TITLE: 30 Years On, Urbanworld Film Festival Taps Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood as Ambassadors
KEYWORD: urbanworld film festival
DESCRIPTION: Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood return as ambassadors of the 30th Urbanworld Film Festival, running Oct. 14-18 in New York City.

The Urbanworld Film Festival is marking its 30th anniversary by turning to two of its most loyal alumni, naming married filmmakers Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood as festival ambassadors for the milestone 2026 edition, set to run Oct. 14-18 in New York City.

The announcement, reported by The Hollywood Reporter, caps a long relationship between the couple and the festival, which has served for three decades as a launching pad for Black and multicultural storytellers in film and television. Prince-Bythewood first brought her adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees to Urbanworld in 2008, and her romance drama Beyond the Lights opened the festival in 2014. Reggie Rock Bythewood has his own history with the event, screening ESPN’s 30 for 30 installment “One Night in Vegas” in 2010 and the BET movie Gun Hill in 2013. The pair also returned together in 2023 in support of NatGeo’s Genius: MLK/X.

A Homecoming Built Into the Urbanworld Film Festival’s DNA

“Urbanworld has been a consistent touchstone for filmmakers to bring our stories, connect with our community and support the next generation, and it has always felt like home for us,” the Bythewoods said in a joint statement. “We’re honored to return as festival ambassadors to celebrate 30 years of Urbanworld while sharing what’s next. Art over fear.”

That sentiment echoes the festival’s founding purpose. Urbanworld was launched in 1997 by Stacy Spikes as a platform dedicated to championing established and emerging multicultural voices in independent film. Nearly 30 years later, Spikes says that mission remains unchanged, and bringing back two of the festival’s most recognizable success stories underscores how far those early relationships have carried.

“Gina and Reggie have been part of the Urbanworld story for many years, and having them return together as festival ambassadors is a powerful way to celebrate our 30th anniversary,” Spikes said. “Urbanworld has always been about creating a platform for artists to tell their stories, build community, and open doors for those coming behind them.”

What the Ambassadors Will Bring to the Festival

As ambassadors, the Bythewoods will headline special programming at The New School, which serves as Urbanworld’s Innovation Summit partner, offering festivalgoers an intimate look at their personal and creative evolution over more than two decades in the industry. The festival will also include a dedicated spotlight on Prince-Bythewood’s upcoming film adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling novel Children of Blood and Bone, screening ahead of its Jan. 15, 2027 theatrical release at Regal Union Square, Urbanworld’s host theater.

Festival director Verona Cesair Jones, who is leading Urbanworld for the first time this year, called the pairing a reflection of what the festival stands for. “Gina and Reggie represent the caliber of artists and storytellers we want to celebrate at Urbanworld,” Jones said. “Their work, leadership and commitment to storytelling have made an undeniable impact on our industry. As I begin my first year leading the festival and Urbanworld celebrates 30 years, we’re proud to honor them as our festival ambassadors and give them their flowers.”

For a festival built on giving overlooked storytellers a stage, the symbolism of bringing back two of its earliest champions for the anniversary edition is hard to miss. The Urbanworld Film Festival has long positioned itself as more than a screening series — a community hub where emerging filmmakers rub shoulders with established names who once stood in their shoes. With Prince-Bythewood and Bythewood now returning as ambassadors, that cycle comes full circle just as Urbanworld looks ahead to its next three decades.

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Netflix’s The Witcher is one of the streamer’s most popular fantasy series, with four action-packed seasons following Geralt (Henry Cavill and Liam Hemsworth), Ciri (Freya Allan), and Yennefer (Anya Chalotra) through a tumultuous adventure. Season 5 is now expected in 2027, after a delay, with Netflix previously confirming that it will wrap up the story. While the impending conclusion means fans will soon say goodbye to these beloved characters, it’s not really the end because the Netflix show is only a fraction of the larger Witcher franchise.

Fans may think they know the story after keeping up with The Witcher since 2019, but that is only one adaptation, with Andrzej Sapkowski‘s books also having been made into a video game series. Now, a new version has joined the rest, with Orbit set to release full-cast audiobooks that will offer something different for fans of the franchise, whether they started with the Netflix series, the games, or the books.

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‘The Witcher’ Is Getting a Full-Cast Audiobook

This newest version of The Witcher is an exciting prospect, though it will be released in chronological order according to the story rather than mirroring the books’ original publication order. The audiobooks will kick off with Crossroads of Ravens, a more recent addition to the series published in English only last year that follows an 18-year-old Geralt in his early days as a Witcher. Only Crossroads of Ravens‘ full-cast audiobook is currently available for preorder, but The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, the next stories in the timeline, are expected to be released this November, with even more of the series to follow in 2027.

These audiobook releases will provide a new way for fans to enjoy the story, but they also allow for new additions to the world. Once again, fans will meet a brand new Geralt, with Vikings: Valhalla‘s Sam Stafford taking over the role. Joining him are Richard Armitage as Preston Holt, Clare Corbett as Nenneke, and Tom Alexander as Artamon of Asguth, as well as the narrator of previous Witcher audiobooks, Peter Kenny.

‘The Witcher’s Full-Cast Audiobooks Will Tell a New Version of the Story

Full-cast audiobooks have become a growing trend, with examples like GraphicAudio’s Fourth Wing or Audible’s Harry Potter paving the way. The Witcher joining such well-loved titles not only puts it at the forefront of this expanding medium but also confirms the books’ enduring power. These audiobooks make the experience more immersive by giving characters distinct voices and often adding sound effects. For The Witcher, this release represents another way to introduce the story to new fans, and that is an exciting prospect.

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Like the Netflix series, this audiobook is a performance that allows the actors to bring their own take to Sapkowski’s iconic characters, but its format immediately sets it apart from the series or games. With the stories coming directly from Sapkowski’s books, the audiobooks will also avoid the changes Netflix made in the adaptation process that frustrated many longtime fans. Ultimately, this immersive experience is perfect for both newcomers who have been meaning to read the books and those who already love them and want to experience them in an entirely new format.

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Release Date

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December 20, 2019

Network

Netflix

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Directors

Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O’Gorman

Writers

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Haily Hall, Clare Higgins, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Jenny Klein, Tania Lotia

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Nearly four decades after it hit cinemas, The Name of the Rose is still producing stories almost as strange as its plot, and the latest batch comes straight from the people who lived through the shoot. In a candid new oral history, director Jean-Jacques Annaud and actor Ron Perlman have pulled back the curtain on the making of the 1986 medieval murder mystery, revealing a production as chaotic and theatrical as the film itself.

Adapted from Umberto Eco’s dense, cerebral bestseller about monks battling over a lost fragment of Aristotle, The Name of the Rose was never an obvious candidate for a glossy studio adaptation. Yet Annaud, fresh off directing Perlman in the prehistoric drama Quest for Fire, became obsessed with the novel after reading glowing reviews out of Italy. He tracked down Eco himself, picking the author up from a Paris hotel for a drive to the airport and peppering him with questions about monastic footwear and the colour of medieval pigs. Eco’s answer was characteristically dry: he hadn’t bothered writing any of that detail into the book, so he had no idea either.

Casting The Name of the Rose: Connery’s knock on the door

Annaud wanted an unknown for the lead role of William of Baskerville, the Franciscan friar turned detective, and spent months scouting theatre productions around the world for the right face. But Hollywood agent Mike Ovitz had other ideas, repeatedly pitching Sean Connery for the part. The decision was effectively made for Annaud when Connery showed up at his hotel room door, screenplay tucked under his arm, and simply began performing the dialogue. According to Annaud, it was exactly the voice he’d heard in his head while reading Eco’s novel, and the casting was settled on the spot.

The rest of the ensemble came together just as unpredictably. A teenage Christian Slater turned up to audition for the young novice Adso having, by his own admission, skipped learning his lines in favour of getting drunk beforehand. The casting director was ready to throw him out until it emerged the unruly teenager was in fact her own son — and Annaud cast him anyway, convinced he had found something real. Slater’s on-screen love interest, meanwhile, was decided the instant he met actor Valentina Vargas in a screen test; Annaud never even auditioned the other two women he had shortlisted.

Spit takes, fire and a building sold mid-shoot

For Perlman, cast as the grotesque, half-feral Salvatore, the film demanded a level of physical commitment that went well beyond ordinary acting. In one notorious scene, he was required to spit directly in Connery’s face. Perlman found himself unable to fake the gesture convincingly, prompting Connery to pull him aside with blunt advice: if he didn’t actually spit, they would be shooting the scene all day. Perlman obliged — and then kept obliging, delivering real spit takes some 16 times over as the crew worked through retakes.

Built almost entirely on a custom hilltop set near Rome, the production of The Name of the Rose had its share of genuine danger too. During the climactic blaze that consumes the abbey’s library, Connery’s cowl briefly caught fire, and a falling timber struck 80-year-old actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr, who played a blind monk, knocking him to the ground. According to Annaud, Chaliapin’s first concern upon being helped up was not his own safety but whether the take had been any good — he was hospitalised and the shooting schedule had to be rearranged around his injury.

Even the business side of the production had its own drama. After four months shooting in Rome, Annaud returned to his production office in Munich only to discover it gone — producer Bernd Eichinger had quietly sold the building mid-shoot to help cover the film’s costs, something he hadn’t wanted to mention while filming was under way.

Taken together, the recollections paint The Name of the Rose as a production held together by improvisation, stubbornness and no small amount of luck — a fitting backstory for a film about monks arguing over forbidden knowledge inside a burning library. Decades on, it remains a touchstone for Perlman, Connery’s final word to him on set, and a vivid reminder of how unruly filmmaking can be even when the finished product looks meticulously composed.

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Production on Matt Reeves’ highly anticipated The Batman Part II has officially been paused.

Warner Bros. and DC Studios have temporarily halted production on the upcoming DC sequel as director Matt Reeves steps away to deal with a family matter.

“Production on The Batman Part II has been temporarily paused while Matt Reeves focuses on a family matter,” DC Studios said in a statement. “Matt has our full support, and we look forward to continuing the journey soon.”

At this time, there is no indication that the pause is related to creative issues with the film or that The Batman Part II is in danger of being canceled. The studio has specifically described the production stoppage as temporary, although no timetable has been announced for filming to resume.

The news comes as anticipation continues to build for the long-awaited follow-up to 2022’s The Batman. Robert Pattinson is set to return as Bruce Wayne/Batman, once again working with Reeves following the success of the first film.

Reeves has spent years developing the sequel, with The Batman Part II expected to continue the grounded Gotham universe established in the original movie and expanded through HBO’s The Penguin.

While a production pause naturally raises questions about the movie’s schedule, Warner Bros. and DC Studios have not announced any change to the film’s release plans as a result of Reeves’ absence.

For now, The Batman Part II remains on the way, but cameras will stay stopped while Reeves focuses on his family.

The post ‘The Batman Part II’ Production Officially Paused as Matt Reeves Steps Away appeared first on Coastal House Media.

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TITLE: Glastonbury 2027 Tickets Vanish in 42 Minutes as Price Tops £400 for First Time
KEYWORD: glastonbury tickets
DESCRIPTION: Glastonbury tickets for 2027 sold out in just 42 minutes at a record £408, leaving thousands disappointed despite a fairer queuing system.

Glastonbury tickets for the 2027 festival sold out in a mere 42 minutes on Sunday morning, as tens of thousands of hopeful fans scrambled online the moment the virtual queue opened at 09:00 BST. For many, it was over almost before it began — and for those who missed out, the wait for another shot now stretches to a resale window next spring.

The festival, returning to Worthy Farm in Somerset from 23 to 27 June after a fallow year, had already seen its coach-package tickets snapped up in under 30 minutes earlier in the week. But Sunday’s general sale was the real test, pitting thousands of browser tabs and phone screens against each other in a now-familiar digital scrum. By 09:40, organisers confirmed on Instagram that every ticket had gone, thanking buyers and apologising to the many who were left staring at a “sold out” notification instead of a confirmation email.

Record Price Doesn’t Deter Demand for Glastonbury Tickets

This year’s sale also marked a milestone of a different kind: at £408 per ticket, including the £5 booking fee, Glastonbury tickets breached the £400 barrier for the first time in the festival’s history. That’s a jump of £29.50 from the 2025 event and continues a steep post-pandemic climb — tickets cost just £185 in 2010 and £318 as recently as 2019. Despite grumbling about rising costs across the festival circuit, demand for Glastonbury tickets showed no sign of cooling.

Zoe Scott, a two-time attendee, said the price tag was “totally worth it” given the scale of what’s on offer. “You’re getting to see thousands of acts, there’s over 100 stages,” she said. “It’s such a vibe at Glastonbury — everyone’s so happy and free-spirited. You’re just on a constant high from friends, music and the sun is usually shining.”

Queuing Chaos, Lucky Breaks and Old Hacks That No Longer Work

For those glued to their screens, the morning was a mix of nerves, superstition and sheer luck. Dave, who tried from London across several device logins, said the process actually felt more even-handed than in previous years. “It seems like it’s fairer this year than it’s ever been,” he said. “All the hacks that people used to use don’t seem to have the same impact, and about a quarter of the people on the groups we are on managed to get tickets.”

Sarah, trying her luck in Dorset, stumbled onto an unlikely winning formula. “A mobile phone on 5G in Shaftesbury seemed to be the optimal way to get tickets,” she said. “We didn’t even know Shaftesbury had 5G until this morning.”

Not everyone was so fortunate. Mat Chapman had hoped to finally break a 20-year losing streak and take his daughter Amy to the festival on her 26th birthday, after once promising her a flag at the site when she was five. Instead, he described inching only from “two bar hell to three bar purgatory” before the sale closed. “There’s always next year,” he said. “We’ll fly the flag there one day.”

A Reunion, an Anniversary, and What Comes Next

Among the successful were Nick and Helen Nugget of Amersham, who met at a famously muddy Glastonbury in 2007 and will now return for their 20th wedding anniversary with the same group of friends who first brought them together. The couple last attended in 2011 and were forced to skip a successful 2019 ticket win due to an adoption in progress — making next year’s return especially meaningful.

Festival organiser Emily Eavis has yet to confirm any names on the 2027 bill, though she recently said preparations were “coming together really well.” Anyone who secured Glastonbury tickets on Sunday but fails to complete payment by the early April 2027 deadline will see their tickets released into an official resale pool, expected to open in spring. For the thousands left empty-handed this week, that resale may be the next — and perhaps last — chance to secure a place at Worthy Farm.

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What the heck are the Hecks up to these days?

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Gypsy-Rose Blanchard is channeling grief into advocacy, launching a petition that calls on social media platforms to be held accountable for how they handle online harassment following the sudden death of her partner, Ken Urker. The reality TV personality, 34, was found dead Thursday at a residence in Raceland, Louisiana, and Blanchard says cyberbullying played a significant role in his final months.

In a statement accompanying the petition, which she is calling “Kenan’s Law,” Blanchard wrote that she and Urker had repeatedly flagged abusive content across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit, only to be told time and again that the posts did not violate platform policies. “Ken made reports. I made reports. Videos were reported. Comments were reported. Posts were reported. And many times, the answer we received was: ‘No violation.’ That is the problem I want to change,” she wrote.

A Public Push Against Online Harassment

Blanchard’s petition frames the issue as one of basic humanity rather than celebrity grievance. “Being a public figure does not mean you stop being human,” she wrote. “Public figures read the comments. They see the videos. They have children. They have parents. They have families. They experience the consequences of what happens online. Fame does not erase humanity.”

Her argument strikes at a long-running tension in how tech platforms moderate content aimed at public figures. Critics of current enforcement systems have argued for years that automated moderation tools and inconsistent human review leave public figures especially exposed, since harassment directed at them is sometimes dismissed as fair commentary or criticism rather than abuse. Blanchard’s petition appears designed to challenge that distinction directly, pushing for clearer standards on what constitutes targeted online harassment versus legitimate criticism.

Details of Ken Urker’s Death Still Emerging

Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Captain Brennan Matherne confirmed that deputies responded to a call at 6:15 p.m. Thursday at a residence on Double H Drive in Raceland, where Urker was found dead. The sheriff’s office said the death investigation is ongoing, and a cause of death has not been officially released.

Blanchard addressed speculation directly in her petition, writing that Urker “recently died following a suspected overdose,” but cautioned that it remains unclear whether it was intentional. “At this time, we do not know whether the overdose was intentional, and I will not speculate about circumstances that have not been determined,” she wrote.

Urker and Blanchard shared a daughter, Aurora, and he appeared alongside her on the Lifetime reality series “Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup,” which ran for two seasons and chronicled her life following her release from prison. The relationship, and Urker’s role in it, made him a recognizable figure in his own right and, according to Blanchard, a target for sustained online abuse.

Calling for Accountability

By naming the initiative “Kenan’s Law,” Blanchard is seeking to turn personal loss into a broader policy conversation about how platforms respond to reports of abuse. Her petition does not detail specific legislative language, but its central demand is clear: that companies hosting user-generated content be required to take harassment complaints more seriously, particularly when the same accounts or behaviors are reported repeatedly without consequence.

Whether the push gains traction with lawmakers or platform executives remains to be seen, but Blanchard’s public framing, that online harassment carries real-world consequences regardless of a target’s fame, has already resonated widely since the petition’s launch, with supporters sharing her statement across the same platforms she says failed to act.

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Julianne Hough just pulled back the curtain on her beauty routine, and we should have known the Dancing With The Stars icon was hiding something good. If you’ve been eyeing Julianne’s camera-ready flutter during her hosting moments, you can stop wondering whether it’s extensions. She’s doing what the rest of us can too: swiping on a nightly serum onto her lashes and letting it work while she sleeps.

In a recent chat with Marie Claire about her wellness and beauty routine, Julianne gushed that her eyelashes are “insane now,” and the secret weapon is already sitting in many savvy medicine cabinets: Rodan + Fields Lash Boost Serum.

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“I’ve tried serums in the past, and they never worked,” the ballroom dancer added. “This didn’t change the color of my eyes either or anything like that.”

Get the Rodan + Fields R+F Lash Boost Serum for $109 (was $155) at Amazon! Please note, prices are accurate at the date of publication but are subject to change.

If you’re curious about adding Hough’s beauty secret to your routine, your timing could not be better. Rodan + Fields Lash Boost is currently 35% off for Prime Big Deal Days, bringing it down from $155 to $109. That’s the kind of markdown that makes a splurge-y conditioning serum suddenly feel very reasonable, especially one with Hough’s stamp of approval.

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Related: Hilary Duff’s Tour-Approved Eye Cream Is Key to Rested-Looking Eyes

Even when she’s busy touring the world, Hilary Duff always appears cheerful and well-rested — and her secret is a beauty hack that’s easy to copy. For her Madison Square Garden performances, the star turned to one must-have skincare staple to keep her looking bright and energized: Rodan + Fields Redefine Eye Cream. Celebrity makeup artist […]

Here’s the appeal: it’s a 5 ml tube designed for easy nightly application on both lashes and brows, supporting that fuller, longer look without the fuss of falsies or the commitment of extensions. You brush it on before bed and go to sleep. That’s the whole routine.

Shoppers who’ve tried every serum on the shelf are converts. “. . . None of them compare to this one,” one reviewer wrote, noting her lashes “have grown so much” and stayed full after nearly five months of use. Consistency is the trick, as another fan pointed out: “I put it on every single night, and it took about a month to really notice a difference, but when you do, oh baby, you notice.”

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Hough’s lashes didn’t happen overnight, and yours won’t either. But a month from now? You’ll be the one getting the “are those real?” questions. Grab the deal before Prime Big Deal Days wrap up.

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UsNow Fall Sale Alert: These chic fashion finds are up to 60% off – plus free shipping

Welcome to fall with our biggest sale of the season. Our favorite dresses, tops, handbags, and shoes are all on sale + free shipping. Inventory is limited so hurry before they’re gone.

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Kylie Jenner’s latest “Get Ready With Me” had beauty fans hitting rewind for one very specific reason. As she worked through her signature soft-glam routine, she reached for a jar that’s been quietly ruling vanities for decades: Laura Mercier’s Translucent Loose Setting Powder. Like so many of us, she relies on the same cult classic […]

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