For nearly two decades, The Big Bang Theory has proven remarkably adaptable. What began as a traditional multi-camera sitcom about four socially awkward scientists grew into one of television’s biggest comedy franchises, spawning the prequel Young Sheldon and its successor, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Now, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is preparing to take the franchise somewhere it has never gone before, swapping apartment banter for a multiversal sci-fi adventure led by comic book store owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman).

Although this is a very exciting new direction for this franchise, it also presents an unfortunate challenge for this particular production: As Stuart Fails to Save The Universe continues to create and develop its own unique identity, it also reminds the audience of how The Big Bang Theory is primarily about Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), two characters who continue to serve as the gravitational pull of this overall franchise, even though they do not have leading or supporting parts in this production. Creating an act outside the gravitational pull of two characters like this is going to be a very difficult task for any sequel to achieve.

What Is ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ About?

Image via HBO Max

Unlike every previous installment in The Big Bang Theory universe, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe embraces science fiction in a way the original comedy only ever referenced through conversations about comic books, Star Trek, and superhero movies. The story follows Stuart (Sussman), Denise (Lauren Lapkus), Bert (Brian Posehn), and Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie) after Stuart accidentally breaks a quantum device originally built by Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard (Simon Helberg). The resulting catastrophe tears apart reality itself, forcing the unlikely team into a multiversal adventure populated by alternate versions of familiar characters, strange new worlds, and increasingly absurd situations.

It’s a dramatic tonal shift, but one that appears intentional. Co-creator Chuck Lorre has openly described the series as an opportunity to challenge himself after decades of producing dialogue-driven sitcoms, while comic book movie veteran Zak Penn brings blockbuster science-fiction experience to a franchise that’s largely stayed grounded despite its scientifically minded cast.

The concept alone distinguishes Stuart Fails to Save the Universe from Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Rather than expanding familiar family dynamics, this series asks what happens when the comic book fantasies the original gang spent years debating suddenly become reality. It’s exactly the kind of creative swing the franchise arguably needs. After nearly 20 years, simply repeating The Big Bang Theory’s formula would have risked diminishing what made the original so successful.

Sheldon and Leonard Are Still the Foundation of ‘The Big Bang Theory’

Image via CBS

Ironically, that’s also where the new show’s biggest challenge emerges. For all its multiversal ambition, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe still begins with Sheldon and Leonard. Even as the series hands the spotlight to Stuart and his friends, its central conflict stems from inventions developed by the original protagonists, which is fitting because The Big Bang Theory itself always revolved around Sheldon and Leonard’s friendship. Before Amy (Mayim Bialik), Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), or Stuart became fan favorites, the series began with two roommates navigating life together after Penny moved into the apartment across the hall. Nearly every major relationship eventually branched off from that core dynamic.

Howard and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) were introduced by Leonard and Sheldon. Stuart became part of the group through the comic book store they frequented, and Amy entered the story when Howard and Raj created a dating profile for Sheldon. Even the show’s emotional finale centered on the group celebrating Sheldon and Amy’s Nobel Prize after years of shared growth. This is why Sheldon and Leonard continue to loom so large over the franchise, regardless of whether Parsons or Galecki physically appears, as they’re the framework on which every new story is built.

‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ Has to Prove the Franchise Can Stand on Its Own

Image via Monty Brinton / ©CBS / courtesy Everett Collection

To the series’ credit, it isn’t pretending Sheldon and Leonard never existed. Instead, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe appears determined to acknowledge its roots while shifting attention toward characters who rarely received the spotlight during the original sitcom. Stuart spent years functioning as one of The Big Bang Theory’s most lovable supporting players, while Barry and Bert frequently stole scenes despite limited screen time. Giving them the chance to lead a series feels like a natural next step for a franchise looking to broaden its world.

The move to HBO Max also gives the creative team more flexibility than a traditional network sitcom ever could. Without the constraints of a broadcast comedy, the series can lean into visual effects, serialized storytelling, and larger-scale science-fiction concepts that would have been difficult to sustain on CBS.

Unlike Young Sheldon, which carved out its own identity by exploring Sheldon’s childhood, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe exists after the events of The Big Bang Theory, meaning that every callback, returning character, and scientific invention naturally invites audiences to think about the original ensemble. Even confirmed returns from familiar faces like Beverly Hofstadter (Christine Baranski) and Ramona Nowitzki (Riki Lindhome) reinforce that connection. These characters were defined by their relationships with Leonard and Sheldon, making it difficult to completely separate the sequel from the original show’s central duo.

Ultimately, that isn’t necessarily a weakness. If anything, it demonstrates how effectively The Big Bang Theory built its world over 12 seasons. The real test for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is whether the series can convince audiences to invest in a story where they don’t have to. If Stuart’s multiversal adventure succeeds, it’ll prove the franchise has finally grown beyond its original heroes. But even then, the show will have accomplished that by telling a story that began with Sheldon and Leonard all over again.

After a steady streak of success over the last several weeks, which saw hits such as Obsession, Backrooms, and Toy Story 5, the domestic box office hit a speed bump this past weekend. Toy Story 5 retained the box-office crown, but had a bigger second-weekend drop than expected. Meanwhile, the big-budget superhero movie Supergirl fell drastically short of expectations, prompting DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran to admit disappointment. The movie took the number two spot at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, grossing less than half of what the DC Universe’s first installment, Superman, earned in its first weekend in 2025. Supergirl also fell short of two of the biggest box-office bombs of the DC Extended Universe and Marvel Cinematic Universe franchises, respectively.

Directed by Craig Gillespie, Supergirl is headlined by Milly Alcock, with Jason Momoa appearing as Lobo. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences upon release, which will certainly have an impact on its future run. It now holds a 56% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Milly Alcock brings a swagger to Kara Zor-El that’d make Krypton proud in this otherwise familiar origin story, dawning a promising new hero in the DCU who’s still waiting for an adventure that matches her vigor.” The movie also received a poor B- grade from opening day audiences, according to CinemaScore.

Here’s How Much ‘Supergirl’ Grossed in Its Box-Office Debut

With $37.1 million at the domestic box office this weekend, the movie fell short of the $55 million haul of The Flash and the $46 million debut of The Marvels. Both those movies ultimately tanked, grossing around $270 million and $205 million worldwide, respectively. Supergirl‘s opening-weekend haul also fell short of Morbius‘ $39 million debut, but it was marginally higher than the openings of Joker: Folie à Deux, Birds of Prey, and Dark Phoenix. Supergirl is the second installment of the DC Universe, which was launched in 2025 with James Gunn‘s Superman. That film grossed $125 million domestically and around $220 million worldwide in its first weekend, and ended its run with around $620 million globally against a reported budget of $225 million. Supergirl, on the other hand, comes with a reported price tag in the $180 million range, which leaves it with an uphill climb.

Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Release Date

June 26, 2026

Runtime

108 minutes

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Writers

Ana Nogueira

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James Gunn, Lars P. Winther, Nigel Gostelow, Peter Safran

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Angelina Jolie is offering a rare glimpse into her personal life. Nearly a decade after filing for divorce from Brad Pitt, the Oscar-winning actress opened up about how life has changed since her highly publicized divorce, sharing candid insights into her personal journey, priorities, and where she stands as she looks toward the future.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment to promote her movie, “Couture,” Angelina Jolie candidly discussed her dating life. In the film, she plays Maxine Walker, a filmmaker diagnosed with breast cancer.

“To be candid, I haven’t dated since I divorced a decade ago. So I kind of get in my head that the aspect of me is not centered in my life if I’m focusing on my children, my family,” Jolie revealed. Portraying Maxine, who has a daughter, gave Jolie a renewed perspective that motherhood and dating don’t have to come at the expense of the other.

The actress added, “It took me a second to kind of say, well, she can also love her daughter and be dedicated to her daughter and also need this as a woman and receive this as a woman.”

Jolie noted that in her life, “things are changing” in an unexpected way. “I’m thinking I have to live again. Be free again. In a way that maybe life has broken me a little bit,” she said.

The Actress Has Been Married Three Times

Jolie’s first marriage was to actor Jonny Lee Miller, whom she met while working on the film “Hackers.” The couple married in 1996. However, their union didn’t last due to busy schedules, and they divorced three years later.

In 1999, the actress worked with Billy Bob Thornton in “Pushing Tin,” and the two developed a romantic relationship. They eloped in 2000 and two years later announced they were adopting a child from Cambodia, Maddox. However, their marriage collapsed during the process, and Jolie completed the adoption as a single parent. Their divorce was finalized in 2003.

Jolie and Brad Pitt starred in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” in 2005 and began dating following the actor’s split from Jennifer Aniston. Pitt legally adopted Jolie’s two children, Maddox and Zahara, and together they adopted Pax. They also share three biological children: Shiloh and twins Knox and Vivienne.

The couple married in 2014, but just two years later, the actress filed for divorce. Although they were declared legally single, the divorce process turned into a lengthy and contentious legal battle that was ultimately finalized in December 2024.

Angelina Jolie’s Daughters Are Bringing Back Her ‘Old Self’

Jolie said she’s coming around to being the person she used to be. Now that her daughters are older, she gets to communicate with them as “young women.” Her eldest daughter, Zahara, is 21 years old, and Shiloh and Vivienne are 20 and 17, respectively.

“I think in some way they’re bringing me back to my old self,” the actress said, adding that her daughters want her to be more than just their parent. “I think they kind of want me now to not just be ‘Mom.’ There’s a different room for me to be that woman again, that’s not just mom,” Jolie added.

As a 51-year-old, she said the next chapter of her life may not be about becoming a new person, but reconnecting with her old self.

The Actress Gets Encouragement From Her Children

In an interview with Variety, Jolie also spoke about how her children encourage her to expand her horizons. The actress shared that almost all her children are already of age, and they want to see her “get out and do things.”

Jolie reflected on the years leading up to and following her divorce from Pitt, explaining that she prioritized her family and accepted only projects close to home or ones that allowed her to bring her children along.

“They know me more than anybody, and they still like me, which says a lot. I think they’re very encouraging of me kind of getting back to aspects of myself that maybe I hadn’t felt as free to do,” she shared.

Angelina Jolie’s ‘Fighting Spirit’ Is Back

In 2023, the actress told Vogue magazine that she started working less following her divorce, as she needed “a lot of healing to do.” Jolie also admitted to not feeling like herself for the past decade, but she didn’t disclose other details.

In mid June, the actress shared an update on her life and revealed that she has her “fighting spirit” back. “I lost it for a bit. I got kind of taken down a little bit, and it’s coming back,” she noted.

Jolie’s movie, “Couture,” was released on June 26. She has a slate of upcoming film projects, including “The Initiative,” “Anxious People,” and “Maleficent 3.” As for her personal life, Jolie appears content to keep her focus on her family and career in the meantime.

Who done it? That’s the central question at the heart of one of the most popular varieties of mystery. A whodunnit is structured differently than other mysteries. It presents all the suspects of its central crime up front, and from there it begins to process the clues so that the audience may try to puzzle out who the real culprit is for themselves. They can have as many plot twists and turns as any other mystery, but there’s an interactive quality that makes them undeniably entertaining. Some of the most popular crime writers of all time turned out a whodunnit or two in their time, and many of them have made their way to the big screen as well.

While true whodunnit movies aren’t as ubiquitous as they are in the literary world, there are still enough to make for a stellar murder mystery weekend. Some are funny, others are more sinister, but they’ve all got some mysteries that will pique your interest and have you trying to parse out the terrible truth. Whether you’re a true crime fanatic or just a casual player of Clue, these ten whodunnits will keep you curious with their perfect mysteries.

‘The Thin Man’ (1934)

Image via MGM Studios

Based on the novel by acclaimed crime writer Dashiell Hammett, The Thin Man is better known for the chemistry between lead actors William Powell and Myrna Loy, as crime-solving couple Nick and Nora Charles, than it is for its central mystery, but it’s still a cracking whodunit. The film’s success led to five sequels featuring the characters, but the original is still the best, offering a tantalizing mystery and a sinister list of suspects.

The titular Thin Man is inventor Clyde (Edward Ellis), who goes missing after confronting his mistress about stolen money. That’s when former detective Nick and his socialite wife Nora get involved, and the bodies begin to pile up. Is the Thin Man a suspect or a victim? Who is responsible for his disappearance and why? There’s a long list of suspects, and Nick gathers them all in the finale for a classic whodunit wrap-up. The entire film is a classic, and it’s all played with a light touch, making it one of the most fun murder mysteries ever made.

‘And Then There Were None’ (1945)

Image via 20th Century Studios

Agatha Christie is among the most famous mystery writers, having created iconic characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, along with authoring several singular mystery classics. Her seminal whodunit And Then There Were None, also known under some other far more racist titles, is the most frequently adapted of her work, with the most famous being the 1945 version. Directed by René Clair, the film collects a group of strangers in an island mansion, and kills them off one by one.

Eight guests are invited by a mysterious host named U.N. Owen to a manor on a remote island. The only thing the guests, as well as the two newly hired servants, have in common is that they have all been accused of prior murders. When they each begin to meet their own demises, the survivors begin to turn on one another as they try to sort out who the real killer is among them. It’s an iconic set-up for a whodunit that’s influenced dozens of others that have come after it, and its mystery will keep you guessing until the last minute.

‘The House of Fear’ (1945)

Image via Universal Pictures

The most iconic fictional detective of all time is, without a doubt, Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Sherlock Holmes. Of all the actors to take on the role of Holmes, the one most associated with the role is Basil Rathbone, who appeared in fourteen feature films as the detective alongside Nigel Bruce as Watson. While most of those films don’t conform to the whodunit template, The House of Fear is the murderous exception.

Based on Doyle’s short story The Five Orange Pips, the film follows Holmes as he visits a Scottish castle where a group of men, known collectively as the Good Comrades, live together. When the men begin to die off, each after receiving an envelope of orange pips, their insurance agent believes one of them is killing the others in order to collect a larger payout. It’s not the greatest of the Rathbone outings, but The House of Fear is still a classic Sherlock mystery and an enthralling whodunit.

‘The Last of Sheila’ (1973)

Image via Warner Bros.

One of the few whodunits not based on any prior source material, The Last of Sheila was instead inspired by real-life scavenger hunts that co-writers Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim had often arranged for their celebrity friends. The film likewise focuses on a group of Hollywood players attempting to solve a murder, and it has since become a major influence on more modern mystery films, most evidently in Rian Johnson‘s Glass Onion, in which Sondheim himself made a cameo appearance.

Invited on a yacht pleasure cruise around the Mediterranean by their producer friend, the guests take part in a mystery game which seems to allude to the death of the producer’s wife a year prior. When the producer himself turns up dead, the guests then begin to play an entirely new game of whodunit. The Last of Sheila has a terrific ensemble cast, which includes Dyan Cannon, James Coburn. James Mason and Raquel Welch, and a clever script by Perkins and Sondheim that finds genuine mystery in the sordid secrets of the Hollywood elite.

‘Murder on the Orient Express’ (1974)

Image via Anglo-EMI Film Distributors

As star-studded as the cast of The Last of Sheila is, it can’t compare to the incredible ensemble that fills out Sidney Lumet‘s essential adaptation of Agatha Christie‘s Murder on the Orient Express. As Belgian detective Poirot, Albert Finney leads a cast of Hollywood royalty that includes Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Ingrid Bergman in an Oscar-winning performance. It’s the most stylishly produced version of a murder mystery that’s been adapted multiple times for film and television, but never bettered.

Set on the titular train, Poirot finds himself among a group of international travelers, one of whom is murdered in the middle of the night. Poirot discovers that every passenger on the train had a motive for murdering the victim, which leaves him until the train reaches its destination to suss out the perpetrator amongst the suspects. Murder on the Orient Express remains one of the best adaptations of Christie, with the author herself praising it, with the exception of her criticism that Poirot’s mustache wasn’t fabulous enough.

‘Clue’ (1985)

Image via Paramount Pictures

Based on the beloved board game, Clue is another whodunit with a classy cast, although with a far more comedic bent to its mystery-solving than any of the previously mentioned films. Originally developed by John Landis before writer Jonathan Lynn took over as director, the film included three different endings, all of which were eventually included when it was released on home media. Clue initially received a mixed response from critics and failed at the box office but has since become a cult classic thanks to the performances of its talented cast and its perfectly hilarious mystery.

Following the basic premise of the board game, the film features a group of strangers invited to a manor, where they are each given their color-coordinated code names before being confronted by Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving), who has blackmail material on all of them. Boddy quickly becomes a dead body, and the strangers are left to decide which one of them was capable of the murder before the police arrive. The casting is pitch perfect across the board, from Mr. Green (Michael McKean) to Mrs. White (Madeline Kahn), but the MVP is Tim Curry as the butler Wadsworth, who gets to sleuth with increasing manic energy as the plot gets ever more convoluted.

‘Scream’ (1996)

Image via Dimension Films

One of the most iconic horror franchises of all time also happens to be the longest-running modern whodunit franchise as well. Wes Craven‘s Scream is a meta satire of the slasher subgenre and its conventions, but unlike Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, the identity of the film’s knife-wielding killer, Ghostface, is a mystery. As the bodies of teen victims begin to pile up, the survivors are left running for their lives like the cast of Scooby-Doo while trying to unmask the murderer.

The first film in Craven’s franchise follows a group of high school students stalked by a mysterious assailant who has an obsession with horror movies. The deaths create a media circus, with teen Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) caught at the center of it, while still struggling to process the murder of her mother a year prior. Scream reinvigorated slashers in the ’90s and led to a series of sequels and even more horror films that tried to draft off its success, but none of them feature a mystery as intriguing as the original.

‘Gosford Park’ (2001)

Image via Focus Features

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Despite the success of Scream, whodunits didn’t gain much traction in the ’90s, and it wasn’t until Robert Altman‘s Oscar-nominated Gosford Park that the genre would get a proper reintroduction with a throwback murder mystery set in a manor. Written by Julian Fellowes, who would later go on to create the series Downton Abbey, the film features the same upstairs-downstairs examination of the British class system, all filtered through the subversive mind of Altman and wrapped up in a classic whodunit.

Set on a country estate where a group of wealthy guests has gathered for a shooting weekend, tensions are already high amongst the guests and staff well before one of them is murdered, which exposes even more fractures within the social ranks. Altman has always been a keen observer of characters, and that suits the film well here. As the camera wanders and conversations overlap, we’re forced to listen intently and focus to figure out which of the cast of characters might have cause to kill.

‘Hot Fuzz’ (2007)

Image via Rogue Pictures

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The second entry in the Cornetto Trilogy, following the zombie rom-com Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz combines even more genres together, including buddy-cop action, cult horror, slapstick comedy and a dash of whodunit. While the murder mystery elements eventually take a backseat during the action-packed third act, and we’re deprived of the classic killer reveal, the film is too damn fun and funny to nitpick.

Supercop Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is too efficient an officer, so he’s sent away by his lackluster superiors to a quiet village in the West Country, where he’s partnered with the bumbling Danny (Nick Frost). Angel’s need for action is quickly satiated when he discovers that the accidental deaths that plague the village are more than likely the result of a gruesome murderer. Hot Fuzz is easily one of the best comedies of the 2000s, with Edgar Wright’s energetic direction and the chemistry of Pegg and Frost powering its perfect little mystery.

‘Knives Out’ (2019)

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Easily the biggest and most popular reinvigoration of the whodunit on film in the 21st century, Rian Johnson’s Knives Out not only delivered a brilliantly clever modern evolution of the genre as a whole, but also introduced one of its greatest new detectives in the form of Daniel Craig‘s southern fried performance as gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc. While the two subsequent efforts featuring the character, Glass Onion and Wake Up Dead Man, offer unique twists in their murder mysteries, the original is a modern whodunit masterpiece.

When famed author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dies of an apparent suicide on his country estate (where else?), it seems like an open-and-shut case, except for the fact that Blanc has been anonymously summoned by someone who suspects foul play. This is bad news for Thrombey’s nurse Marta (Ana de Armas), who believes herself responsible for his death after accidentally giving him a lethal dose of morphine, and finds herself drawing suspicion from his privileged family when she is named as the sole benefactor of his estate. The truth, as is often the case in Johnson’s films, is far more complicated than it initially seems, and Knives Out offers one delightful twist after another in its perfectly concocted mystery.

Cara Delevingne confirmed that she and Amber Heard had a romantic relationship amid the actress’ highly-publicized divorce from Johnny Depp.

“It’s because we did a movie together, and it was called London Fields. He was also doing the movie,” Delevingne, 33, said of her connection to Heard, 40, and Depp, 63, during her Monday, June 29, appearance on “The Louis Theroux Podcast.”

“I think he was pretty driven crazy by jealousy,” she continued. “Nothing was happening at that point. Later, after they divorced, it had, I suppose.”

Theroux asked Delevingne to clarify what she meant by she supposed.

Related: Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s Ups and Downs Through the Years

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were married for less than two years, but they’ve weathered a ton of ups and downs since their 2016 split. The Oscar nominee and the Aquaman star met on the set of the 2011 film The Rum Diary, which began production in early 2009. At the time, Depp was in […]

“No, I don’t suppose. I know,” she said.

Theroux asked Delevingne if she considered her relationship with Heard to be “an entanglement,” prompting the Carnival Row actress to admit she did not understand the word’s meaning.

“I think it means a relatively short-lived liaison or series of physical encounters,” Theroux explained.

After confirming what Theroux meant by “entanglement,” Delevingne shared that she guessed her and Heard’s dynamic could be described as such.

“We were close for a long time, and then when they were going through the divorce, yeah, we were entangled, I suppose,” she said. “But she was also entangled with other people.”

Delevingne and Heard were first linked as friends in the 2010s. The women would attend multiple functions alongside other famous pals, including Margot Robbie. Delevingne was by Heard’s side following the Aquaman actress’ split from Depp in 2016. When Heard filed for divorce, she accused Depp of physical and sexual abuse. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor vehemently denied the allegations

Related: Why Amber Heard Is Speaking Out About Alleged Blake Lively Smear Campaign

Amber Heard sees some similarities between her story and Blake Lively’s. Lively, 37, filed a lawsuit against her former It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni on Friday, December 20, accusing him of sexual harassment and orchestrating a smear campaign to damage her reputation. One of Baldoni’s publicists Melissa Nathan — who represented Johnny Depp […]

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Six years later, Depp sued Heard for $50 million, claiming she defamed him in a 2018 Washington Post essay she wrote about being a victim of sexual violence. Heard, who did not name Depp specifically in the article, countersued for $100 million. A jury found both Depp and Heard liable for defamation. However, Depp was ultimately awarded a more substantial compensatory and punitive damages.

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During the lawsuit, Depp accused Heard of having affairs with Delevingne and Elon Musk. Delevingne and Heard did not confirm their relationship at the time. Heard and Musk started dating in 2016 after she split from Depp, but the pair didn’t confirm their romance until April 2017. Heard and Musk ultimately called it quits four months later.

“I was really in love, and it hurt bad. Well, she broke up with me more than I broke up with her,” Musk told Rolling Stone in November 2017, adding that he was in “severe emotional pain” in the wake of the split. “I’m looking for a long-term relationship. I’m not looking for a one-night stand. I’m looking for a serious companion or soulmate, that kind of thing. I will never be happy without having someone.”

“The Louis Theroux Podcast” is available on Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

The downside of becoming a long-running series on television is the chance that the storytelling might start to feel a little stale. After several seasons (especially of a sitcom), viewers are already more than familiar with the characters. There’s also likely a rhythm that has been established with the writing, and an obvious formula that introduces a problem to be solved every episode. Of course, by the time the episode wraps up, all is right in the world. This formula has definitely been a successful one for CBS’ hit comedy, Ghosts. But after five seasons, the show is in dire need of something to shake things up. Luckily, a recent announcement has been made that states that Ghosts is making a change that will completely revitalize the series.

Ben Feldman Will Be Bumped Up to a Series Regular on ‘Ghosts’

The team behind Ghosts broke the news that Ben Feldman, who plays Kyle Rosenblat on the show, has been officially declared a series regular. Kyle first appeared on the show back in Season 4, when Pete Martino (Richie Moriarty) met him on one of his special trips away from Woodstone Manor. After discovering that the very-much-alive Kyle can also see and talk to ghosts just like Sam (Rose McIver), Pete brings Kyle back to meet his other spirit pals. Of course, hijinks occur, as with any supporting character that joins the kooky gang at Woodstone.

Kyle pops back up again in the latest season of Ghosts, and plays a major role in the Season 5 finale. Most importantly, we learn that Kyle will be staying with the ghosts while Sam goes off to Hollywood to work on bringing her scripts to the screen. This is already setting up some fun plots for the ghosts to interact with Kyle. Plus, in the finale, when Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) needs to travel with Pete to the UK to save Woodstone, Kyle comes along as a ghost translator. He’s a pivotal part in the plan to declare Woodstone a historical landmark, and is driving home with Jay and Pete, when the unthinkable happens. Pete has spent too much time away from Woodstone, and in the last moments of the episode, disappears completely before they can make it back. This brings up a major question heading into Season 6: Is Pete really gone forever? Now, with Kyle’s character seemingly in the mix in a more permanent way, Ghosts is setting up Season 6 to be even more entertaining.

Kyle Can Bring a Fresh, New Quality to the ‘Ghosts’ Storylines

With five seasons wrapped up, it’s true that Ghosts is starting to feel a little boring. Most of the interactions between Sam, Jay, and the ghosts are way too repetitive, with constant misunderstandings on Jay’s end, and the shtick of setting up a problem and then solving it after some shenanigans has been played out now. There haven’t been a whole lot of surprises in the storytelling, and the romances between ghosts also tend to feel a bit forced — looking at you Pete and Alberta (Danielle Pinnock). That’s why adding in a new character, especially a living person who can communicate with the ghosts, is such a brilliant idea. It introduces a whole new, fairly unknowable element to an already familiar set-up.

Many fans of the show were disappointed that Jay hasn’t been able to see the ghosts in any long-term capacity, so inserting Kyle into the action permanently will scratch that itch for viewers. The ghosts have only ever been able to interact with Sam, so there is plenty of mischief they can get into now that they have another human to boss around and/or befriend. Kyle has also seemed kind of lonely in past episodes, so having him join the gang at Woodstone means there will be a great deal of intriguing narratives to explore with his character as well.

Feldman has already established in his sporadic episodes that he has great chemistry with everyone in the cast, which isn’t always the case when some actors join a show well into its run. And his hilarious stint on Superstore proved that he’s clearly a talented comedic actor, and that he can handle a wide variety of storylines with perfect timing. Offering him a bigger role will provide the plots in Ghosts with even more opportunities for hilarity and silliness. Ghosts doesn’t return until early 2027, but having Feldman become a series regular is an exciting development for a series that desperately needs a boost.

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Ghosts

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Release Date

October 7, 2021

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Christine Gernon, Jaime Eliezer Karas, Katie Locke O’Brien, Nick Wong, Jude Weng, Pete Chatmon, Richie Keen, Alex Hardcastle, Kimmy Gatewood, Matthew A. Cherry, Cortney Carrillo

Writers

Emily Schmidt, John Timothy, Lauren Bridges, Sophia Lear, Guy Endore-Kaiser, Rishi Chitkara, Julia Harter, Skander Halim, Zora Bikangaga

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  Rose McIver

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  Utkarsh Ambudkar

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Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean is making it clear that there is nothing inappropriate about his relationship with Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Abby Summers.

“I don’t really think it’s a conflict of interest,” DeJean, 23, said on the Thursday, June 25, episode of his “Exciting Mics” podcast when a fan opined that their relationship “could be messy.”

DeJean was sure to point out that even though the Eagles and Cowboys are bitter rivals, Summers, 25, isn’t in the Dallas locker room.

“I mean, it’s not like we both play football,” he said. “She’s a cheerleader. There is going to be no insider information given either way.”

Related: Nikki Garcia Admits It’s Been ‘Difficult’ Having Her Dating Life Scrutinized

Nikki Garcia admits trying to find love in the spotlight is “difficult” amid rumors she’s dating Philadelphia Eagles player Cooper DeJean. “It’s been crazy,” Garcia, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, March 9, reflecting on putting herself back out there after finalizing her divorce from Artem Chigvinstev in 2024. The WWE wrestler noted that […]

DeJean also pulled back the curtain on how the two got together after they went public with their relationship in May at the Kentucky Derby.

“We had known about each other for some time,” he said. “Then we happened to be both in Florida at the same time during the [2026 College Football Playoff] national championship game. She was down there and I was down there and then I met her there.”

DeJean continued, “I believe the next weekend was the Super Bowl and she was out there also — and we had hung out there a couple times and after that we kept seeing each other and hanging out.”

The month after the Super Bowl, they were also spotted together at the 2026 men’s Elite Eight game between the University of Iowa, DeJean’s alma mater, and the University of Illinois.

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Related: How Super Bowl Fame Impacted Cooper DeJean’s Relationship With His GF

Philadelphia Eagles player Cooper DeJean believes his girlfriend, Steph Wilfawn, is the true MVP of his championship football season. “She’s been a trooper,” DeJean, 22, shared on the Tuesday, February 18, episode of “The Pivot” podcast. “She’s been handling a lot, going through a lot, but she’s been there every step of the way.” Although […]

The Eagles star is no stranger to seeing his love life make headlines. He was rumored to be dating WWE star Nikki Bella last year before he and Summers appeared at the Kentucky Derby.

DeJean reflected on the attention in a May 2026 discussion with Us Weekly.

“It can get overwhelming at times,” he exclusively told Us of the attention. “But I think it’s cool just to see the way people support us [in Philadelphia].”

DeJean also opened up about playing football in a town as passionate about its sports as Philadelphia.

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Nikki Garcia bleeds Eagles green — especially if it means supporting defensive back Cooper DeJean. “Walking into Sunday like…. 🦅🔥,” Garcia, 42, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, December 28, ahead of the team’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills. “‘Been there, WON that.’ 🙌🏼 #FlyEaglesFly.” Garcia uploaded throwback footage of herself wearing DeJean’s jersey and team-branded […]

“I think it’s the people around you keeping you humble and keeping you down to earth,” he said. “I feel like I’ve got a great group of people around me — friends, family, who keep me grounded — which is awesome. I feel like it costs nothing to be a great person.”

He also admitted that he learned a bit about handling the pressure from Jason Kelce, who retired the month before the Eagles drafted DeJean.

“Just the way he interacts with people in the city,” DeJean said. “He’s a great guy. I’ve got to talk to him a few times. He’s still in the building quite a bit, working out and stuff. Just getting to talk to him, see him and hear his experience he had in his 12 years here is pretty cool to see.”

By Jason Collins
| Published 2 minutes ago

Apart from Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1992, which is a legendary movie starring Gary Oldman as the iconic villain, there have been numerous retellings of Dracula’s story throughout cinema and television. Some of these are rather mediocre, like Dracula 2000. Others were outright bad, like Dracula 3000. And some were outright fantastic, like 1922’s Nosferatu or Steven Moffat’s 2020 miniseries, aptly named Dracula. Now, a failed movie, Dracula Untold, has found new success on streaming, turning an iconic villain into a superhero.

Dracula As A Tragic Hero

For those who haven’t seen the movie, Dracula Untold was a critically panned reimagining of the origin of Dracula, which aims to portray the character as a tragic hero rather than a straightforward villain. The film’s narrative is set in the 15^th century where Vlad III (Luke Evans), the prince of Wallachia and Transylvania, faces a threat from the Ottoman Empire, which demands 1,000 Wallachian boys (including his own son) as a tribute to the sultan’s army.

Having spent his youth among the Ottomans, Vlad now seeks to protect his son and his country from the enemy.

However, in desperation, he turns to the dark and ancient power hidden in the mountains, a mysterious vampire (portrayed by the Game of Thrones star Charles Dance), who grants him the powers to defend his family and his country but also curses him with the vampiric blood lust. We won’t go into the story any further. Instead, we’ll go on to say that the concept upon which the story was based is actually pretty good. However, the execution of said concept in Dracula Untold wasn’t.

Lights Out On The Dark Universe

Though the critics praised Luke Evans’ performance as the anti-hero, Dracula Untold was heavily criticized for its plot and the perceived lack of emotional depth. However, it did reasonably well at the box office, earning $217 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million. Unfortunately, its earnings weren’t enough to protect it from the apparent pull of the grave and any idea of a sequel unfortunately found a stake to the heart.

At one point, there were discussions and some attempts to retroactively include Dracula Untold into the now-failed Dark Universe born with the release of The Mummy in 2017. However, given the poor performance of that particular release, Universal abandoned every notion of the Dark Universe.

This is really unfortunate because later-revealed Dracula Untold scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor also showed the appearance of Baba Yaga. No, we’re not referring to John Wick, but the actual stuff of nightmares originating from Eastern folklore.

Despite the film’s poor reception, Dracula remains an enduring pop culture icon that transcends the shifting cinematic trends, which explains how Dracula Untold found its resurrection on Netflix.