By Jonathan Klotz and Joshua Tyler | Published 6 seconds ago

Star Wars used to be the end-all, be-all in space sci-fi, but in the years since the original trilogy, others have rushed in to fill the void left by its waning popularity. Whether you love new Star Wars or hate it, you’d probably still love more of that old-school Star Wars vibe. Luckily, there’s a way to get it.

We set out to determine which non-Star Wars movies and TV shows most capture the feel of Star Wars, while at the same time delivering the best possible spectacle and story. It’s not just a ranking of which entry is best. If it were, then Babylon 5 would be a lot closer to the top.

These are the 18 best sci-fis that are most like Star Wars, without actually being Star Wars.

18. Jupiter Ascending 

Jupiter Ascending is the only entry on this list that includes Channing Tatum playing a half-man/half-dog. There’s no hiding the fact that Jupiter Ascending is a strange movie. It was supposed to be the Wachowskis grand return to sci-fi cinema, but instead, it’s a glorious mess. 

Mila Kunis plays Jupiter, a housekeeper and secretly the Queen of Earth. The forces of House Abrasax, led by Balem, want to stop her from claiming her legacy. Eddie Redmayne’s performance as the villain may make you think he wandered in off a different, far more serious movie, but no, that’s just how uneven the tone is. 

For all of its faults, Jupiter Ascending was a throwback in 2015 to the 90s-style of sci-fi that tossed you into a strange, wonderful world, and dared you to try and keep up with it. The film doesn’t work; it’s barely coherent, visually confusing, and the acting is… questionable. And yet, Jupiter Ascending dared to be weird, it tried to do something different, and a decade of sanitized, by-the-numbers sci-fi later, it’s worth checking out for anyone sick and tired of movies developed by committee. 

17. Rebel Moon 

Zack Snyder wanted to make a Star Wars film, but Disney said no, so he went to Netflix and made Rebel Moon. Sometimes it really is that simple. George Lucas used Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress as inspiration for A New Hope, and Snyder used Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai as inspiration for Rebel Moon.

Adapting Seven Samurai is always a recipe for success. It’s a great story. A few holding out against all odds against the many? Rebel Moon is a handful against a battalion. 

It’s one of Netflix’s most expensive original movies. The streaming giant gave Snyder a blank check, and it looks like it. Rebel Moon is near the bottom of this list for a reason, but it’s worth checking out once, if for no other reason than to see Zach Snyder’s vision for Star Wars, but it’s a bit of a drag with uneven pacing and the patron saint of bad movies, Charlie Hunnam.

You can also experience the sequel, The Scargiver, which was so bad that Netflix yanked the black check out of Snyder’s hands before he could utter the words, “Trilogy.”

16. Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets

Few people in Hollywood can match the visual style of French director Luc Besson. He brought to life The Fifth Element and Scarlett Johansson’s Lucy, but his most beautiful film is Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets. Based on a French comic series, the film is packed full of stunning visuals; each world on its own would be the highlight of any other movie, but here, it’s just scene 5. 

Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne lead the cast as Federation Soldiers sucked into a decades-old conspiracy around a missing planet. The massive space station Alpha is home to over 3,000 alien species, and maintaining peace among them is a dangerous balancing act. In Valerian, the focus isn’t on Babylon 5-style politics, but on exploring different worlds and coming across a new alien species every 10 minutes, making the film a visual masterpiece. 

If your favorite part of Star Wars is the constant parade of unique and strange background aliens, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is the perfect movie for you. 

15. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

The success of Star Wars in 1977 took Hollywood by surprise and started a scramble for the next big sci-fi hit. Universal Pictures pulled the old Buck Rogers license out of mothballs and turned it into a television series, but then, six months after the series had debuted, the television pilot hit theaters as a standalone movie. 

That sounds convoluted, but then again, so does everything when it comes to Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, a film that put trade negotiations front and center decades before The Phantom Menace. NASA astronaut Buck Rogers emerges from suspended animation in the 25th century and immediately finds himself in the middle of trouble between the remaining humans on Earth, living in New Chicago, and the Draconians, an alien species secretly plotting to conquer the planet. 

The movie is again a pilot for the two-season television series, which started with Buck as a defender of New Chicago and, in season two, had him roaming the galaxy with his crew to find the lost tribes of humanity. If you were to mash the Star Wars prequels against Flash Gordon, you’d get Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

14. Babylon 5

If your favorite part of Star Wars was the Galactic Senate from the prequels, then there’s a 90s sci-fi series for you. Babylon 5 puts the focus on intergalactic politics in a way no show has before, or since. Set on a space station that houses countless alien species, all with their own goals, motivations, and ancient grudges, it’s sci-fi for the most hardcore of sci-fi fans. 

The show starts off with an attempted assassination on the Vorlon ambassador, Kosh, and Babylon 5’s commander, Jeffrey Sinclair, is the prime suspect. It’s a quaint beginning for a show that would eventually culminate in one of the best sci-fi wars ever shown on a television budget. Unlike every other show on this list, Babylon 5 was plotted from the very beginning to tell a single, cohesive story over 5 seasons. 

That right there puts it above The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker, two feature films that couldn’t agree on what story the sequel trilogy was trying to tell. 

13. Krull

It was one of the largest box office bombs in history. For decades, it was the butt of jokes. But Krull had the last laugh. Combining science fiction with fantasy, a simple rescue-the-princess plot alongside one of the coolest weapons in movie history, Krull became a cult classic. 

After The Beast interrupts Prince Colwyn’s wedding to Princess Lyssa, he sets off on a quest to win her back. The only thing in his way is the Beast’s mountainous Black Fortress and an army of Slayers. All Colwyn has is a band of magicians, thieves, including a young Liam Neeson, and a cyclops. 

The special effects don’t hold up today, the plot is as basic as it gets, but there’s no denying that Krull is a fun movie. Sometimes you don’t need 30 minutes of worldbuilding and exposition; all you need is a quest to slay an evil warlord and rescue a princess.

12. Killjoys

Say “sci-fi western” and most people think of The Mandalorian, or Firefly, but there has to be someone, at least one person out there, who thinks of Killjoys. The Canadian Sci-Fi original series aired for 5 seasons, from 2014 to 2019, and you didn’t watch a single one.

Dutch, Johnny, and Da’vin work as bounty hunters, and these three are professionals, so they don’t disintegrate any of their targets. Looking at you, Boba Fett. Over the course of 50 episodes, the trio unravels the mysteries of the universe, upends the delicate political structure, and end up saving the universe. A few times. 

When Star Wars fans were excited over the video game Star Wars: Outlaws, or the canceled 1313, what they wanted was a game that plays like Killjoys. It’s a sci-fi western about characters who aren’t exactly heroes, but unlike that other show, this one was able to tell a complete story. That and you have to love a show that uses the name, Team Awesome Force. 

11. Stargate

It’s hard to remember now, but for most of the 80s and 90s, Star Wars wasn’t a pop culture juggernaut; it was something nerds loved. During that dark period, studios tried to create their own Star Wars-style sci-fi franchises, and of all of them, Stargate found the most success. It all began with the 1995 Roland Emmerich film that sent the U.S. military through a portal to battle an Egyptian God. Surprise. It’s an alien. 

Unlike other movies on this list that throw an endless string of nonsense names and deep, unfathomable lore at viewers within the first 30 seconds, Stargate takes its time to explain what’s going on (there’s a strange portal, they go through it), why it’s important (can Ra invade Earth from his side?), and teases at why the aliens all look like they came out of Ancient Egypt. 

Stargate introduced moviegoers to a universe of infinite possibilities, and for once, it paid off with the launch of the television franchise (does this sound familiar?). Between Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe, there are 17 seasons of amazing sci-fi adventure television waiting to be discovered. Best of all, there’s a new series coming to Amazon Prime. The Stargate is opening again and now’s the time to step through. 

10. The Last Starfighter

It’s every kid’s dream. After countless hours playing a video game, it becomes real, and you get to save the universe. 1984’s The Last Starfighter is pure wish fulfillment, and it’s awesome. 

Like Star Wars: A New Hope, it follows the classic hero’s journey format. Only, instead of growing up in the desert, our future hero fighter pilot grows up in a trailer park.

Teenager Alex Rogan earns the high score in the arcade game Starfighter, not realizing it was developed by an undercover alien to locate warriors to save his planet. Alex goes from living in a trailer park to flying a real spaceship against real aliens in the span of 48 hours. 

The greatest tragedy about The Last Starfighter is that we never received a legacy sequel. 40 years later, video games are more popular than ever before. A modern-day remake would be a license to print money. Sci-fi can be wish fulfillment that exists for no other reason than to be fun and make you happy. To this day, nothing hits that mark quite like The Last Starfighter.

9. The Fifth Element

One of Bruce Willis’s best movies, The Fifth Element launched the career of Milla Jovovich, helped turn Chris Tucker into a star, and proved that well-written, visually-stunning sci-fi could become a blockbuster even in the jaded culture of the 90s. By 1997, caring about things and earnestness was considered uncool, which became a plot point in Luc Besson’s sci-fi magnum opus. How The Fifth Element earned over $290 million at the box office, and millions more through DVD sales, should be studied by upcoming filmmakers. 

The Fifth Element turned a futuristic cabbie into an unlikely savior when the reincarnation of a forgotten alien species lands on the hood of his cab. Together, the two have to stop The Great Evil from consuming Earth by overcoming Zorg, a greedy billionaire who might be the creepiest sci-fi villain of the 90s thanks to Gary Oldman’s scenery-chewing performance. 

Few films to this day are as manic as The Fifth Element, which deserves to be right up there on every sci-fi fan’s Mt. Rushmore and, in the process, delivers some of the same kinds of space thrills as Star Wars. 

8. Flash Gordon

Besides the amazing soundtrack provided by Queen, Flash Gordon is the most American sci-fi movie you’ll ever come across. A quarterback saves the universe using his football skills to take down a unit of elite guards? How awesome is that? 

Star Wars was inspired by the serials of the 1930s, and Flash Gordon was one of those serials. But it started out as a comic strip, and you can tell. The villain’s name is Ming the Merciless, all the visual designs are old-school pre-Star Wars sci-fi, and again, the hero’s name is Flash Gordon. This is pure camp, and that’s before you get to the legendary overacting of Brian Blessed as Vultan! 

The tropes, designs, and plot beats of Flash Gordon make it required viewing for all sci-fi fans, and it has the same DNA as Star Wars. You can’t appreciate how far science fiction has come if you don’t know where it started. Flash Gordon is a love letter to the genre’s pulp roots, and honestly, you wish more films were made today in the retro-futuristic style. Ming the Merciless may be corny, but the man’s rizz is unmatched. 

7. John Carter 

In a just world, John Carter would have been the start of a retro-futuristic sci-fi franchise to rival Star Wars in scale and scope. Taylor Kitsch should have become a superstar. John Carter is a fantastic movie that bombed hard because Disney had no idea how to market it. 

Adapting the classic sci-fi pulp novel, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the same man who created Tarzan, John Carter looks fantastic, and the story of a  Civil War soldier sent to Mars is a straight-up crowd-pleaser. Unfortunately, the limited crowds that went to see it weren’t enough to make it a success. 

John Carter’s Mars vistas stretch on forever, but that beauty came with a hefty price tag. The film needed to earn $600 million to break even. It earned $300 million. Disney lost hundreds of millions of dollars and decided instead of turning John Carter into a sci-fi franchise, they’d go out and buy one. 

Three years later, Disney bought Star Wars. 

Now do you wish you had seen Taylor Kitsch’s cult hit in theaters when you had the chance?

6. Farscape

Star Wars has shifted gears in the last few years, becoming a streaming franchise. It’s playing catch-up behind the 90s and early 2000’s series Farscape, which perfected the serialized formula of ragtag heroes going up against an oppressive government. Farscape is clearly influenced by the original trilogy, right down to having Jim Henson’s Creatureworks provide puppets, but that’s not a bad thing. 

Farscape starts off with human astronaut John Crichton surviving a trip through a wormhole and winding up on the far side of the galaxy. He quickly learns to get along with the escaped convicts Ka D’Argo, Zhaan, and Rygel on board a living spaceship, the Moya, as they try to stay one step ahead of the corrupt Peacekeepers. Later on, the leather-clad villain Scorpius comes after Crichton for his hidden knowledge of wormholes, and this all leads to Crichton being split into two separate versions: an imaginary Scorpius living in his head, the organic spaceship giving birth, and a constant struggle to survive when it feels the entire universe is out to get them. 

If you liked the original trilogy, and even if you liked Guardians of the Galaxy, you need to fire up Farscape and start binging it right now. This is everything fans wanted out of a Star Wars streaming series.

Welcome To The Top 5

Congratulations, you’ve reached the top five, and things are about to get really fun. Keep in mind that this list is ranked by two criteria: how much something is like Star Wars and how good it is. 

It’s an average of the two factors, which can result in all kinds of ranking weirdness, especially in the lower levels of this list. These are the 5 best Star Wars sci-fis that aren’t Star Wars at all. 

5. Predator: Badlands

Remember when Chewbacca carried C3-PO on his back? How the mismatched characters played off of each other? Turn that into a survival story on an alien planet where everything is trying to kill them, and you get Predator: Badlands, the latest in the long-running franchise. 

Dek is a Predator who heads off to a planet in order to hunt down the apex predator. A Weyland-Yutani android is the only survivor of an encounter with the beast. Only the top half of her body survived. Dek straps her to his back, and together, they navigate a world where everything is trying to kill them. 

It has the feel of a Star Wars novel in the best way possible. It’s easy to imagine a Wookie and a droid having to navigate a planet similar to Genna. Predator: Badlands lacks the size and scope of a Star Wars film, but it’s an absolute blast from start to finish. All it takes is one setting, two characters, and a horde of bizarre alien lifeforms that make the Rancor look like a puppy. 

4. Firefly

The Mandalorian was praised for taking Star Wars in a bold new direction: Space Western. Well, why not take some time and enjoy the series that put space westerns on the map? Firefly is still the greatest one-season sci-fi series of all time, and the sequel film, Serenity, is the perfect ending to the crew’s story. 

Out on the edge of the known galaxy, Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew pick up odd jobs, carrying cows, protecting a brothel, whatever they have to do to get enough gas to keep flying. Imagine the adventures of smuggler Han Solo under the watchful eye of the Empire, and that’s Firefly, only with no aliens, more cowboy hats, and more jokes. 

A new animated series is on the way, set between the end of Season 1 and Serenity, making this the best time to get caught up on the space western that paved the way for The Mandalorian. 

3. Dune

David Lynch’s Dune is an underrated masterpiece, but Denis Villeneuve’s modern adaptation turned the classic sci-fi novel into a blockbuster. 12 years before Star Wars, author Frank Herbert took sci-fi fans to the planet of Arakkis, the center of intergalactic politics and trade, thanks to the miracle mineral: Spice. Imagine if Tattooine was important for any reason other than its abundance of Skywalkers, and that’s Arakkis. 

It even has a chosen one, destined to reshape the galaxy. Paul Atreides is the hero that Anakin Skywalker wishes he could be. Paul liberates his planet, unites a people, has twins destined to be even greater than him, and doesn’t become a villain. In the first two movies. 

Star Wars is more of a space fantasy than hard sci-fi, but Dune isn’t afraid to get weird. Later books include human/sandworm hybrid that lives for thousands of years and rules over the galaxy. Oddly, that’s not as strange as it gets. 

2. The Expanse

A grounded, hard sci-fi series might not seem like it would have much in common with Star Wars, but The Expanse centers around a ragtag group of misfits on a medium size ship flying around saving the Galaxy. 

It’s based on a series of books set in a not-too-distant future where humanity has colonized the solar system. Earth, Mars, and the asteroid belt are locked in political tension, and a crew of unlikely allies gets pulled into events that reshape civilization. 

Despite being a totally different type of space sci-fi from Star Wars, The Expanse pulls off the crew of the Millennium Falcon against the universe vibe better than anything has since The Empire Strikes Back. Ride shotgun with the crew of the Rocinante as they battle to save the solar system from threats not inside and out, on one of the best sci-fi shows ever produced. 

1. Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy is so much fun, it turned a dancing tree into the hottest Christmas toy. Comic fans knew how strange and bizarre the cosmic side of Marvel was, but in 2014, the general public took a trip to Knowhere and had their minds blown for the first time since they stepped foot inside a hive of scum and villainy. 

The colorful cast even brings to mind the original trilogy, except both Star-Lord and Rocket are Han Solo, Gamora is Leia’s intrusive thoughts given physical form, Drax is C-3PO, Groot is R2-D2, and Mantis is… there. 

The Guardians trilogy is among the very best of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and any one of them could be someone’s favorite movie, and you know what, sure. It’s fun, and it’s awesome. Each one of them reveals another strange corner of the galaxy, and while yes, Adam Warlock was wasted, the thrill of what comes next is only comparable to the original trilogy. 

Horror has shown to have not only survived but thrived in the 2020s. Starting off at a rocky start to the decade with a pandemic that took a huge hit on the entertainment industry, horror remained consistently popular during a time of uncertainty. In the last six years, we’ve seen a new era of the genre, marked by tremendous box office success and modern masterpieces. From the meteoric returns of iconic franchises like Final Destination to the rise of more creative, original horror films, it’s safe to say the 2020s are proving to be some of the best years in horror history.

Now, as we move past the mid-point of this exciting time for horror, let’s talk about the best of the best when it comes to 2020s horror. Below are five trailblazing horror movies that are undeniable masterpieces and arguably represent the peak of the genre so far in this decade. Some of these are absolutely terrifying from start to finish, or have shocked audiences with their unique concepts. Most of all, they’ve captivated our minds and shown us that horror is heading in the right direction and will keep getting better in the 2030s and beyond.

‘When Evil Lurks’ (2023)

Image via IFC

Let’s start with an absolute nightmare that will scare you out of your wits for a long time. Released in 2023 and hailing from Argentina, When Evil Lurks is a purely horrifying modern classic that excels at giving you something relentlessly dark and unimaginably freaky. It’s a supernatural thriller where terror feels contagious, following two farming brothers as they unintentionally spread a demonic evil presence wherever they go after unsuccessfully trying to remove a possessed boy from their property.

When Evil Lurks is arguably one of the scariest movies in recent memory, a purely unforgiving nightmare flick where anything scary or shocking can happen at any moment. It’s wildly unpredictable in its premise, and it builds with mounting dread so intense that you’ll never forget how uncomfortable it gets. Along with its brutal kills, disgusting body horror imagery, and heartbreaking finale, When Evil Lurks brings so much to the table. It became a massive standout of the 2020s, raising the bar for horror and pushing for other films to match its level of scares.

‘The Substance’ (2024)

Image via Mubi

Taking the genre to huge heights of acclaim in 2024, Coralie Fargeat‘s The Substance is a unique horror marvel of the current decade, a creative blast that’s full of impressive writing, directing, practical effects, and the most exceptional performances. In the most remarkable role of her career, Demi Moore shines as Elizabeth Sparkle, a lonely television personality laid off from her show due to her age, who seeks to save her career by taking a dangerous experimental street drug that creates a younger body for her, but increasing dependence on this drug slowly leads to disastrous side effects.

The Substance instantly hooks you in with a well-executed setup and its commanding lead performance. Throughout its runtime, you’ll never keep your eyes off the screen as the tension mounts, the body horror becomes more explicit and shocking, and the story becomes more bonkers and off the handle. Its brutal ending is a notable highlight, and it’s honestly one of the best closers in horror this decade so far. The Substance is a modern classic that needs no introduction and will likely transcend the decade to become one of the best horror movies ever, period.

‘Godzilla Minus One’ (2023)

Image via Toho

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Stomping its way into cinema history, next is Godzilla Minus One, the epic, Oscar-winning latest entry in the long-running Godzilla franchise. In a series ranging from historic masterpieces to abominable failures, this one stands out not just in a great way, but for bringing something entirely new to make the next generation fall in love with Godzilla. It is an absolute modern classic, a breath of fresh air that revitalized this iconic movie monster on the big screen and brought him back to his horror roots. Set in a post-WWII Japan, a fighter pilot deserter (Ryunosuke Kamiki) witnesses the rise of the legendary Godzilla from his creation after nuclear testing to his massive, city-wide destruction across the country.

With pulse-pounding action, epic suspense, thrilling music, and award-winning special effects, Godzilla Minus One became an unexpected but massive horror hit that dominated the box office and earned the franchise unprecedented acclaim. Despite having a smaller budget than most Hollywood films, it looks absolutely flawless, breathtaking, and incredibly realistic. It brings the king of the monsters to the big screen in spectacular fashion and makes him look just as epic and intimidating as his first iconic outing in 1954’s Gojira. Honestly, what makes it so special is how it honors Godzilla’s legacy, bringing a fresh new story to the franchise, and keeping a balance between scares and excitement.

‘Sinners’ (2025)

Arguably one of the most compelling and revered modern horror movies in history, Ryan Coogler‘s Sinners is an epic game-changer that defined the year with its fresh take on the genre by blending it with other styles like music, folklore, drama, and action. Michael B. Jordan shines in a well-deserved Best Actor-winning lead dual performance as the SmokeStack twins, two criminal brothers who return to their old hometown in the deep south to open up a juke joint, only for the opening night to be crashed by a trio of bloodthirsty vampires.

Sinners is the horror movie event of the 2020s, an undeniable masterpiece full of perfect writing, exceptional performances, breathtaking cinematography, and memorable songs. It dares to be bold and creative, breaking away from traditional, overdone tropes and storytelling ideas in other horror movies and offering something different. The music will keep you invested, the horror will shock you, the acting will surprise you, and most of all, the film will just keep you coming back again and again to witness its brilliance. Overall, Sinners deserves its place in horror cinema and will shine throughout the 2020s and beyond.

‘Weapons’ (2025)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

2025 has cemented its place as one of the most incredible years for horror, being both the most acclaimed and financially successful genre, as well as producing some stellar hits. Among its many memorable hits was a highlight that shone brighter than others: Zach Cregger‘s Weapons. This wild, intense, and twisted supernatural horror thriller produced the biggest scares and some of the year’s finest movie moments. Josh Brolin and Julia Garner star in this mystery about a worried parent and a struggling school teacher who try to figure out why a classroom full of kids willingly left their homes and ran off into the dark one night.

Weapons brings so much to the table, providing a riveting mystery plot mixed in with a perfect cast, intense suspense, creative storytelling, and epically horrifying scares. It fires on all cylinders to create something legendary, further establishing Zach Cregger as a modern horror icon, thanks to his passionate filmmaking and his desire to tell a unique story. Overall, Weapons is dark and scary, but also perfectly crafted and unforgettable, largely thanks to Amy Madigan‘s Oscar-winning performance. Truly, it represents a peak of the genre this decade.

The past two decades have seen a rise in compelling crime dramas, and one standout is definitely Boardwalk Empire. Alongside The Sopranos and The Wire, Boardwalk Empire helped set the stage for crime dramas to flourish and for HBO to become the home for prestige TV. It did this by squarely placing its story in the middle of the Prohibition era, exploring the bootlegging business and how it intersected with both crime and politics; it also featured an incredible cast headlined by Steve Buscemi as Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, while none other than Martin Scorsese ​​​​​​directed the pilot episode. And while fans of Boardwalk Empire might miss the series, they should definitely stay tuned for the upcoming crime drama, The Westies, on MGM+.

The Westies follows the titular Irish-American street gang at the height of their infamy in the 1980s, as they throw their might behind the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center. Constructing the center will bring some much-needed money into the Westies’ coffers, but they face opposition from rival gangs and the police. Already, The Westies feels like a perfect spiritual successor to Boardwalk Empire, both as a period piece and in its exploration of the different ways that crime and politics intersect. But the similarities don’t stop there.

‘The Westies’ Boasts a Star-Studded Cast to Rival ‘Boardwalk Empire’

Image via MGM+

Perhaps the most notable thing about The Westies is its cast, which includes two iconic character actors:J.K. Simmons as Eamon Sweeney and Titus Welliver as Glenn Keenan. While details about the series have been scarce, The Westies will focus on the dynamic between Sweeney and Keenan, with the former as the head of the Westies and the lattera police officer. Further complicating matters is the fact that they’re childhood friends. This is exactly the kind of juicy drama that powers some of the best crime dramas, including Boardwalk Empire.

What makes this potential conflict better is that Welliver is playing against type. While many know him as the titular dogged detective in Bosch, Welliver was quick to point out in an interview with Collider that Keenan is immensely corrupt and walks in “a very, very dark world.” Dark worlds are Simmons’ bread and butter, as anyone who’s watched Invincible or Whiplash knows he’s capable of playing characters with very dark impulses who commit very terrifying deeds. Sweeney sounds no different, as he’s the head of one of the most ruthless gangs in history. In casting Welliver and Simmons, The Westies set the stage for the next big television rivalry.

The Creator of ‘The Westies’ Is Behind Several Iconic Crime Dramas

The Westies is being brought to the screen courtesy of Chris Brancato, who’s brought some of television’s biggest crime dramas to life in the past few years​​​​​​. Not only did Brancato create another hit series for MGM+ with The Godfather of Harlem, but he also created Narcos for Netflix; both series are snapshots of a certain era in crime history, and feature top-tier casting in the form of Forest Whitaker and Pedro Pascal, respectively. What makes The Westies stand out is that it’s a personal project, according to Brancato.

“The Westies has been a passion project of mine, and I can’t wait to bring it to life. This is a story about ambition, loyalty, and power, set against the backdrop of 1980s New York.”

Boardwalk Empire succeeded due to a combination of factors: it premiered at a time when prestige TV was truly taking off, it had an incredible cast, and it stayed true to its historical roots while also using that history to craft compelling drama. The Westies is pulling from the same playbook, and if it follows in Boardwalk Empire‘s footsteps, or even the same path as Chris Brancato’s other work, then MGM+ might truly have the next great crime drama on its hands.

Boardwalk Empire is available to stream on HBO Max. The Westies premieres on MGM+ on July 12, 2026.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 4 seconds ago

With The Mandalorian & Grogu jetpacking its titular duo to the big screen, Star Wars mania is at a fever pitch once more. After all, this is our first film in the franchise since the Sequel Trilogy ended with the disastrous The Rise of Skywalker. Fans can’t help but wonder which enemies and allies Din Djarin and his pint-sized ward will encounter and if they will be as scary as Grand Admiral Thrawn, a villain whose return was first hinted at in The Mandalorian Season 2. Now that Thrawn has returned from the distant depths of the galaxy, fans can’t help but wonder if anyone else will be able to match his villainy.

Of course, what makes Thrawn such a worthy adversary is that he understands more about the Force than even the fans do. By teaming up with the Night Sisters, who are powered by the Dark Side, he intends to use the Force to reshape the galaxy in his image. That means taking out Ahsoka Tano, Ezra Bridger, Luke Skywalker, and any other Jedi who stand in his way. To fans, that makes Thrawn a supervillain, one intent on ridding the galaxy of its most powerful protectors. But it seems that Thrawn has stumbled onto a secret that has escaped the entire fandom: the Force wants the Jedi to die.

The Most Shocking Heel Turn In The Galaxy

In the very first Star Wars movie, Obi-Wan teaches Luke Skywalker (and, by extension, the audience) about the Jedi, a noble order of space monks who have kept the galaxy safe for millennia. He tells the young man about how Darth Vader, a former pupil, turned to evil and helped hunt down the Jedi. Later, we see this dramatized in Revenge of the Sith: Emperor Palpatine lures Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side, rechristening him as Darth Vader. Driven by a demented desire to save his wife, Vader leads the charge in hunting down and murdering the Jedi, from the mightiest masters to the youngest younglings.

Anakin’s heel turn was particularly shocking to Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu, both of whom were interested in a prophecy about a Chosen One who would “bring balance to the Force.” After Anakin slaughters everyone in the Jedi Temple, our heroes reach the same conclusion that the audience did: that Anakin clearly isn’t the Chosen One. Later, George Lucas insisted that the prophecy was real and that balance was achieved by Vader killing Palpatine. However, that no longer seems to be canon now that Palpatine (somehow) returned from certain death. Whether you agree with Lucas’ or not, though, one shocking fact is clear: the Force wanted all of those Jedi to die.

The Force Is A Fickle Friend

Weirdly enough, the clearest evidence for this theory is buried in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. There, we see the blind warrior Chirrut Imwe offering a kind of prayer to the Force as he openly walks through a battlefield filled with blaster fire. The film highly implies that these blaster shots miss because it’s the will of the Force; that is, this mystical energy field kept blasters from killing someone they favored. This retroactively explains how our heroes kept getting away back in the Original Trilogy. Stormtroopers don’t actually have bad aim, but their shots rarely connect because characters like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa are protected by the Force.

What does this have to do with Order 66 and the genocide of the Jedi? Everything, really. Once you accept that the Force is capable of deflecting blaster shots and generally choosing who lives and dies in a fight, it changes every aspect of the prequels. The Force wanted Qui-Gon Jinn to die so that Obi-Wan would guilt the Jedi into taking Anakin in. The Force wanted Shmi and Count Dooku to die, easing Anakin’s recruitment into the Dark Side. Incredibly, the Force even wanted Mace Windu and his entourage to die so that Anakin could be christened Vader and help kill almost every Jedi in the galaxy.

The Real Enemy Was Hiding In Plain Sight

Why would the Force want so many Jedi to die? It’s possible this mystic energy field agreed with the Sith that the galaxy had grown too complacent under Jedi stewardship. The Force might even have objections to Jedi practices like abducting children and forcing them into a cult. Whatever the motivation, though, Qui-Gon’s prophecy came true from a certain point of view. When all was said and done, we were left with two prominent Jedi (Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda), two prominent Sith (Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi), and a handful of Dark Side servants (like the Inquisitors) and Light Side allies (like Ahsoka Tano). Sounds pretty balanced to me!

Obviously, none of this removes moral culpability from Vader and Palpatine: these guys committed mass murder on an unheard-of scale, and they deserve their place as the galaxy’s biggest war criminals. They might have decided to kill all those Jedi, but it’s clear that this wouldn’t have worked if the Force hadn’t wanted all those do-gooder space wizards to die. They were betrayed by the very energy field they devoted their lives to understanding, and only after the Force suddenly and mysteriously diminished their power. 

Sorry, Obi-Wan. In addition to binding us and holding the universe together, the Force does penetrate everyone. Not always with ageless space samurai wisdom, though. Sometimes, it just penetrates people with lasers, lightsabers, and way too much sand! 

Newly released dashcam footage is putting one of Britney Spears’ darkest recent moments back in the spotlight. The pop icon’s March DUI arrest is making headlines again after police video surfaced showing Spears undergoing a roadside sobriety test before ultimately being placed in handcuffs. The footage, which comes just weeks after the singer pleaded guilty to DUI, offers a startling glimpse into the chaotic traffic stop that unfolded on a California highway and reveals new details from officers who claimed the singer appeared impaired.

The newly released dashcam video captures what authorities say was the aftermath of Spears allegedly driving erratically at high speeds on the southbound side of US-101 near Newbury Park, California, on March 4 around 9 p.m. In the footage, Spears, wearing what police described as a “worn green dress,” sandals, and a large fedora hat, is seen standing roadside as an officer shines a flashlight into her eyes during a sobriety test.

According to a police report, Spears allegedly struggled to complete portions of the field test and repeatedly moved her head after officers instructed her to keep it still. Also, per the report, Spears said she was not feeling well and expressed discomfort during the roadside evaluation.

“Spears related the lights were hurting her head and did not want to continue the test. Spears was unable or unwilling to follow my finger throughout the test,” the report stated. “Spears continued to move her head throughout the test after being instructed to keep her head still. Spears related that she was blind in her left eye, but was able to see my finger.”

Officers Claim Spears Admitted To Taking Prescription Medications Before Driving

According to the California Highway Patrol, Spears was arrested on “suspicion of driving under the influence of a combination of alcohol and drugs.” A police report later revealed the singer allegedly admitted to taking multiple prescription medications before getting behind the wheel, including Adderall and Prozac.

Authorities claimed officers detected “a distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage” coming from Spears’ BMW after pulling her over. Spears allegedly told police she had consumed “one champagne mimosa” earlier in the day and had taken medication, including Lamictal, Prozac, and Adderall.

Per the report, officers also allegedly discovered a bottle of pills labeled Adderall in Spears’ purse that they claimed was not prescribed to her, along with an empty wine glass inside the vehicle. At one point during the interaction, Spears allegedly told an officer: “I could probably drink four bottles of wine and take care of you, I’m an angel.”

Britney Spears Was Eventually Handcuffed After Allegedly Refusing To Exit Her Car

The footage also reportedly shows Spears being handcuffed after what officers described as a lengthy roadside interaction. According to the report, Spears initially refused to exit her vehicle, allegedly telling officers she had “been pranked and harassed in the past” and wanted to speak to a lawyer.

Police claimed Spears remained inside the car for roughly 10 minutes before eventually stepping out. “[The officer] instructed Spears to exit the [car], but she initially refused. Spears related she had been pranked and harassed in the past and did not want to exit.”

After she was placed in handcuffs, Spears is reportedly heard asking officers if they had taken her phone, with police assuring her it remained in her purse. Authorities further alleged the singer displayed “drastic mood swings” throughout the arrest and at times appeared confrontational before becoming more animated.

The Singer Later Pleaded Guilty And Entered Rehab

Earlier this month, Spears pleaded guilty to a DUI charge tied to the March arrest and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation. Following the incident, the singer reportedly checked into a substance abuse rehab facility for three weeks.

At the time, a representative for Spears addressed the arrest in a statement to the Daily Mail. “This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” they said. “Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law, and hopefully this can be the first step in the long-overdue changes that need to occur in her life.”

“Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time,” they added. “Her boys are going to be spending time with her, and her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue plan to set her up for success and well-being.”

Britney Spears’ Latest Headlines Add To Ongoing Concerns

The resurfaced footage comes amid continued concern surrounding Spears, who has faced very public personal struggles over the years following her highly scrutinized conservatorship, which ended in November 2021.

Most recently, Spears reportedly made headlines again after allegedly causing a chaotic scene at a Los Angeles restaurant just days after leaving rehab. However, her representative pushed back on the claims, saying, “This is completely blown out of proportion.”

Love Is Blind alum Alexa Lemieux is over criticism of her near-final divorce from Brennon Lemieux.

“I get so frustrated because I get a lot of commentary of people saying, ‘Broken home, broken home.’ I’m like, ‘Are y’all … for real? Like, it’s 2026,’” Alexa, 31, said on the Thursday, May 21, episode of the “He Said, G Said” podcast. “My parents [are] divorced, and I was the kid that was like, ‘Please get a divorce.’ You know, everyone was happier afterward and I think that a broken home is not when two parents are apart.”

Alexa and Brennon, 35, tied the knot in 2021 after meeting sight unseen in the Love Is Blind pods during season 3. They split in fall 2025, one year after welcoming daughter Vienna and after nearly five years of marriage.

“Obviously [being together] would be the goal and everyone’s happy and whatever,” Alexa explained on Thursday. “If that’s not what’s happening, then keeping something that’s clearly not working, that’s the broken home.”

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She added, “It’s such, like, an outdated thing and babe, you get one freaking life to live. And it’s just like, ‘Why not be happy doing it if something’s not working out?’ Everything happens for a reason, and I have my child that I love more than anything in this life out of it and I’ll always be grateful for the time that was shared and then now I get to live the rest of my life.”

According to Alexa, her divorce from Brennon is “essentially” finalized.

“I think it’s just waiting to be, like, filed into the system, I guess, is really what it is,” she stated. “Even through my divorce process, I did mine [in] a very loving way. I genuinely do not want to take our daughter from you. Like, I want you to be in her life.”

Alexa stressed that it is important for her and Brennon to be able to amicably coparent their 21-month-old daughter.

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“I want to find something that works for everyone,” she stated. “I want holidays to make sense, I want her to truly experience both parents and I want what’s going to make sense and what’s the healthiest decision with everything. … [Because] we have a child together, we’re going to be in each other’s lives for the rest of our lives because of our shared daughter [and] I’m hoping eventually we’ll get to a good place of really, really healthy coparenting.”

At the moment, Alexa revealed that she and Brennon are “still figuring out” their post-split dynamic.

“[He is] someone who’s going to be in my life for the rest of my life, and I commend myself for how much I’ve seen [the] big picture of this entire situation,” Alexa said. “It’s so easy to get caught up. All I need from him is to be a good parent, and he does that, so I’m good.”

Mackenzie Shirilla referred to herself as the “third victim” of the fatal car crash that killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend Davion Flanagan while she was behind the wheel.

Shirilla, 21, made the comment while speaking to her mother, Natalie Shirilla, during a phone call from the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center. At the time, the pair were discussing her lawyer’s decision to not let her take the stand and testify during the 2023 murder trial.

“I was asking him if I could just testify to show them that like, I have nothing to hide, and he was like, ‘I don’t know if that’s a good idea at this point,’” Shirilla told her mother after her bench trial, according to a phone call obtained by People.

Shirilla later argued it would benefit her case to testify in court. “If they see the truth, then they’ll know that this was nothing but a car accident,” she said. “They’ll just see that there’s a third victim, and it’s me, and I lost the love of my life and a good friend, and now I have to deal with this grief the rest of my life.”

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She went on to say that she also had to “deal with” being “scared to drive and stuff like that.”

Shirilla also said she felt the bench trial had not gone well and admitted she was afraid she would have to spend another year in custody before she could be granted an appeal.

Also during the conversation, Shirilla accused the prosecutors of having “henchmen go and lie on the stand” during the trial. However, she did not specify what may have happened during the bench trial to make her feel that way.

Later in the conversation, Shirilla asked her mother to “pay my bond and get me out of here.” She continued, “Like, go to a bail bondsman and see if they can pay the 10 percent.” At the time, she was being held on a $500,000 bond.

Following the request, Shirilla acknowledged that the bond would be revoked in the next few days once the judge ruled on her case.

“I’m getting very irritated like, and I need to get the f*** out of jail because they’re just trying to f*** me over bad as f***,” Shirilla told her mother.

As Shirilla predicted, her bond was revoked a few days after the call when she was convicted of four counts of murder, four counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and one count each of drug possession and possessing criminal tools. She was ultimately handed two concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison.

Shirilla was arrested and charged following a car crash that took place on July 31, 2022, in Strongsville, Ohio. At the time, she was driving Russo, 20, and Flanagan, 19, home after they went to a graduation party and visited a friend’s house.

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The car was traveling over 100 mph when they crashed into a brick wall, killing Russo and Flanagan.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that the crash was a botched murder-suicide attempt. Meanwhile, the defense said that Shirilla suffered from POTS, a condition that can cause dizziness and fainting, and she blacked out.

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Shirilla also wondered if her medical diagnosis was the reason for the crash in Netflix’s documentary The Crash, which was released on May 15. Shirilla appeared in the documentary from behind bars and expressed remorse for the crime.

However, the interest in the case has only intensified after one of her former inmates came forward with claims that she was a mean girl and didn’t appear remorseful behind bars. In a series of TikTok videos, Mary Katherine “Kat” Crowder claimed that Shirilla was involved in many prison hookups.

“If she was grieving or remorseful, she would not have gone to prison and jumped into prison relationships over the next six months,” she said.