Whether he’s playing a cunning villain or a beloved dad—but let’s face it, usually a cunning villain—British actor Tim Currystood out in just about every film he’s in and seemed to pop up almost everywhere. He began his career in the late 1960s onstage before beginning to work in film in the 1970s, and he’s been featured in over 200 projects since, from beloved family movies to cult classics. The legendary actor recently passed away at 80 years old.
Just as Curry was a joy to watch, so, too, are many of his movies. The best of them can be enjoyed over and over again, and it’s almost impossible to imagine any other actor bringing these characters to life the way that Curry does. Although he may be known for playing a certain character type, he never did it the same way twice and always brought something new to each character, a testament to why he was tapped for such roles again and again.
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10
‘The Wild Thornberrys Movie’ (2002)
Nigel Thornberry in ‘The Wild Thornberrys Movie’Image via Paramount Pictures
The Wild Thornberrys Movie was based on the Nickelodeon animated series The Wild Thornberrys, which followed the Thornberry family, including 12-year-old daughter Eliza (Lacey Chabert), who could talk to animals. The film followed her quest to save a cheetah cub from poachers while the family was on an African safari to film a nature documentary. Out of concern for her safety, Eliza’s grandmother Cordelia (Lynn Redgrave) has her sent off to a boarding school.
Curry’s distinctive voice has earned him many voiceover roles throughout his career, and his role as Eliza’s father, Nigel Thornberry, was among the few in which he didn’t voice a villain. His voice was perfectly suited for the character, however, due to his wildlife narration. The role is also among those Curry is best remembered for today, as Nigel remains a beloved character by audiences who grew up watching The Wild Thornberrys.
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9
‘Charlie’s Angels’ (2000)
Tim Curry and Cameron Diaz in ‘Charlie’s Angels’Image via Sony Pictures Releasing
As a continuation of the popular series of the same name, Charlie’s Angels follows three private investigators—Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Alex (Lucy Liu)—in their work for the unseen millionaire Charlie Townsend (John Forsythe). The women were tasked with locating kidnapped software engineer Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell). Curry appeared in the film as Roger Corwin, the owner of Redstar Technologies suspected of being Knox’s kidnapper. The film was followed by a sequel in 2003.
Curry was the perfect choice for the character of Roger—his reputation for playing villains meant that’s exactly what the audience would expect from him as soon as he turned up, adding to the surprise when that turned out not to be the case. Given the over-the-top nature of the movie, Curry was in his element. And his wasn’t the only memorable performance, either. The film also featuresBill Murray and Crispin Glover.
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8
‘The Pebble and the Penguin’ (1995)
Drake (voiced by Tim Curry) in ‘The Pebble and the Penguin’Image via Don Bluth Ireland Limited
Two penguins—the shy and stuttering Hubie (Martin Short) and bully Drake (Curry)—both competed for the affections of Marina (Annie Golden) in the animated movie The Pebble and the Penguin. After Hubie found a pebble he wanted to give to Marina, Drake had Hubie sent away. The movie was based on the actual mating rituals of penguins. It was directed by Don Bluth and was the final film made by Don Bluth Limited before it went bankrupt.
The Pebble and the Penguin wasn’t well-received when it was first released, but it’s since become a cult classic and has grown in popularity, similar to some of Curry’s other work. And while it’s still not among his most famous roles—or among the most famous and well-regarded work of director Don Bluth—it is a sweet movie about love and friendship. It also boasts some beautiful artwork and a lovely musical score.
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7
‘The Three Musketeers’ (1993)
Tim Curry as Cardinal Richelieu in ‘The Three Musketeers’Image via Buena Vista Pictures
The Three Musketeers, loosely based on the 1844 novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas, tells the story of D’Artagnan (Chris O’Donnell), who traveled to Paris in the hopes of joining the king’s protectors, the musketeers Athos (Kiefer Sutherland), Porthos (Oliver Platt), and Aramis (Charlie Sheen), only to have the group had been disbanded. Curry played Cardinal Richelieu, who disbanded the group as part of a plot to have the king killed.
Richelieu was among Curry’s best performances as a villain—the character was downright cruel, with a frightening temper, and was quintessential Curry. He makes such a good villain that it’s satisfying to see him get punched in the face, the ultimate comeuppance for any villain. While the film takes some liberties with the original story, it’s still an entertaining adventure film with some great action scenes and a wonderful sense of humor.
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Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky
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Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you’re not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.
🏕️Jason
🔪Michael
💤Freddy
🎈Pennywise
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🪆Chucky
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01
Something feels wrong. You can’t explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty.
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02
Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.
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03
What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn’t account for. What’s yours?
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04
What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it.
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05
You’re with a group when things start going wrong. What’s your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn’t.
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06
What’s the horror movie mistake you’re most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not.
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07
What’s your best weapon against something that can’t be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it.
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08
It’s the final scene. You’re the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What’s yours?
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Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
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Camp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.
He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategise, doesn’t adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.
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Haddonfield, Illinois · Halloween
Michael Myers
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.
But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.
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Elm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street
Freddy Krueger
Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.
You are harder to destabilise than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven’t looked away.
The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.
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Derry, Maine · It
Pennywise
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise’s worst nightmare.
It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.
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Chicago · Child’s Play
Chucky
Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.
You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.
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6
‘The Cat Returns’ (2002)
The Cat King lounges in his chair.Image via Studio Ghibli
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After teenager Haru (Chizuru Ikewaki) rescued a cat which was about to be hit by a truck, the cat revealed itself to be a prince named Lune in The Cat Returns. Haru was then taken to the Cat Kingdom, and out of gratitude, Lune’s father, the Cat King (Curry), asked Haru to marry Lune. The movie was produced by Studio Ghibli and was a spin-off of Whisper of the Heart.
The Cat Returns is a fun, whimsical movie about an adventure to another world, and it’s very different from the kinds of movies Studio Ghibli has become known for. It has great humor, and it can easily be enjoyed again and again. While Curry has certainly played more evil and terrifying villains, he still brought the cunning Cat King to life wonderfully, in a way that few other voice actors could.
5
‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’ (1992)
Dana Ivey, Tim Curry, and Rob Schneider in ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’Image via 20th Century Studios
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In the sequel to Home Alone, young Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) lost track of his father while rushing through the airport and mistakenly boarded the wrong plane, leading him to end up on his own in New York City while the rest of his family was heading for Florida. In need of a place to stay, Kevin checked himself into the Plaza Hotel using his father’s credit card, where he earned the ire of concierge Mr. Hector (Curry).
Sequels have a reputation for not being as good as their predecessors, but Home Alone 2 was the rare example of a film coming pretty close to matching what made the first so entertaining and beloved, despite receiving negative reviews when it was released. Curry’s performance as Mr. Hector has certainly helped. Some of the film’s funniest moments came from Kevin toying with Hector—the scene in which Kevin used a movie to scare Hector and his staff never gets old.
4
‘Annie’ (1982)
Tim Curry as Rooster Hannigan in ‘Annie’Image via Columbia Pictures
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Set in 1933, the musical Annie followed the titular red-haired orphan Annie (Aileen Quinn), who lived in an orphanage run by the cruel Miss Hannigan (Carol Burnett) and was convinced that her parents left her there by mistake and would one day return for her. When billionaire “Daddy” Warbucks (Albert Finney) decided to temporarily take in one of the orphans for Christmas to improve his image, he chose Annie—and eventually took on the task of attempting to find her parents.
Annie is a classic musical that’s been adapted for film time and time again, but the 1982 version starring Burnett remains among the best, thanks in part to perfect casting. It’s unfortunate that Curry hasn’t starred in more musicals—they not only helped launch his career, but he’s well-suited for them, especially with his deep voice. In Annie, he played Rooster, the con-man younger brother of Miss Hannigan, with equal parts charm and malice.
3
‘Muppet Treasure Island’ (1996)
Tim Curry as Long John Silver in ‘Muppet Treasure Island’Image via Jim Henson Productions
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Muppet Treasure Island was a retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson‘s classic novel Treasure Islandbut with a Muppet twist. After coming into possession of a treasure map, young Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop), along with companions Gonzo (David Goelz) and Rizzo the Rat (Steve Whitmire), set sail with a crew to find the treasure. Curry appeared as Long John Silver, a pirate who worked as the ship’s cook and had his eyes set on Jim’s map.
When it comes to Muppet movies, especially ones based on books, it doesn’t get much better than Muppet Treasure Island. It was a great retelling of the original story with all the humor and fun one expects from a Muppet movie. Curry didn’t simply play Long John as an over-the-top villain—in some of the movie’s best moments, he brought nuance to the character and showed that the pirate truly cared for Jim.
2
‘Clue’ (1985)
In Clue, six people were anonymously invited to a mansion and given aliases named after colors as part of a blackmail plot. But when the host was murdered, they were forced to work together to uncover what really happened—and every single one of them was a suspect. Curry appeared as the butler, Wadsworth. The movie was based on the board game of the same name and is known for its multiple alternate endings.
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It’s hard to imagine a movie based on a board game actually being good, but Clue delivered. With its humor and fantastic cast, Clue is a great movie to turn to when in need of a pick-me-up or comfort watch, and it’s packed with quotable lines. Every member of the star-studded cast delivers, but Curry stands out in particular in one of his best and funniest roles, complete with incredible comedic timing.
1
‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ (1975)
A still from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’Image via 20th Century Studios
After their car got a flat tire during a storm, newly engaged couple Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) find themselves at the strange mansion of the even stranger Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Curry) in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The couple happened to arrive on the very night Frank was unveiling his latest creation. The movie was based on the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show, which also starred Curry as Frank-N-Furter.
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Rocky Horror has an incredible legacy—decades after its release, it’s still regularly shown in theaters, making it one of the most famous and longest-running cult movies of all time. Frank-N-Furter remains Curry’s most famous and most instantly recognizable role and Curry embodies him flawlessly, with one of the most iconic entrances in film. Despite Frank’s callousness and selfish pursuits of pleasure, there’s something about him which makes him impossible to dislike.
After years of relative silence, fans have finally gotten their first substantial look at EA Motive’s upcoming Iron Man game, just not in the way the studio intended.
An unfinished trailer for the highly anticipated Marvel game has leaked online, showing more than two minutes of early footage featuring Iron Man flying through a massive city, battling enemies and seemingly customizing his armor.
And this one appears to be very real.
Following the footage making its way around the internet, the official Marvel’s Iron Man account responded to the leak with its first-ever post.
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“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” the account wrote. “But now you know, and we’ve got a lot more to show you. See you when we’re ready.”
The response effectively confirms the footage comes from Motive’s project while also making it clear that what fans are seeing was never intended to serve as the game’s official unveiling.
The leaked footage provides a surprisingly extensive glimpse at what Motive has been building.
Iron Man can be seen launching into the air and flying at high speeds through a large city, with traversal appearing to give players significant control over Tony Stark while airborne. The footage also shows both aerial and ground combat, including repulsor attacks, missiles, melee strikes and Tony grabbing and throwing enemies.
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There are also glimpses of what appears to be an armor customization or progression system, suggesting players could have some control over how Iron Man’s suit develops throughout the game.
Iron Man VR
Familiar characters reportedly appearing in the footage include Pepper Potts and James “Rhodey” Rhodes, while a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier can also be spotted.
Perhaps most importantly, the footage offers an early indication of how Motive plans to handle one of the most important elements of any Iron Man game: flight.
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The ability to freely blast across a city in the Iron Man armor appears to be a major part of the experience, and even in its unfinished state, the footage gives fans a much clearer idea of the scale Motive may be targeting.
EA originally announced its collaboration with Marvel Games and Motive Studio on Iron Man in September 2022. The game was described as a third-person, single-player action-adventure featuring an original story designed to tap into Tony Stark’s complexity, charisma and creative genius.
Since then, however, official information has been extremely limited.
That silence became particularly noticeable following EA’s cancellation of its Black Panther game and the closure of developer Cliffhanger Games, raising questions among some fans about the status of Iron Man.
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The newly leaked footage and Motive’s subsequent response should put many of those concerns to rest. The project is clearly still alive.
At the same time, fans should remember that this is unfinished development footage. Visuals, environments, combat systems, animations and even major gameplay mechanics could change substantially before release.
Motive also isn’t rushing to turn the leak into an official reveal. Its response makes that pretty clear: the studio will show more when it believes the game is ready.
For now, however, Iron Man fans have finally gotten their first real glimpse at Tony Stark’s next major video game adventure, and after nearly four years of waiting, there is finally something tangible to be excited about.
Image via 20th Century Studios, courtesy Everett Collection
Nine years after his last sci-fi movie, director Ridley Scott made a long-awaited return to the genre this week. His new movie opened to mediocre reviews, and this appears to have impacted its performance at the box office. The movie in question is headlined by Jacob Elordi, alongside Josh Brolinand Margaret Qualley. Scott, who emerged as one of the greatest directors of his generation in the 1970s, is still renowned for the classics Blade Runner and Alien. However, his 2017 sci-fi movie, Alien: Covenant, underperformed at the box office and divided audiences. It now holds a 65% critics’ score and a 55% audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Scott has recently expressed an interest in returning to the franchise, following the success of Alien: Romulus, which was directed by Fede Álvarez.
His latest movie has received a lower score on Rotten Tomatoes than even the divisive Alien: Covenant. Also featuring Allison Janney and Guy Pearce, the movie now holds a 40% score on the aggregator, where the consensus describes it as “a derivative and drowsy tour through the post-apocalypse” whose “lush visuals can’t compensate for its listless narrative and underpowered pacing.” In her review, Collider’s Gabrielle Moss wrote that the movie “offers some thrilling moments, solid performances, and breathtakingly lush landscape cinematography, it never quite coheres into the statement about love in times of crisis that it aspires to be.”
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
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🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
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01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
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02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
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03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
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04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
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05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
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06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
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07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
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08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
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Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
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The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
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You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
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You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
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You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
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Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
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You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
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Here’s How Much Ridley Scott’s New Sci-Fi Movie Is Eyeing In Its Box-Office Debut
We’re talking, of course, about The Dog Stars. Based on a novel by Peter Heller and adapted by Mark L. Smith, the movie delivered a so-so debut at the domestic box office, finishing behind holdover hit Spider-Man: Brand New Day and even the live-action/animation hybrid Coyote vs. Acme. The movie fell short of projections, which had put its domestic debut in the low-double digits; instead, it delivered an $8 million opening weekend haul. Globally, the movie is looking at around $20 million in its first frame. Produced on a reported budget of $70 million, The Dog Stars is performing in line with Darren Aronofsky‘s Caught Stealing, which couldn’t crack the $20 million mark in its lifetime domestic run. This is a blow for Elordi, just as Caught Stealing was for his fellow up-and-comer Austin Butler. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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There’s something about refreshing our wardrobe with fresh fashion finds that has Us feeling like part of the ‘in’ crowd. We love incorporating the latest trends while also adding in staples that set the tone for our entire outfit, and we’re looking to Banana Republic’s newest fall drop for both.
We discovered the retailer’s New Arrivals Hub on a whim, uncovering rich mom blouses, easy-going pants and chic accessories that are destined to make you the most polished woman on the block. We also found on-trend pieces for fall, featuring plaid patterns, warm color palettes and soft fabrics that you can start introducing to your closet now, and wear more and more as the temperatures drop. The best part is none of our picks go past $100, so you can look and feel good about your bulk purchase (don’t worry, we’ll be buying a few, too).
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15 New Fall Finds From Banana Republic
1. Our Favorite: Combine a sleek silhouette with a flattering design, and you’ll get a high-neck top. The wrap-like style cinches at the waist to give you an hourglass appearance.
2. Everyday Essential: Your dingy, stained white tee needs an upgrade; this V-neck shirt is made with high-quality fabrics that feel soft, look crisp and appear so rich.
3. Total Reset: Chocolate brown is expected to be huge for fall, so we’re grabbing this button-up shirt in anticipation of the trend. Made with 100% cotton, this top is comfortable enough to wear right now and all through October.
4. Petite-Approved: Anyone who is 5’3″ and under knows the struggle with pants shopping, which are usually too long. These tailored culotte pants hit the sweet spot with a shorter hem, and even come in regular and petite sizing.
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5. No Brainer: You may have dozens of tank tops in your closet, but none are as elevated as this minimalist find. The main star detail is the high neckline that has a square shape for a modern, rich touch.
6. Two-in-One: Is this Banana Republic pick a cardigan or a top? If you ask Us, it’s both! We love the interesting button-loop closure and inverted V-hem that looks great layered over a tank or on its own as a shirt.
7. Slimming Staple: Peplum styles are back in fashion, and this billowy work-ready staple is proof. It reinvents your classic ‘going out top’ into an office-appropriate style with a button front, pleats and a flattering waist.
8. Mix and Match:Satin skirts are a must for fall, especially in this rich dark brown hue. Style it the NYC way with a classic white tee and sneakers, or the rich mom way with a mock-neck top and kitten heels.
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9. Top Seller: With over 150 positive ratings, it’s clear shoppers are obsessed with these polished pull-on pants. They’re fitted at the waist and thigh before extending out to at the pant hem for the most flattering and elegant look.
10. Soft Statement: Sometimes you don’t need a large bag to get you out the door. For those moments, opt for this swanky leather coin purse that can hold your credit cards, I.D. and cash.
11. Low-Key Genius: Whether you style this denim shirt as your top or as a layer, you’re bound to look effortlessly cool. The light-wash find is great for everything from brunches in the Upper East Side to shopping in Soho.
12. Comfort MVP: Travel days call for comfortable clothes, but that doesn’t mean looking sloppy. These pull-on pants understand the assignment with a relaxed fit, tapered leg and autumnal hue that feels on trend.
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13. Instant Upgrade: A sleek leather belt has the power to take your outfit from cute to magazine-worthy. This fall suede belt has been patiently waiting to make its appearance.
14. Anything But Basic: Shorts may not sound inherently ‘fall,’ but this burnt cinnamon brown style will make you reconsider. The satin fabric and lace trim are two autumnal details that are set to be huge this year.
15. Playful Pattern: Plaid shirts are a given; however, we’re swooning over this mesh turtleneck option that acts as a fun layering piece. Style it over a simple bralette or under an apron dress — the choice is up to you.
Welcome to summer with our biggest sale of the year. This summer’s chicest dresses, tops and swimsuits are all over 30% + free shipping. Inventory is limited so hurry before they’re gone.
Fall fashion is all about warm hues, interesting textures and gold-tone embellishments that make clean, classy outfits look positively rich. The same goes for your footwear, which is why brown flat shoes are expected to be everywhere this fall — and we’re already seeing signs of it ahead of the season. Ballet flats, Mary Janes, […]
Keyshia Cole shared footage from Skrilla’s recording of her Philadelphia concert on Thursday, August 27, capturing the singer’s warm welcome to the city and the audience singing along during the show.
Keyshia Cole shared footage from her concert at The Dell Music Center in Philadelphia on Thursday night on her Instagram Stories, showing her receiving a huge bouquet of pink flowers upon her arrival.
Cole was also gifted a pink cake that read “Welcome to PHILLY KC,” and the text over the clip read, “I love it here.” The footage also includes the audience singing along with Cole as she performed her 2005 smash hit, ‘Love.’
Fans React To Cole’s Philly Video
Fans reacted to the video in TSR’s Instagram comment section, and Roomies remarked on everything from Cole’s performance to the weight of her flower bouquet.
User @therealmrsbennett wrote, “I was there last night she killed it🙌🏾🙌🏾.”
@_iaokoyim added, “If y’all have never seen Keyshia live, I’d say go see her whenever she comes to your city. She’s such an incredible performer. And her mic is ON! 🔥.”
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User @livinglifeporsh wrote, “Those flowers are everything.”
@micheleburrell added, “We had so much fun at that show last night! We love you girl!”
User @therealsusiecarmichael__ noted that it had been some time since ‘Love’ came out. “The fact the song hit the same 20 YEARS later is a flex 🔥.”
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@m.carter39 joked, “Flower guy just wanted her to show him where to put them heavy ass flowers 😂.”
User @99.1kitchen__ added, “He look like a strong toddler carrying the ottoman across the living room.”
@msnellyboo wrote, “Philly don’t play about our girl KC.”
User @bhabhi_manyaa added, “Philly always shows love to the legends! Beautiful welcome ❤️🌹.”
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Skrilla Performed At Cole’s Son’s Birthday Party
The ‘Soul Snatchin’ artist and Cole shared their blossoming romance on Instagram last month, and Skrilla recently performed at the birthday party for Cole’s 7-year-old son, Tobias Khale.’
The rapper, whose real name is Jemille Marrail Edward, performed his track ‘6, 7’ in footage shared by Live Bitez. The video was captioned, “Keyshia Cole’s new man, Skrilla, grabbed the mic at her son Tobias Khale’s birthday celebration.”
Having experienced tremendous success in recent months with mid-budget tentpoles, Netflix is hoping to keep the streak going with this week’s new release. The streamer pivoted away from mega-budget films such as The Electric State, Red Notice, and 6 Underground, and has recently been focusing on smaller-scale projects. This year alone, Netflix has delivered several movies — this list includes Apex, Thrash, and The Rip — that have generated more than 100 million views. The sci-fi action movie War Machine, starringAlan Ritchson, has emerged as one of the streamer’s all-time hits with more than 150 million views.
This week, the streamer debuted a new psychological thriller headlined by actors with proven pull. The movie in question, starring Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, and Michelle Monaghan, immediately jumped to the top of the streamer’s viewership charts, overtaking the holdover hits Don’t Say Good Luck and The Last House. The latter title, a sci-fi thriller starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura, has already amassed more than 70 million views in three weeks, proving that Netflix’s new strategy is working. The Last House succeeded despite poor reviews; it now holds a 22% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The site’s consensus reads, “The Last House drags a capable cast through an increasingly repetitive narrative without delivering the suspense or thematic depth its premise demands.”
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Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky
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Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you’re not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.
🏕️Jason
🔪Michael
💤Freddy
🎈Pennywise
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🪆Chucky
Advertisement
01
Something feels wrong. You can’t explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty.
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02
Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.
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03
What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn’t account for. What’s yours?
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04
What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it.
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05
You’re with a group when things start going wrong. What’s your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn’t.
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06
What’s the horror movie mistake you’re most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not.
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07
What’s your best weapon against something that can’t be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it.
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08
It’s the final scene. You’re the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What’s yours?
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Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
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Camp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.
He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategise, doesn’t adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.
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Haddonfield, Illinois · Halloween
Michael Myers
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.
But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.
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Elm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street
Freddy Krueger
Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.
You are harder to destabilise than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven’t looked away.
The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.
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Derry, Maine · It
Pennywise
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise’s worst nightmare.
It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.
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Chicago · Child’s Play
Chucky
Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.
You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.
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Netflix’s New Movie Has Received Mixed Reviews
Netflix’s latest mid-budget release, The Whisper Man, has received better reviews, but only slightly. It now holds a 42% score on Rotten Tomatoes, while Collider’s David Caballero compared it to serial killer movies of the 1990s such as Copycat and The Bone Collector. He wrote in his review that the film “doesn’t exactly reinvent the formula or offer anything particularly fresh, but it’s a solid and extremely eerie watch nonetheless.” Directed by James Ashcroft and based on a bestselling novel by Alex North, The Whisper Man has cemented itself as the number-one hit on Netflix both domestically and worldwide. According to FlixPatrol, The Whisper Man also beat out the recent word-of-mouth hit Facing El Chapo, a crime-thriller from Mexico based on true events. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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The older I get, the looser I want my clothes to fit. Can anyone else relate? That’s probably why I’ve fallen in love with trapeze dresses. This unique dress style fits narrow at the shoulders, then flares out into a wide A-line cut resembling a tent. The resulting styles are simple but have dramatic movement and are, frankly, so fun to wear.
Most people save their trapeze dresses for vacation, but they can — and should — be worn year-round. See what I mean with the following whimsical trapeze dresses from Nordstrom, Amazon, Quince and more.
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13 Breezy Trapeze Silhouettes That’ll Have You Ditching Bodycon
1. Patterns Galore: The bolder the better with trapeze dresses, and this Amazon style offers 16 vibrant motifs that are begging to be worn on your next trip.
2. Dreamy Stripes: You might think that stripes on a loose-fitting dress would be overwhelming, but this lively style is what preppy dreams are made of.
3. More Modest: Prefer to keep your shoulders covered? Well, this short-sleeved trapeze dress has got you covered (literally), and it has a pretty ruffle hem to boot.
4. Lots of Give: I didn’t know that silk could be stretchy, but Quince created the ultimate shiny washable silk trapeze dress that will move with you through countless life phases.
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5. Time to Ditch Leggings: If you love being comfy at home — who doesn’t? — you’ll live in this breezy cotton gauze maxi that’s more enjoyable to wear than your average pair of leggings.
6. So Professional: Unleash your inner boss lady with this crisp collared trapeze mini. All you need is some chunky loafers to complete the look.
7. Go Boxy: The square neck on this boxy trapeze mini dress creates a unique shape — and the sunny orange hue ensures this will turn heads.
8. The Perfect Length: Our favorite trapeze dress combo is vibrant colors and a hem that hits right at your shin, just like this chiffon halter design.
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9. Summer Forever: The animated yellow hue of this pleated trapeze dress makes Us wish it could be summer forever.
10. Technicolor: Be the rainbow! It’s impossible to feel sad when you’re wearing this strapless pleated maxi.
11. Show a Little Skin: We love the high neck on this plaid trapeze mini, but the plunging open back is our favorite feature.
12. Boho Forever: With a blue paisley design and flowing panels, this is the ultimate boho-inspired trapeze dress.
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13. Party in the Back: This nude trapeze dress has a little secret that reveals itself as soon as you turn around — a plunging back sealed with a bow.
Welcome to summer with our biggest sale of the year. This summer’s chicest dresses, tops and swimsuits are all over 30% + free shipping. Inventory is limited so hurry before they’re gone.
The brilliant Nicolas Cageis never far from a headline story, although his most recent will leave him frustrated. It was confirmed at the end of July that writer Simon Afram (Lear Rex) — who had penned Cage’s upcoming British WWII thriller Fortitude, directed by Simon West (Con Air) — had filed a $105 million lawsuit against Netflix. This is after an accusation that a digital cinema package delivered to Netflix headquarters back in June had been stolen, with Afram arguing that the value of the film has been jeopardized by the crime.
But legal issues surrounding one of his upcoming projects shouldn’t overshadow the other exciting work in Cage’s pipeline, including confirmation that the long-rumored third National Treasure film is officially moving forward. According to Jon Turteltaub, a third National Treasure movie has been officially greenlit, with the director saying, “It’s finally real. Now, it’s Hollywood real, meaning things could happen.” So ahead of a long-awaited third installment of Cage’s answer to Indiana Jones, why not check out a recent entry into his filmography that, after an abysmal theatrical run, faded into obscurity, despite receiving pre-release buzz due to its bonkers concept?
The film in question is The Carpenter’s Son, released in 2025, which blends a biblical story with horror stylings to create a film that you won’t quite believe is unfolding before your very eyes. Sadly, it proved too divisive for most critics, scoring generally negative reviews and being called not “to everybody’s taste” in Aidian Kelley‘s review for Collider. If you prefer your Cage movies strange and want to give this movie a try, then you can stream The Carpenter’s Son for free on Plex, starting September 1, 2026.
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Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky
Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you’re not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.
🏕️Jason
🔪Michael
💤Freddy
Advertisement
🎈Pennywise
🪆Chucky
Advertisement
01
Something feels wrong. You can’t explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty.
Advertisement
02
Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.
Advertisement
03
What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn’t account for. What’s yours?
Advertisement
04
What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it.
Advertisement
05
You’re with a group when things start going wrong. What’s your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn’t.
Advertisement
06
What’s the horror movie mistake you’re most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not.
Advertisement
07
What’s your best weapon against something that can’t be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it.
Advertisement
08
It’s the final scene. You’re the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What’s yours?
Advertisement
Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
Advertisement
Camp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.
Advertisement
He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategise, doesn’t adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.
Haddonfield, Illinois · Halloween
Michael Myers
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.
Advertisement
But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.
Elm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street
Freddy Krueger
Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.
Advertisement
You are harder to destabilise than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven’t looked away.
The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.
Derry, Maine · It
Pennywise
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
Advertisement
The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise’s worst nightmare.
It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.
Chicago · Child’s Play
Chucky
Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.
Advertisement
You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.
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What Is Nicolas Cage’s Next Movie?
Nicolas Cage in ‘The Carpenter’s Son’Image via Magnolia Pictures
Next up for Cage fans is the sports biopic, Madden, with the Academy Award winner portraying the titular voice of football alongside Christian Bale, who portrays the late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. Directed by five-time Academy Award nominee David O. Russell, the film is slated for release on Prime Video on November 18, where it is sure to prove an enormous streaming hit.
You can stream The Carpenter’s Son for free on Plex, starting September 1, 2026. Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming stories.
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Release Date
November 14, 2025
Runtime
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94 Minutes
Director
Lotfy Nathan
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Writers
Lotfy Nathan
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Producers
Nicolas Cage, Riccardo Maddalosso, Elena Novakovits, Julie Viez, Alex Hughes
NLE Choppa prompted online dismay on Friday, August 28, after he apologized to his ex-fiancée, Erica Raven, on Instagram. The rapper, whose real name is Bryson LaShun Potts, apologized in the video for “mishandling” Raven. The reality TV star revealed the end of their engagement with a video earlier this month.
NLE Choppa has fans cuttin’ up after he shared an apology video to his ex-fiancée on Friday, former ‘Baddies Gone Wild’ star Erica Raven.
The ‘Go Stupid’ artist apologized in the clip for “mishandling” Raven, and fans quickly ate his tail up in TSR’s comment section.
Raven revealed the end of their engagement with a video earlier this month, and the ‘Capo‘ artist shared a video of him proposing in front of a Christmas tree last December with an apology. The post also included a photograph montage of the couple and a close-up shot of her humongous engagement ring.
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“I apologize for not living up to this picture ❤️🩹,” he wrote. “The sweetest girl ever. it’s no excuse for me mishandling you. I’m accountable, I can be better, and I’m man enough to admit that.”
He continued, “I feel stripped, I lost several things that’s fulfilled my heart I refuse to lose you….”
“Don’t let me go, not yet, don’t give up on me yet pretty girl I’m learning ❤️🩹.I’ll never be coward and not fight for you. Forget the ego & pride death to me today if u say I lost you. What’s life without u I love u ❤️🩹.”
Potts, who has said that he prefers non-monogamous relationships, even brought his granny into it.
“My grandma mad at me about this cause she know you the one,” he added. “She knows you’re special. I watched her have a successful marriage with my papa so I know it’s possible! I wanna do this for Malcom & Diana.. rest in peace to my grandfather 🐦🔥…. Husband and Wife soon to be 💍.”
Fans Advise Erica Raven To Run
After the apology was shared on TSR’s Instagram page, Roomies had little empathy for the rapper. Several tore his tail up despite his pleas, while others provided advice for Raven.
User @jusdaze was unimpressed by the artist’s plea. “I’m going to store y’all need sumn?”
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@secretlifeofbriskiii wrote, “Oh please lemmy.”
User @usbhappi_ noted, “This is manipulation. Bye..”
@wabisabrina was also not impressed. “What does mishandling mean? Is she a bag of groceries 🙄.”
User @diamond_pwincess97 added, “Girl runnnnnnnn.”
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@yesiamthesh*t wrote, “They’re always apologetic until you take them back. some blocks aren’t meant to spin. you’ll be alright.”
User @sweetieeess_ added, “He one sorry as 🥷😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.”
@krysy.b wrote, “Always looking a damn second chance, get it TF together the first time 🙄👎🏽.”
@itsquooo added, “Boooo Erica run bookie 😂.”
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User @julietdonna_ predicted, “He’ll be back doing what he apologized for in 2 business days.”
@since_we_being_honest added, “Naw girl run 😭.”
@mbiiini replied, “Nah Just an art of narcissistic kinda apologies. Run for hills sis.”
Raven Shared A Video Following The Canceled Engagement
Raven shared a video on Instagramon Thursday, August 6, explaining that she was moving forward without her fiancé. The video was in response to questions about the status of her relationship with NLE Choppa.
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She didn’t mention “mishandling” in the footage, but she captioned the post, “pray for me 🙏🏼💔.”
“I did the best to be the best fiancée,” she said. “And I showed up as much as I can. I gave as much love as I can. But sometimes, it’s just not enough. So, I will be moving forward by my lonesome, focusing on myself. I’m sending him support. I’m sending him prayers.”
“There’s no ill will,” she continued. “But, I just gotta focus on me now. It’s been very hard for me. It’s been a very rough 3 weeks. And I’m just trying to push through and regain control of my sh*t. You know? Please send me some support. Please send me some love. Woman-to-woman, like, we all be going through this. I’m only 23, so it’s been hard. But, we’re gonna keep pushing. And we’re gonna focus on ourselves now.”
What is now understood as the Young Adult (YA) genre started to take shape between the 1940s and 1960s, officially popularized as more of a categorization label by library associations in the 1960s for readers between the ages of 12 and 18. It was the publication of groundbreaking books like The Outsidersby the late ’60s that began to cement this as a true literary genre, one perfect to get tweens and teens to see the beauty of reading.
YA books tend to include teenage protagonists and fast-paced plots, dealing with themes like romance, identity, self-exploration, and coming-of-age elements. Throughout history, there have been several great YA novels—but there are eight in particular that are absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in better understanding the history, evolution, and true nature of this genre. These aren’t necessarily YA’s best, but rather the most important, influential, and impactful book in the genre’s history.
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8
‘Twilight’ (2005)
Image via Hachette Livre International
Some love it, some hate it, but no one can claim to be a true diehard fan of young adult literature if they’ve never at least attempted to read Twilight. It was an idea that came to Stephenie Meyer in a dream. So, with a degree in English literature, no experience as an author, and the influences of authors like Jane Austen and William Shakespeare, she set out to write what is now easily the most culturally significant book about vampires of the young adult genre.
It truly had an indelible impact on the YA category as a whole.
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The mere reason that Twilight stirs up such ardent conversations whenever it is brought up would be reason enough to make it an essential read, but on top of that, it truly had an indelible impact on the YA category as a whole. An immense bestseller and the beginning of an equally successful book series, Twilight may not be the best-written romance novel the world has ever seen, but it sure is a must-read nonetheless. It spawned a vampire genre boom that’s arguably still going to this day, it proved the market power of YA literature aimed at a female demographic, and it led generations of young people to fall in love with reading.
7
‘The Fault in Our Stars’ (2012)
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John Green is a deeply significant and impactful figure in the world of young adult literature, and his entire bibliography should be considered essential reading for all those who love the genre. There is little room for any arguments, however, against the fact that his most foundational novel is The Fault in Our Stars. Green was inspired by his experiences working in a children’s hospital, and dedicated the book to his friend Esther Earl, who died of thyroid cancer at the age of 16. The subject matter alone is enough to make this one of the most heartbreaking books of all time, but that’s precisely why it’s a must-read.
Before The Fault in Our Stars was published, the YA market seemed to be obsessed with works of speculative fiction in the same vein as Twilight. As soon as Green’s masterpiece hit bookstore shelves, however, young readers realized that there were also YA novels out there full of raw, realistic, painfully honest emotion and romance. More realistic fiction started to make its way into the saturated YA book market, and sick-lit (a subgenre where characters deal with terminal illnesses or mental health struggles) was catapulted into the stratosphere in terms of popularity and reader demand.
6
‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (1999)
Image via MTV Books
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A whopping 13 years before he wrote and directed the film adaptation of the same name, Stephen Chbosky penned The Perks of Being a Wallflower, one of the best YA books of all time. The author spent over five years developing and writing the book, inspired by the memories of his own teenage years and interested in topics like sexuality, drug use, mental illness, and sexual abuse. The book deals with these topics in such a mature and open way that it has been banned across several schools in the United States.
But though it’s definitely for young adults who lean more toward the “adult” side than the “young” side, Perks of Being a Wallflower is a must-read nonetheless. Itcompletely redefined how YA fiction dealt with these kinds of complex issues, proving that the genre could make powerful statements on the messier things that are on pretty much all teenage readers’ minds. On top of breaking taboos in all sorts of powerful ways, the novel tapped into elements of ’90s teen culture and counterculture in manners that have continued to age like fine wine.
5
‘The Giver’ (1993)
Image via Clarion Books
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Well before the boom in popularity that the dystopian subgenre of YA saw throughout the 2010s came Lois Lowry‘s The Giver, set in a universe that at first appears to be utopian but is gradually revealed to actually be entirely dystopian. Throughout the years, critics and scholars have deeply studied the way it talks about things like religion, eugenics, racism, and other nuanced topics in ways that are undeniably complex but still perfectly suited for younger readers. Because of that, The Giver is often praised as one of the best novels for teenage readers ever written.
Labeled by Variety as “the godmother of dystopian YA fiction,” Lowry created in The Giver a masterpiece that completely revolutionized fiction for young readers forever. Before The Giver, the publishing industry assumed that only adult readers could understand and appreciate the layers and complexity of dystopian fiction. With the success of Lowry’s magnum opus, things changed. The depth with which the author approaches sociopolitical themes and dark philosophical questions had never been seen in YA literature before, challenging the paradigms that had been held on the genre for years.
4
‘The Outsiders’ (1967)
Image via Viking Press
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Seeing as so many people point to it as the origin point of true YA literature, saying that S. E. Hinton‘s coming-of-age novel The Outsiders is essential reading is the understatement of the century. Indeed, it’s one of the best coming-of-age books of all time, the source material for an awfully underrated movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It’s already a phenomenal-enough work of fiction on paper, but what makes it all the more admirable is that Hinton started writing the book when she was 15, wrote the bulk of it when she was 16, and saw it published when she was 18.
The Outsiders was significantly controversial upon publication, due to its use of strong language and depiction of taboo topics.
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Much like history’s best YA books, The Outsiders was significantly controversial upon publication, due to its use of strong language and depiction of taboo topics like gang violence and underage drinking and smoking. Even to this day, it continues to be one of the most widely debated YA books ever written. After The Outsiders, literary depictions of youth and teenagers acquired a level of raw realism and grittiness that they had never seen before.
3
‘The Golden Compass’ (1995)
Image via Knopf Books for Young Readers
Even though Philip Pullman wrote the His Dark Materialstrilogy without any specific target demographic in mind, the industry has since dealt with these phenomenal books almost exclusively as YA fantasy. That means that Northern Lights (titled The Golden Compass in the United States) is one ofthe greatest, most important, and most influential works of YA that not just fantasy, but all of literature has ever seen.
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One of those fantasy books that are a masterclass in world-building, The Golden Compass proved that YA fantasy could explore incredibly deep philosophical, scientific, and theological ideas while still remaining entirely teen-friendly. Indeed, to this day, the book’s distinctly anti-organized-religion messaging mean that it’s still one of the most controversial novels YA has ever seen, which only makes it all the more of a must-read. In its taboo-breaking, The Golden Compass questioned the dogmas not just of the Catholic faith, but of its very genres.
2
‘The Hunger Games’ (2008)
Image via Scholastic Corporation
Saying that The Hunger Gameshelped launch dystopian YA to levels of popularity authors had only ever dreamt of before, or that it helped turn YA into a powerhouse genre in the publishing industry, would both be tremendous understatements. Suzanne Collins‘ whole trilogy was unprecedentedly popular and had a level of influence on the genre that can still be seen and felt to this day, but the original book in particular changed YA literature as a whole forever.
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Constantly imitated but never matched—neither in its quality nor in its pop-cultural impact—, The Hunger Games transformed YA into a true commercial juggernaut, even outside of the world of literature. And the best part? On top of being culturally significant, it’s a genuinely phenomenal piece of dystopian action literature, handling dark and complex topics with a level of depth and maturity that even older readers should be able to appreciate. It’s fast-paced, it’s action-packed, it’s romantic without ever being saccharine, and it’s easily one of the most essential works of YA writing in history.
1
‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ (2000)
The original cover of Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireImage via Bloomsbury Publishing
With Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J. K. Rowling didn’t just revolutionize Middle Grade (MG) fantasy, but all of fantasy literature and the publishing industry as a whole. And as its two sequels continued selling a volume of novels that the world had rarely ever seen before, it seemed that there was nowhere the series could keep going other than up. Up, indeed, it went, with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Firegradually taking the saga away from MG territory and steadily into introductory YA grounds.
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This is far and away one of the most fun fantasy books of all time, a masterpiece that’s probably the single best way for a young reader between the ages of 10 and 14 to transition from MG literature to YA—which isn’t to say that Goblet of Fire is exclusively for kids, because it’s such a phenomenal and culturally impactful novel that anyone and everyone who loves fantasy should check it out at least once. Rowling completely rewrote the rules of the YA publishing market with this one, just as she had done with the MG market three years prior.
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Collider Exclusive · The Sorting Hat Awaits Which Hogwarts House Are You? Gryffindor · Slytherin · Hufflepuff · Ravenclaw
Four houses. One destiny. The Sorting Hat has considered thousands of students — now it’s your turn. Answer honestly and discover where you truly belong at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
🦁Gryffindor
🐍Slytherin
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🦡Hufflepuff
🦅Ravenclaw
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01
What quality do you value most in yourself? Answer as honestly as you can — the Hat always knows.
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02
A friend is being treated unfairly. What do you do? How you protect others says everything about who you are.
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03
What does success look like to you? What you’re working toward defines who you’re becoming.
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04
What is your greatest fear? Fear is the most honest thing about a person.
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05
The rules say no. Your gut says go. What do you do? Every institution has rules. What you do with them is a choice.
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06
What kind of friend are you? Who you are to the people you love is who you really are.
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07
You look into the Mirror of Erised. What do you see? The mirror shows the deepest desire of your heart.
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08
The Sorting Hat pauses. It whispers: “You could do well in any house. But what matters most to you — truly?” This is your tiebreaker. The Hat always listens.
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The Sorting Hat Speaks Your House Has Been Chosen
After careful deliberation, the Sorting Hat has made its decision. This is the house your values, your instincts, and your particular way of being in the world were made for.
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Gryffindor Tower · Scarlet & Gold
🦁 Gryffindor
You have nerve. Not the reckless kind, but the deep, quiet courage that shows up even when you’re terrified — especially then.
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Gryffindors don’t act because they’re fearless — they act because they understand that some things are worth being afraid for.
You stand up for people when it would be easier to look away.
You charge toward what’s right even when the odds are terrible.
Harry, Hermione, Ron — the heroes of Hogwarts’s greatest chapter — all called the tower with the scarlet and gold home. And now, so do you.
Slytherin Dungeon · Emerald & Silver
🐍 Slytherin
You are driven, sharp, and utterly clear-eyed about what you want and how to get there.
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Slytherin has long been misunderstood — painted as the house of villains when it is, at its best, the house of those who refuse to accept limits placed on them by others.
You are resourceful, strategic, and you play the long game.
You know your worth. You protect your own fiercely.
The dungeon common room with its view of the Black Lake is yours — and the ambitions that will take you further than anyone expects are yours too.
Hufflepuff Basement · Yellow & Black
🦡 Hufflepuff
You are the kind of person that makes the world genuinely better just by being in it.
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Hufflepuff is not the “safe” house or the “leftover” house — it is the house of those with the greatest heart and the most unwavering integrity.
You show up. You work hard. You don’t need glory or recognition — you do what’s right because it’s right.
Your loyalty never wavers, even when tested.
Nymphadora Tonks, Cedric Diggory, Newt Scamander — some of the wizarding world’s finest. And now you join them.
Ravenclaw Tower · Blue & Bronze
🦅 Ravenclaw
Your mind is your greatest gift, and you’ve always known it.
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Ravenclaws are the thinkers, the questioners, the ones who find a puzzle irresistible and a good book better company than most people.
Ravenclaw is not merely about intelligence — it’s about the love of learning, the pursuit of truth, and the rare courage to admit you don’t know something yet.
You see the world with unusual clarity and depth.
Luna Lovegood, Filius Flitwick, Rowena Ravenclaw herself — all extraordinary, all original. And so are you.
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