, if that Obi-Wan monologue sounded like pure gibberish, don’t worry. That doesn’t mean you’re having a heart attack or anything. What it does mean, though, is that you’ve probably never seen Trainspotting, Ewan McGregor’s 1996 breakout film. The movie begins with a similar monologue in which his character pontificates on things you can choose (like a career, a family, and fixed-interest mortgage repayments) before reminding us that you don’t have to make such choices if you have enough drugs. “Why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?”

This cheeky monologue sets the tone for Trainspotting, a movie about a young heroin addict trying to get clean. Unfortunately, he wanders from one misadventure to the next, which includes everything from overdoses and HIV scares to a prolonged sexual relationship with an underage girl. Because of its focus on all these heroin-related exploits, the movie gained a somewhat controversial reputation, and one-time presidential hopeful Bob Dole claimed the film was morally depraved and glorified drug use. Despite this, Trainspotting became director Danny Boyle’s breakout film (especially after getting an Academy Award nomination). It was also a breakout movie for lead actor Ewan McGregor, who would soon be cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi for the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy.

From Heroin To Hero

Even though a presidential nominee had been calling Trainspotting morally depraved only half a decade previously, there was no nationwide controversy when the Obi-Wan game homaged the film. This was most likely because the original controversy was completely ginned up. Instead of glamorizing drugs, the movie shows the horrors (and, admittedly, the humor) of heroin addiction. Between that and its Academy Award nomination, it’s hard to think of this film as being truly offensive, just like it’s hard to imagine enough people playing the Obi-Wan game to even care about the homage. 

Nonetheless, this video game Easter Egg is a perfectly preserved moment of an entirely different era. It was a time when a mainstream Star Wars game could homage one of the ‘90s most controversial films with a bizarre rant that invited us to compare lightsabers to heroin. To this day, this ruffles a few fans’ feathers, but as for me? I chose not to choose being offended. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got clicks?

Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for Star City’s premiere.From the very first scene of Apple TV’s Star City, it’s clear that this is going to be a very different show than what For All Mankind fans are used to. When a cosmonaut’s wife is pulled out of her bed in the middle of the night by the KGB, her first instinct is to assume much worse has happened — until the Soviet space program’s Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans) informs her that her husband, Alexei Leonov (Sam Wilkinson), has just become the first man to set foot on the Moon. That sense of tension, paranoia, and secrecy threads through the spin-off, with the very different opening credits only solidifying your impression of the type of show you’re about to watch.

According to Star City (and For All Mankind) co-creators Ben Nedivi and Matt Wolpert, that was absolutely intentional. “I think audiences can watch Star City without having seen a frame of For All Mankind,” Nedivi told Collider during our sitdown with the creators ahead of the show’s premiere, “and that was intentional on our part.” Below, Wolpert, Nedivi, and Ifans discuss where Star City sits in the overall franchise, whether we’ll ever learn more about the Chief Designer’s real identity, how many seasons the creators have in mind, and more.

COLLIDER: Matt and Ben, in terms of approaching this show, which sits in a really fascinating place in For All Mankind history, how did you want to strike the balance between building the backstory of characters that we already know, like Sergei and Irina, while you’re pulling back the curtain on what’s happening in Star City within the overall timeline?

MATT WOLPERT: Honestly, it was such a great creative challenge because it was very important to us that the show was not just constant Easter eggs of For All Mankind, and winking at the audience like, “Oh, you recognize this, you recognize that!” There is a little bit of that, but I think what excited us more was introducing the audience to these other fascinating characters who, because they were kept behind the Iron Curtain in this secret city in the middle of the woods that wasn’t on any map, there would be no way for them to interact with Americans at all. So that gave us a freedom. Because so much of what happened in the Soviet Union was kept secret, it gave us a freedom to tell different kinds of stories that didn’t have any overlap with For All Mankind.

One of my favorite elements with that is the story we tell with Anastasia Belikova, because in For All Mankind, you see her smiling on a television screen once, and maybe her photo in a paper, and it seems like this kind of triumphant moment, and you only get this small glimpse of her. We took that challenge to build her out, and everything that led up to that moment, but even more so, what came after that moment and how difficult her life was when she came back to Earth, because that really is the essence of the difference between the two shows — is that in Star City, it’s more dangerous once you get back to Earth than it even is in space.

‘Star City’s Chief Designer Is Meant To Be Mysterious (and Anonymous)

“It was one of the key inspirations of doing the show in the first place.”

Image via Apple TV

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Rhys’ character is obviously such a focal point of the show, but we only ever really know him as the Chief Designer. Is there a storytelling reason for that, and will we ever get a little more about his real identity?

BEN NEDIVI: [to Ifans] I’ll have to kill you if you answer this question. [Laughs] Strangely enough, this was accurate to history. The real Chief Designer was anonymous, and there was a reason for that. One, they were worried about his security. They thought, if he were discovered, if his name and identity were out there, then the Americans or some foreign agents would come for him. He was that valuable to the Soviet Union. He was a genius who basically was responsible for almost all of the successes in the Soviet space program. And then there was another element to it, that if his identity was known within the Soviet Union, he would be so big and so famous and popular that it would threaten the state, which was just as worrying to them. So that, to us, honestly, was a fascinating approach to a character.

Even though we learned a lot about the character on which he was based and inspired, for us, it was more about these other elements, as writers, that make him so intriguing to us as a kind of lead of this ensemble to bring us into this world. Also, in For All Mankind, the divergence point happens in 1966 with his death. That’s how much we respected the man on which this is based. We felt he was so crucial to the space program and so crucial to space exploration that if he wasn’t to die in 1966, the Russians would have beat the Americans to the moon and achieved many other successes. It was one of the key inspirations of doing the show in the first place, and I think just as a character study, a fascinating way to approach this incredible figure.

Rhys, I couldn’t help but think, as I was watching this show, that this is the second spin-off series that you’ve been a part of now where you’re joining an existing world, following House of the Dragon. Is there something that appeals to you as an actor about getting to join an existing story and help fill in the margins?

RHYS IFANS: No, that’s never a consideration. A good role is a good role, whether you start with them or whether they appear further down the line. And I think, actually, in both these cases, they don’t feel like second seasons; they feel like just another limb, a necessary limb. So no, it’s not like the second album, you know what I mean? That’s a whole other thing. The second season or series doesn’t figure into my choices whatsoever.

NEDIVI: And just to be clear, we approach this not as an extension of For All Mankind or a companion piece. We really looked at this as a new show, a different show that happened to be in the filmmaking universe and shared some characters. I think audiences can watch Star City without having seen a frame of For All Mankind, and that was intentional on our part.

Star City definitely has its own distinct identity, and I think one of the ways it really does feel distinct is the opening credits. That was something I wanted to pick your brains about, deciding on what that was going to look like, because it’s just so stark and austere, and it really sets the tone for the type of show that this is going to be.

WOLPERT: It’s a brilliantly done piece. My favorite image in that is this concrete hand holding a rocket. It’s both inspiring and threatening at the same time. Part of what we were trying to capture with that is the juxtaposition of these massive brutalist structures and monuments, and then these tiny people in shadow, and living in the shadow of those buildings, and this city kind of rising up in the middle of the forest and surrounding everyone. But there’s also a sense of things moving up, as if launching up into the sky, that kind of draws you up into the final image. So, it felt like a great juxtaposition of those two ideas, which is really what Star City is all about.

Rhys, I spoke with your fabulous co-star, Anna [Maxwell Martin], and one of my favorite dynamics in this show is between Lyudmilla and the Chief Designer. You don’t know, anytime they’re in a scene, who’s going to walk away triumphant and who’s going to be licking their wounds, so to speak. In terms of the experience of working with her and also how we see these characters develop over the course of the season, what can you tease about how that dynamic evolves? It does feel like as much a personal conflict as a professional one.

IFANS: Yes, there’s a great tension, and working with Anna is exquisite, because she’s so generous and playful. It’s at once gladiatorial and affectionate between the Chief Designer and her. One likes to think that if they, God forbid, were ever to make love, it would herald the apocalypse.

[Laughs] That feels like an idea for a potential follow-up season.

IFANS: Why did I say that in front of two writers?

NEDIVI: [Laughs] Spoiler alert.

‘Star City’s Co-Creators Explain Why the Spin-off Won’t Follow ‘For All Mankind’s Format

“I don’t think we’d do those kinds of time jumps, but there might be some jumps in time.”

Image via Apple TV

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Talking about the future of the show, I will say, in speaking with some of the actors, someone did drop a, “Hopefully, if there’s another season…” so now, I feel like I have to turn that question to Matt and Ben.

NEDIVI: Who said that?

WOLPERT: We want names.

NEDIVI: I’m kidding.

I think it’s good your cast wants to do more! I’m just wondering about the overall plan for the show. We know For All Mankind is coming to its natural conclusion, but I feel like there’s also so much left to scratch beneath the surface with this series. I’m not going to hold you to a firm number.

NEDIVI: We have a 30-season plan. No, I’m kidding. Obviously, we would be so lucky as to continue to tell this story, because I agree. I think the characters are so rich, the world, the setting. But if we are able to continue, I think we wouldn’t do it the same as For All Mankind. The more we worked on this, we felt one of those time jumps in For All Mankind each decade cost Matt and I many years of our lives, including the prosthetics and the actors and everything. But on the other hand, I think this world, there’s enough story to tell within it with these characters where we can stay in the ‘70s in the world of Star City. I don’t think we’d do those kinds of time jumps, but there might be some jumps in time.

Doing any TV show is a magic trick, how you’re able to pull it off. I think what happened with this show was so special. This group of people that came together in the winter in Lithuania to make this happen has really come out beyond our expectations. So yes, if we’re able to continue telling the story, we’d love to.

Star City‘s first two episodes are now streaming on Apple TV.

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Star City

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May 29, 2026

Network

Apple TV

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Showrunner

Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert

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Taylor Swift’s years-long battle over her music catalog is back in the spotlight after Scooter Braun made a surprising confession about their infamous fallout. 

During a new podcast appearance, the music mogul admitted he barely knew the pop superstar despite being painted as the villain in one of the music industry’s biggest feuds. 

Braun also reflected on the backlash he faced after purchasing Swift’s masters, while insiders close to the singer insisted that her eventual victory over the catalog was achieved entirely without his help.

Braun opened up this week about the fallout surrounding his feud with Taylor Swift over ownership of her masters. 

Appearing on the “Second Thought With Suzy Weiss” podcast, the music executive admitted that the controversy completely changed how the public viewed him.

He recalled going from being “loved and appreciated for over a decade to literally a villain the next night.” Braun also pushed back on the idea that he and Swift ever shared a close personal relationship.

“I don’t know Taylor Swift,” he said. “I think I’ve met her in my life three times. I have never had a substantial conversation with her in my life.”

According to Braun, one of those rare interactions happened at a party hosted by the singer herself, where they exchanged mutual respect.

The businessman insisted there has long been a misconception surrounding their history.

“But I think there’s this big misconception that, like, we knew each other and we had this feud and I managed her for years,” Braun explained.

“And people are usually shocked to find out that I legitimately don’t know her and didn’t have many interactions with her and never really knew her,” he added.

Swift’s Masters Battle Sparked Industry-Wide Debate

Scooter Braun said the experience ultimately taught him a great deal about the changing music industry. He admitted he still finds the situation bizarre years later. “I’m confused that this is part of my life,” Braun shared.

The former manager of Justin Bieber explained how traditional record deals usually work, noting that labels often retain ownership of master recordings while artists maintain publishing rights.

“Labels make bets on artists, and they own the masters and the artists own their publishing,” he explained. Braun also acknowledged that Taylor Swift’s highly publicized battle may have helped shift conversations throughout the business.

“As confusing as [the situation was] to me, I think what it did bring to light is that artists are going to start wanting to own their masters,” he said.

Last year, Swift officially regained ownership of her catalog after striking a deal with Shamrock Capital. The Grammy winner reportedly spent around $360 million to purchase back the rights to her music after Shamrock acquired them from Braun in 2020.

Taylor Swift Celebrated Regaining ‘Her Entire Life’s Work’

Swift addressed the deal emotionally in a handwritten letter posted on her website after reclaiming the catalog.

The “Cruel Summer” singer explained that proceeds from her massively successful Eras Tour helped finance the purchase. 

“All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy,” she shared per the Daily Mail.

Swift then thanked Shamrock Capital for the “honest, fair and respectful” way the company handled the deal. 

The 36-year-old added that she truly felt they understood what the music represented to her, including her memories, hard work, handwriting, and decades of dreams.

Swift Called Scooter Braun A ‘Bully’ During Masters Fight

The controversy first exploded in 2019 when Braun acquired Taylor Swift’s former record label, Big Machine Media, for $300 million.

The songstress later accused Braun and label head Scott Borchetta of trapping her in a deal structure that would have forced her to earn back her masters one album at a time.

The singer also shared an emotional Tumblr post after learning Braun had acquired her catalog. She described leaving behind “Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.”

Swift admitted the situation devastated her. She also accused Braun of years of “incessant, manipulative bullying.”

Swift specifically referenced incidents involving Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, who were two of Braun’s clients at the time.

The singer later began re-recording her first six albums in response to the ownership dispute, eventually reclaiming several major projects, including “Fearless,” “Red,” “Speak Now,” and “1989.”

Taylor Swift’s Team Insisted Braun Played ‘Zero Part’

After Swift officially regained ownership of her music, rumors surfaced suggesting that Scooter Braun quietly helped facilitate the deal between Swift and Shamrock Capital.

However, insiders close to the negotiations strongly denied that claim. “Contrary to a previous false report, there was no outside party who ‘encouraged’ this sale,” one insider told the Daily Mail.

“All rightful credit for this opportunity should go to the partners at Shamrock Capital and Taylor’s Nashville-based management team only,” they added.

The source also made it clear Braun was not involved in Swift reclaiming her catalog. 

“Swift now owns all of her music, and this moment finally happened in spite of Scooter Braun, not because of him,” the insider shared.

What started as a celebratory graduation getaway quickly turned into a nightmare that allegedly changed one young woman’s life forever. Now, Hannah Smith is speaking out through a lawsuit that details a horrifying incident during a tropical excursion she claims spiraled dangerously out of control.

RELATED: Citation Reportedly Dismissed After Officer Accused Driver With Missing Hand Of Holding Her Phone While Driving (VIDEO)

Bahamas Excursion Ends In Life-Changing Injuries

According to court documents, the 22-year-old college graduate suffered catastrophic injuries after a boat propeller allegedly tore through both of her legs during a Catamaran Ferry excursion near Pearl Island Beach in the Bahamas last May. Hannah Smith claims the incident happened while she was on a Carnival Cruise graduation trip with a friend following her recent graduation from Alabama’s Miles College.

The lawsuit alleges excursion staff continuously supplied guests with alcohol throughout the day and even encouraged marijuana use during the outing. Smith claims workers provided complimentary rum punch as soon as guests arrived on the island, with one employee allegedly pouring drinks directly into her mouth. Court filings also allege another staff member encouraged her and her friend to smoke marijuana during the excursion.

Lawsuit Details Horrific Moment Boat Propeller Struck Smith

According to the complaint, Smith became desperate to use the restroom toward the end of the trip and says staff encouraged her to get into the water to relieve herself, allegedly assuring her the boat’s engine had been shut off. The lawsuit states Smith held onto a railing for roughly 20 seconds while in the water before trying to climb back aboard when she suddenly felt herself being pulled underneath the vessel.

The filing claims the boat’s captain engaged an idling engine while Smith remained in the water, causing the propeller to spin in reverse and strike her legs. Smith reportedly managed to free herself before pleading for help from her friend. The lawsuit describes devastating injuries, alleging the propeller nearly severed Smith’s left leg below the knee and caused severe wounds across both legs and her pelvic area.

Smith Files Lawsuit After Doctors Amputated Both Legs

The situation quickly escalated into a medical emergency as Smith lost more than 60% of her blood, and medical teams rushed her to a hospital in Nassau before transferring her to Miami in critical condition. Despite multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, doctors were ultimately unable to save either leg. According to the complaint, surgeons fully amputated her left leg and later amputated her right leg below the knee.

Smith sues tour operator Sun Cay, Pearl Investment Management Group, and others tied to the excursion, alleging negligence and saying they could have prevented the tragedy. She also names Carnival Cruise in the lawsuit, claiming the cruise line promoted the excursion as a safe and vetted activity for passengers.

RELATED: Prayers Up! 88-Year-Old Carnival Cruise Passenger Dies After Mobility Scooter Falls Off Pier

Meet the Islanders! The cast for Season 8 of ‘Love Island USA’ has officially been revealed, and social media users already have plenty to say.

Related: Congrats! ‘Love Island USA’ Star Jalen Brown Marries Influencer Joiya Lanae (VIDEOS)

‘Love Island USA’ Introduces Its Season 8 Cast

The villa is getting ready to welcome a brand-new group of Islanders. On Thursday, May 28, Peacock officially revealed the first 12 contestants set to appear on an island in Fiji for Season 8 of ‘Love Island USA.’ The new cast features singles from across the United States and beyond, bringing a variety of careers and backgrounds to the villa. According to The Hollywood Reporter, among them are a former collegiate volleyball player, a Paralympic medalist, a DJ and music producer, a nurse, a police officer, and a beauty salon owner.

The cast reveal comes as anticipation continues to build following the success of previous seasons, which helped launch fan-favorite Islanders and viral friendships. Now, fans are preparing to return to the villa as a brand-new group of Islanders gets ready to begin their search for love.

See the cast below:

Social Media Reacts

Following the cast reveal, social media users flooded The Shade Room Teens’ comment section with their reactions.

Instagram user @yungara wrote, “Melanie & Trinity you have been promoted to my elite employees 😍😍😍😍 my VOTE!!!!!

Another Instagram user @miaadoll wrote, “this the tubi version?”

While Instagram user @softlifewitha wrote, “wait it’s a lot of POC 😍😍😍”

Instagram user @nyyethiiee wrote, “yall should’ve just casted me”

Another Instagram user @koziikhi wrote, “Who tf was in charge?”

While Instagram user @ammour.jass wrote, “Yeahh… ummm I’m not watching it”

Instagram user @nayayah_112 wrote, “Yall wanted regular and normal ppl. They delivered yall request 🏃‍♀️”

Another Instagram user @_laylassb wrote, “Worst line up ever I’m good 😂”

While Instagram user @quitabee_ wrote, “Be nice yall… yall know the cast photos don’t really do justice lmao”

‘Love Island USA’ Shares A Message Ahead Of The New Season

Ahead of the Season 8 cast’s unveiling, the official ‘Love Island USA’ Instagram account shared a message encouraging viewers to keep discussions respectful throughout the season.

“The villa runs on good vibes, and so does this community. We love seeing your reactions, opinions, and debates, but everyone deserves to feel safe and respected,” the statement read. “This is a space for fun, not negativity — so keep it kind, keep it positive, and remember: this is LOVE Island!”

The message arrives as conversations surrounding the show spark strong reactions online during prior seasons.

Related: Issa Wrap! ‘Love Island USA’ Star Chelley Bissainthe Confirms Breakup With Ace Greene (VIDEO)