Gladiator 2, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s iconic film Gladiator, is making its way to the big screen this week, alongside Hindi film The Sabarmati Report, based on the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, involving Sabarmati Express.

OTT RELEASES

Deadpool and Wolverine

Release date: November 12

Streaming platform: Disney+ Hotstar

Wade Wilson aka Deadpool is confronted by the Time Variance Authority and tasked with a mission. On opposing, he teams up with Logan/Wolverine, from another timeline, and together they set out on a daring mission to save the world from existential threat. Directed by Shawn Levy, the film stars Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Dafne Keene, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Garner and Wesley Snipes.

Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley

Release date: November 13

Streaming platform: Netflix

This 90-minute documentary details the epic comeback of Elvis Presley in 1968 to prove to the world that he is still the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The documentary features rare footage and interviews with Elvis (2022) director Baz Luhrmann and Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley, providing a deeper look into the rockstar’s life and the legacy he left behind.

St Denis Medical

Release date: November 13

Streaming platform: JioCinema

From Superstore creator Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin, comes a medical mockumentary set at St Denis Hospital. Alex has been assigned as Supervising Nurse in the emergency department and finds herself surrounded by overworked staff, managing patient care while providing support to each other.

Cobra Kai Season 6 Part 2

Release date: November 15

Streaming platform: Netflix

The second of the three-part season 6 is coming to Netflix almost four months after the release of Part 1. Created by Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg and Jon Hurwitz, the five episodes will focus on a karate competition between two dojos—Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai—in the Sekai Taikai tournament in Barcelona, Spain. The series stars Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Tanner Buchanan, Peyton List and Xolo Maridueña.

Freedom at Midnight

Release date: November 15

Streaming platform: SonyLIV

Adapted from the book of the same name, written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, Freedom at Midnight is a historical drama web series that showcases the events surrounding the partition of India and Pakistan. Directed by Nikkhil Advani, the show stars Chirag Vohra as Mahatma Gandhi, as well as Luke McGibney, Rajendra Chawla, Arif Zakaria, Sidhant Gupta and Ira Dubey.

The Day of the Jackal

Release date: November 15

Streaming platform: JioCinema

Based on the political-thriller novel by English author Frederick Forsyth, The Day of the Jackal follows an elite assassin tasked to do a job that will pay him enough to leave his risky lifestyle. A British intelligence officer, Bianca, is assigned to hunt him down. What follows is an intense cat-and-mouse chase. Directed by Brian Kirk and Anthony Philipson, the series stars Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch.

THEATRE RELEASES

Kanguva

Release date: November 14

Directed by Siva, Kanguva is based on a tribal warrior who saved his village a thousand years ago and his death due to a mysterious illness and how the warrior seems to be connected to a shadow cop’s brave quest in the present. The film stars Suriya, Disha Patani, Bobby Deol, and Yogi Babu.

Gladiator 2

Release date: November 15

A sequel to the critically acclaimed Gladiator, is heading to the big screens. Years after the death of Maximus, Lucius, the nephew of Commodus, enters the Colloseum after the emperors of Rome take over his home. Lucius carries the onus of bringing glory back to his people. Directed by Ridley Scott, the film stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, and features returning cast of Derek Jacobi and Connie Nielsen.

The Sabarmati Report

Release date: November 15

The Sabarmati Report is based on a journalist’s journey to uncover the truth behind the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002, involving Sabarmati Express. A total of 59 casualties were reported, all who were Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya. Directed by Dheeraj Sarna, the film stars Vikrant Massey and Raashii Khanna.

Matka

Release date: November 14

Matka is a Telugu crime-drama that focuses on the Matka gambling scams that took place between the years 1958 and 1982. Although it will not focus on Ratan Khatri, the Matka King himself, the main character, Vasu, will be inspired by him. Directed by Karuna Kumar, the film stars Varun Tej, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Nora Fatehi, Naveen Chandra and Saloni Aswani.

Small Things Like These

Release date: November 15

Based on the book Small Things like These by Claire Keegan, and dedicated to the victims of the Magdalene Laundries, the film, set in 1985, follows Bill Furlong, who, after encountering a disturbing event at a convent, cannot seem to shake it off. As he investigates further, he finds himself in a rabbit hole, where he discovers truths about his own past. Directed by Tim Mielants, the film stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Eileen Walsh, Clare Dunne and Zara Devlin.

Anand Sreebala

Release date: November 15

Anand Sreebala is a Malayalam mystery-thriller where titular character Anand is investigating the disappearance of a 20-year-old woman but he soon finds out that this one mystery is linked to the disappearance of many more women in Kerala. Directed by Vishnu Vinay, the film stars Arjun Ashokan, Aparna Das, Sangita Madhavan Nair and Dhyan Sreenivasan.

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Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin has teased a new project with Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark in the original HBO series.

Martin took to his blog, Not a Blog, to post about a recent trip to London, and described who he met and what he did. Mentioning Williams, the Song of Ice and Fire author hinted at a project they may have discussed.

“We also got together with Maisie Williams for pizza and pasta, and talked about…Well, no, better not get into that, do not want to jinx it,” Martin wrote cryptically. “But it could be so much fun.”

He did not provide further information, so it is unclear if the project is related to Game of Thrones or something else entirely.

Williams was cast as Arya in the hit HBO fantasy epic, created by David Benioff and DB Weiss, when she was 12 in 2009.  She spent her teenage years acting in the series, which ended after eight seasons in 2019.

Martin’s cryptic post comes amid reports that a Game of Thrones film is in development at Warner Bros.

The Independent has contacted Martin’s representatives for a comment.

Meanwhile, HBO and Max head Casey Bloys talked about working with Martin on adapting his books for television and on disagreements with the author.

“Obviously, I will say George and Game of Thrones really changed the course of HBO. So I want him to be happy,” he said on Tuesday.

“He’s very important to me, to us. But when we put shows together, you know, you’re putting a marriage together and marriages can be difficult, especially when Ryan is making creative decisions, adapting work. It can be fraught, and like any marriage, sometimes it gets rocky.”

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Casey was referring to the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon, which is based on Martin’s Fire & Blood and covers the history of the Targaryen family.

Ryan Condal serves as showrunner on House of the Dragon, which has been renewed for a third season.

HBO is developing another Game of Thrones prequel called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The series is based on Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas and is due for release in late 2025.

Fans of Martin’s books have been eagerly waiting for the sixth instalment of A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter, which Martin began writing in 2010. A seventh and final book, A Dream of Spring, is set to follow afterwards.

In September, Martin shared an update on the book on his blog, writing: “Writing came hard, and though I did produce some new pages on both The Winds of Winter (yes) and Blood & Fire (the sequel to Fire & Blood the second part of my Targaryen history), I would have liked to turn out a lot more.”

In a wide-ranging interview with The Independent in 2022, the author revealed he’d delayed finishing A Storm of Swords because he was struggling with saying farewell to so many of his beloved characters.

“I finished the entire book, except for the Red Wedding,” Martin recalled with a grimace.

“That was such a painful chapter for me to write, losing some characters that I had come to know and love. Nine years I’d been with these characters, and now I was going to kill them horribly! That was difficult.”

Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao have proven to Bollywood that a couple who has parted ways, can still be friends. Aamir and Kiran ended their 16-year-long marriage in 2021. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kiran revealed that she had given her ex-husband 11 tips on how to be a better husband.

ALSO READ: Aamir Khan’s retirement plans: The actor opens up about his future projects

Aamir recalled that one of the tips she gave was to let other people talk. “She said you don’t allow other people to talk. I didn’t agree with her, but I wrote it down. I said, ‘Hmm’. I wrote them in my notes on my phone. I thought it will be useful. I’ve been working every day on them.”

ALSO READ: Kiran Rao is on top, at 50

When the interviewer said that this is an exercise that all husbands should do, Aamir was quick to respond that wives should do them too. “Why husbands? Even wives. Isne mujhe nahi pooncha (She never asked me), ‘How can I be a better wife?’ Aap kabhi pooncho toh main batata hun (I will tell you if you ask me) list.”

Kiran remarked: “Luckily, now I’m the ‘ex-wife’. So, I don’t need to know.”

ALSO READ: ‘I rejected Aamir Khan for a role in Laapataa Ladies’: Kiran Rao

When asked about how the divorce affected their relationship, Aamir replied, “Divorce didn’t affect our relationship either professionally or personally. Divorce is a word which implies that you’re moving away. We were moving away as husband and wife but we were not moving away as human beings.”

The duo’s recent work includes Netflix’s Laapataa Ladies, in which Kiran was the director and producer, and Aamir served as a producer. The film was selected as India’s official entry to the Oscar.

Empire of the Ants reviewed on PC by Dan Stapleton. Also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Empire of the Ants’s multiplayer modes have some clever ideas for how insects do battle, having you scurry around as a commander giving orders and casting buffs on your legions of bugs. Managing its deceptively small-scale battles presents some interesting challenges, and the impressive, hyper-realistic graphics are let down only by animations that grow repetitive after a few matches. What undermines it most is the lack of unit variety and multiplayer modes, which don’t include multiple bug factions or any options to play as a team or against a competent AI. Without that, it’s hard to see this game having a lot of legs.

While Empire of the Ants’s nearly photo-realistic world looks incredible at first glance, its boring and annoying real-time strategy campaign is the ant-ithesis of that. Combat missions are mostly trivially easy because the AI doesn’t seem to understand crucial mechanics, and those that aren’t are obnoxious because you can’t save mid-mission to replay the tough parts without trudging through the easy setup; Meanwhile, all of the non-combat missions are tedious searches for needles in haystacks and the story fails to make ant politics intriguing. It’s easily the worst single-player campaign I’ve played in years.

MARRIED At First Sight’s Polly swills husband Adam with red wine in an explosive showdown in the series reunion.

It comes after their final vows concluded without a definitive decision being made.

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Tonight, Adam stormed off after Polly accused him of being dishonest during their relationship.

The barber was left shell-shocked by her claims, telling the camera: “I’m a good liar? Absolutely baffled me. I’ve been honest with Polly since the get go.”

As he made his exit Polly, dressed in a white wedding dress, yelled after him: “You’re walking away again, you’re a f*****g joke. You’re embarrassing.”

Adam said he felt Polly had never appreciated him, while she warned: “I’m telling you now, this is not done. He’s not going to get the chance to mug me off.”

And she stayed true to her word.

The episode ended with a dramatic teaser look at the reunion dinner party where the pair brought up their fiery vow ceremony.

They then locked horns in a blazing row that sees Adam declare “we had sex three times in 10 weeks.”

Polly is furious about him sharing intimate details in front of the group and showers him red wine.

She says “f**k you”, before storming off leaving the rest of the party in shock.

Viewers couldn’t believe their eyes, with one writing on X: “Polly there is nothing that gives you the right to throw a drink in Adam’s face.”

Another said: “I honestly didn’t think Polly could get any worse….. to throw her drink in Adam’s face like that, has really, shocked me!”

In another dramatic development, controversial cast member Hannah returns to the experiment and teases she’s hit it off with a different groom as she declares: “We’re ready for war”.

And Kristina breaks down in tears after a heart to heart with ex Kieran in which he tells her he feels “numb”.

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THE PET Shop Boys have been confirmed as the special guests for Strictly’s Blackpool Week, with Tasha Ghouri revealing she’s packing a lucky charm for the occasion.

The BBC competition — usually shot at Elstree Studios, Herts — films one episode at the seaside town’s famous dance hall every year.

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Fans can look forward not only to stunning routines from the celebrity cast and their professional partners but also to an electrifying performance from the legendary pop act.

The iconic duo, comprised of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe and famed for their hits like West End Girls, It’s a Sin, and Go West, will light up the ballroom with their signature synth-pop sound.

Saturday night’s show will kick off with the boys performing a medley of their greatest hits, joined by the Strictly professional dancers for a dazzling opening number.

Then, on Sunday night’s Results Show, they’ll treat viewers to a live performance of their brand-new single All The Young Dudes.

With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Pet Shop Boys remain one of the UK’s most celebrated music acts, promising a thrilling spectacle that will elevate Blackpool Week to new heights.

Adding to the excitement, Tasha Ghouri has shared that she’s bringing along her beloved soft toy, Flat Ted, as her personal good luck charm.

She said: “I’d take my soft toy Flat Ted as my good luck charm because, honestly, I can’t go anywhere without him.

“He has to be there with me – he’s my good luck charm.”

Despite Tasha’s popularity with the judges, last week’s episode sparked a social media storm, with viewers accusing the panel of “overmarking” her and Aljaž Škorjanec.

They took to social media as they claimed the performance was ‘flat’ and they even said the band ‘butchered’ the song.

The week before the infamous Blackpool Tower Ballroom episode, the pair performed the Quickstep.

All the judges apart from Craig Revel Horwood seemed to have rave reviews for the first dance of the night.

Both Motsi Mabuse and head judge Shirley Ballas gave the highest score of ten points as she received an overall score of 37.

However, it seems viewers were in complete disagreement as they took to X, formerly known as Twitter, in their droves.

One fan said: “Tasha & Aljaz didn’t deserve 10s I’m sorry.

A second raged: “I liked Tasha’s dance but I don’t think it was 10 worthy.

“Tasha and Aljaz was Overmarked. I agreed with Craig on this one.”, commented a third.

While a fourth noted: “As usual Tasha was good, yawn. Sorry I just find her really dull to watch, there’s been zero journey and I feel like the judges are favouring her massively.”

And a fifth added: “Shirley going in on that when Tasha was bland as anything and she gave a 10. F****** get this woman off that judging panel already. CHRIST.”

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