By Jonathan Klotz and Joshua Tyler | Updated 17 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. 

Roommates, it looks like Tia Mowry might be stepping into a new chapter—and let’s just say, the streets are talking. The actress has folks doing double takes after some new pics started making their rounds, and let’s just say… sis didn’t step out alone.

RELATED: Lover Girl! Tia Mowry Opens Up About How She “Manifested” Her New Romance

Tia Mowry Sparks Buzz With Mystery Man

In a few photos circulating social media on Friday, Tia Mowry can be seen rocking a white baggy tee paired with an open, outdoorsy zip-up, large silver hoops, and fresh, almost wet-looking curly hair. She also appeared to have on light blue pastel shorts—possibly a workout romper. In the shots, she’s holding hands with a man who appears to be her recently revealed boo. He’s rocking shoulder-length dreads and a matching white tracksuit with a white tee underneath. The two were seen crossing the street hand-in-hand while he held a Fiji water bottle in his other hand. In another photo, the pair appears to share a kiss, and you can spot Tia holding her phone in her free hand.

The Instagram user @neneleakes commented, “Let’s girl Tia! Soft girl era ❤️”

This Instagram user @kashdoll claimed, “Yall b snitching Shaderoom dang!!!“

And, Instagram user @_trill.sky shared, “Tia keep some fine sh*tt 👌👌👌🥰”

Meanwhile, Instagram user @geoslyfeontour added, “Don’t be settling … if you want that rough neck get him lol 😌😌😌”

But, Instagram user @phenomenal_ms claimed, “Artist, teacher, creative! Ok Tia 😍👏🏾”

Likewise, Instagram user @bosschick_monroe shared, “Whole time they calling him a YN he a whole school teacher 😂😂😂I love it!“

While Instagram user @therealcourtneybee said, “My girl looks good and happy 😍🔥”

Lastly, Instagram user @mz_melanin_monroe joked, “Lord she done got her a YN 😂😂😂😂😂”

Not X Joining In And Cutting Up Too

Folks also ran over to X, and let’s just say—they were actin’ all the way up over there too. The timeline was flooded with hot takes, jokes, and play-by-play reactions as users dissected every angle of the viral pics, with some even trying to guess his identity and whether he might be one of their favorite rappers.

She been tripping since the divorce. This ain’t a good look. Makes her look desperate really.

— Brianna💕 (@ProphetessParis) April 9, 2026

Tia want that thug passion 😭 pic.twitter.com/E0fr8F1nE4

— ʀᴢᴀ ᴛʜᴇ sᴍᴏᴋᴇ ɢᴏᴅ (@RZATheSmokeGod) April 9, 2026

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they look good together. happy for her 🖤🖤 pic.twitter.com/vN3j3EjyNd

— ★ aprille ★ (@tropicallesbian) April 9, 2026

Allow people to be happy for once and stop worrying weather he’s black or white

— Dwayne Carter (@michaelappiah68) April 9, 2026

Not a YN girl! 🤦🏾‍♂️😂 pic.twitter.com/BQLiwCLJaq

— Chris_C 🇬🇧🇯🇲🇰🇳 (@ccaines121) April 9, 2026

He look like the younger version of Cory

— nay (@Bxyeezus) April 9, 2026

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Has to be a movie set

— MrzFlwrs (@Toya02) April 9, 2026

Thought that was young nudy😂

— SWERVOTV🎬 (@THEREALSWERVOTV) April 9, 2026

DHop is that you my boy 👀😂

— SteelersRevolution! (@factsofBizzy) April 9, 2026

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RELATED: Soft Girl Era? Tia Mowry Teases Photos With Mystery Person After Revealing She’s In Love

Roomies, consider this your baby fever warning! Rihanna’s daughter Rocki Irish Mayers just made her first public pop-out and the cuteness is off the charts. Lil’ mama stepped out looking as stylish as ever too, but after all fashion does run deep in her family!

RELATED: It’s Happening? Fans Think Rihanna’s Album Might Be Coming Soon After She Teased Studio Session Clips (WATCH) 

Tiny Trendsetter Alert! Rihanna’s Daughter Melts Hearts With Public Pop Out

Rihanna popped out in Pairee with her baby girl, Rocki Irish Mayers, whom she shares with A$AP Rocky, on Wednesday, April 8. Their outing delivered everything you would expect — cute cuddles, undeniable style, and pure vibes. Photos hit the internet showing Rih carrying Rocki as they strolled through the streets. Rihanna usually snatches all the attention with her style, but this time little Rocki stole the spotlight. She was serving every bit of mini fashionista, stunting in a Dior fit, according to Page Six. Rocki looked too cute in a vintage Dior green-and-black John Galliano beanie from 2002, paired with a gray pleated Dior dress layered over jeans and sneakers — though she only had one foot in her kicks.

Don’t get it twisted though, Rihanna brought the street-style heat too, rocking a Carhartt hat, a Prada striped polo shirt, and carrying her “Dracula” Dior bag. A$AP Rocky wasn’t too far behind. He was spending quality time with their eldest son, RZA. Photos showed the duo walking hand in hand, with Rocky keeping it cool in a blazer and jeans, while RZA rocked a pink-striped tee and dark shades. Their youngest son, Riot, didn’t appear in the photos from the family outing.

Rihanna spotted out with her daughter Rocki. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/e1AeZbYdTM

— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) April 8, 2026

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Rocki Soaks Up Some Barbados Sun With Her Big Bros

Even though fans just got a clear look at Rocki’s face in new photos. She has popped out with her famous family before. Back in January, she joined Rihanna and her two big brothers for a full-on family vacation in Barbados. Candid shots captured Rih holding Rocki in her arms, serving pure mommy-and-me vibes. She appeared to rock an adorable little dress. As for Rih, she kept it cozy in a black long-sleeve tee and her hair was styled in chic twists.

Rihanna with Rocki & Rza on a yacht in Barbados 🩷 pic.twitter.com/aQofvaEVem

— 𝕵𝖆𝖘 (@awgecentral) January 8, 2026

A$AP Embraces Girl Dad Life

Rihanna isn’t the only one smitten over her baby girl — A$AP Rocky feels the exact same way. He’s embraced fatherhood ever since they welcomed their two boys, but now that he and Rih are three kids in, parenthood hits way different. Back in October 2025, the Harlem-born rapper named his daughter his favorite creation of the year. A$AP said, “That’s my favorite thing I created this year. Shout out to Rocki Irish.”

RELATED: Bump Watch? Rihanna Seemingly Addresses Baby Rumors While Talking About Her “Little Pouch” In Interview (VIDEO)

Dakota Mortensen is spilling the tea about his past relationship with “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul. On an episode of his new reality show, “Unwell Games,” produced by “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper, the father of one shared spicy details about him and Paul with “Dancing with the Stars” pro Gleb Savchenko.

Dakota Mortensen Shares Scandalous Details About His Relationship With Taylor Frankie Paul On New Reality Show

The clip, obtained by TMZ, shows the reality TV personality speaking with Savchenko about his feelings for Paul, claiming she played him while he was trying to make things work.

“I never have moved on from Taylor, and I was just waiting for her,” he said. “I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll have a chance.’ I found out that she was talking to another guy.”

Continuing, Mortensen said he later learned that Paul had allegedly hooked up with another guy before allegedly hooking up with him shortly after.

“She lied to me,” he said. “Then had sex with me. Then after tells me.”

Dakota Mortensen Is Laying It All Out There While Starring In A New Competition Series

Mortensen is just one of 16 “polarizing” reality stars competing in a set of wild mental and physical challenges, according to The Blast.

Also part of the cast is fellow “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Demi Engemann, “Love Island” alums Ekin Su and Huda Mustafa, and “Bachelor” contestant Joe Amabile.

The series, which is now streaming on YouTube, features “fierce competition, unexpected alliances, and the kind of unfiltered drama that has defined Unwell across its programming slate.”

Dakota Mortensen Was Embroiled In Scandal Weeks Before ‘Unwell Games’ Premiered On YouTube

Mortensen’s appearance in “Unwell Games” comes weeks after the 33-year-old made headlines over an alleged February 2026 domestic dispute involving him and Paul.

Days later, a video from a 2023 dispute Paul had with Mortensen was shared online, according to The Blast.

The horrifying clip shows Paul screaming and cursing at Mortensen while appearing to strike him and pull his hair. Another section of the clip shows the TikTok star launching metal chairs at Mortensen and later hitting her minor daughter.

The video generated major backlash, prompting ABC and Disney to pull Paul’s previously filmed season of “The Bachelorette.”

Even worse, Cinnabon also parted ways Paul, saying, “Recent developments and allegations surrounding the lead cast member led us to reassess this collaboration as it no longer aligns with our brand values.”

Paul Says Mortensen Was ‘Possessive’ Before Her Season Of ‘Bachelorette’ Was Supposed To Air

According to a report from PEOPLE, Paul made allegations against Mortensen in a recent filing for a protective order, claiming her ex was “possessive” and displayed patterns of “abusive conduct and coercive control.”

Elsewhere in the filing, Paul said Mortensen sent her texts, saying, “I want you forever,” “I still love you and want you,” and pleading with her to “give me a chance” in February 2026.

Paul further claimed she saw an image of the inside of Mortensen’s lips, which reportedly had her initials tattooed inside of them.

“Considering his increasingly possessive and erratic behavior, and considering the fact that we were not in a relationship, this was extremely alarming,” she wrote in the filing. “My initials are now permanently tattooed on the body of a man who has been abusive toward and possessive of me.”

Even More Drama With Mortensen And Paul

The report claims Mortensen received the tattoo on February 14, 2026, and later showed the cast members of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” while filming.

However, production on the show’s upcoming season was paused after the pair’s drama escalated. “They are not filming,” a source told PEOPLE. “Taylor [Frankie Paul] has some pretty serious stuff happening regarding her past, and they will see what happens. Until that resolves, they are off.”

Paul’s representative released a statement on her behalf after the news reached new heights, saying the mother of two was “grateful” for the support amid the chaos.

“After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm,” they added.

Days of Our Lives has Kristen DiMera‘s (Stacy Haiduk) mind set on revenge and she wants EJ DiMera (Dan Feuerriegel) to pay. And now she’s roped Sophia Choi (Rachel Boyd) into helping her get back at EJ for Rachel Black (Lorelei Olivia Mote) winding up back in Bayview.

Honestly, my brain’s been consumed with thoughts of exactly how Kristen could use evil little Sophia to punish EJ. I’ve got a few ideas. So, let’s get to it and see what these two bad girls plan to do and whether they will succeed in destroying EJ.

Expose EJ’s Criminal Activity on Days of Our Lives

Now, first of all, we could see Kristen finding a way to have Sophia expose some aspect of EJ’s criminality. And some of his business dealings. Now, we all know he and Gwen Rizczech (Emily O’Brien) have been doing illegal things with those under the table dodgy science experiments and EJ and Dr. Rolf (Richard Wharton) have a long history of doing shady things and they’ve just done more.

You know, EJ is a chip off of the old Stefano DiMera block. He learned crime at his dad’s knee and definitely thinks he is above the law. As an attorney, EJ knows how to use the law and use loopholes to his advantage, especially since he was district attorney as well as being a cutthroat private attorney.

Kristen Uses Rolf Against EJ on DOOL?

So, perhaps Kristen uses the not-so-secret labs discovery as part of her plan with Sophia to take down her brother. EJ has done some shady stuff, including siphoning massive amounts of electricity from the city of Salem to power Lexie Carver‘s (Nikki Crawford) person pod.

And he’s been hiding infamous criminal scientist Dr. Rolf, who is now wanted as an accessory to Stephanie Johnson (Abigail Klein) and Jeremy Horton‘s (Michael Roark) kidnappings. If you remember, Rolf turned a blind eye when he saw Jeremy and Stephanie.

And Rolf just told his hired hand Owen Kent (Wes Ramsey) to get rid of them ASAP. That was his one response. He just looked and was like, “Yeah, get rid of them.” So, Kristen might ask Sophia to go poke around the tunnels under the DiMera mansion to find Rolf. That way, EJ would be found to be harboring a fugitive.

Or she could send Sophia poking around the hospital, those dodgy areas, trying to find Rolf. And then Sophia could report that information to the Salem Police Department, or she could feed it to journalist Leo Stark (Greg Rikaart) to splash across the Salem Spectator headlines, you know, talking trash about EJ doing crime.

Kristen Wants EJ Behind Bars on Days

So, Kristen’s endgame, I feel like, is to put EJ behind bars as payback for Rachel being sent to Bayview for a second time. But also, there’s more to it. Kristen completely blames her brother for his own shooting. Because EJ had hidden her mom, Rachel Blake (Roslyn Gentle) away so that she couldn’t testify against him in court.

And her little namesake, little Rachel, just wanted her grandma home again. That’s why she picked up the gun. And accidentally shot her uncle EJ. But if Kristen and Sophia can’t find anything incriminating against EJ, they could do something more sinister to send him to prison.

Now, this is totally twisted. But what if Kristen tells her little co-conspirator Sophia that she needs to drug EJ and sleep with him? And then unhinged Sophia could claim that EJ sexually assaulted her. They could honestly really sell it.

If Kristen manhandled Sophia, you know, roughed her up, gave her a black eye, slapped her around, left some bruises on her. And we all know Jada Hunter (Elia Cantu) is just itching to put EJ behind bars for something.

Days of our Lives Shocker: EJ Framed for Sexual Assault?

So, if Sophia showed up to the Salem cop shop all battered and screaming sexual assault, that could definitely get EJ arrested and put in the slammer, destroy what’s left of his reputation. However, I will say that Kristen and Sophia would have to play that one very carefully.

They would need to use a drug that would flush out of EJ’s system quickly so that it couldn’t be tested at the hospital. And Kristen may convince Dr. Rolf to get her a drug or she may have another source. If she got it from Rolf, Kristen, you know, obviously couldn’t tell him that she planned to use it against EJ.

Kristen Has Done This Before on DOOL

And let’s not forget Kristen has drugged and raped a guy herself before. If you remember, she did it to Eric Brady (Greg Vaughan) back in his priest days. And if I recall correctly, that was part of what cost him his collar, I think.

So, yeah, Kristen is totally capable of doing something like this. And that would be a pretty low blow, no pun intended. But EJ also wouldn’t be the usual suspect for this type of crime. He isn’t known to beat on women or anything.

However, he did coerce Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) into sleeping with him back in the day in exchange for him saving Rafe Hernandez‘s (Galen Gering) life. And that was the night Johnny DiMera (Carson Boatman) was conceived. And you know, people are torn. A lot of fans call that rape.

Days of our Lives: Sophia and Kristen Go After EJ?

But he’s not necessarily a violent person. EJ usually has other people doing that type of dirty work for him. He doesn’t get his hands dirty personally. However, everybody knows how he feels about Sophia. Because she tried to ruin his son Johnny’s life with those sexy texts.

And she took that photo of Holly Jonas (Ashley Puzemis). And Sophia, of course, hates him. She’s really ticked that EJ shut her down when she tried to stop the final adoption hearing of little Trey. So, Kristen and Sophia could try to get him arrested.

And also wreck his already tarnished reputation by going the roofie route with EJ. That would be a really dirty trick for Kristen to play on EJ. But we already know there’s no low that she won’t sink to. Kristen has proved it time and again on Days of our Lives.

Wreck EJ’s Relationship with Johnny

And last, another way that she could use Sophia is to further wreck EJ’s relationship with Johnny. We know he recently talked to EJ about that plagiarism/copyright lawsuit and Johnny is freaking out. He feels like he didn’t do his due diligence.

But bottom line was he was set up by Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow) and Xander Kiriakis Cook (Paul Telfer) to rush Bonnie Kiriakis‘s (Judi Evans) book into publication and he wanted to get that done before he returned to Titan.

And now Johnny’s considering staying on at DiMera, partly to clean up this mess with Bonnie’s book. But also because Theo Carver (Cameron Johnson) asked him to stay on. So, Kristen could use Sophia to convince Johnny that EJ helped Kate and Xander pull off the trickery to keep him working as CEO of DiMera.

Now Johnny definitely isn’t going to listen to anything that Sophia has to say, so they’d have to go about it a different way. Plus, he and Chanel Dupree DiMera (Raven Bowens) are afraid that Trey’s psycho birth mom, Sophia, could try to kidnap the baby.

Days of our Lives: Sophia Totally on Board

And Kristen could use Sophia’s social media savvy or her ability to sneak around undetected to plant some fake info about EJ plotting with Kate and Xander to trick Johnny. There’s also the chance that EJ did know what Kate and Xander were doing and did nothing to intervene for that reason.

So, it could be that Kristen and Sophia stumble upon something or eavesdrop on EJ. And the bottom line is Sophia hates Johnny and EJ both. So, she’d be game for any of this. I suspect things are going to ramp up soon with Kristen manipulating Sophia into getting sweet revenge on EJ.

And we’ll see if they can pull off something before Tate Black (Leo Howard) and Brady Black (Eric Martsolf) match Sophia’s fingerprints on Holly’s supplement bottle to that drink bottle and alert the cops on her. And then Kristen would lose her partner in crime.

Meghan Markle‘s possible return to Hollywood is already causing a splash!

The Duchess of Sussex has reportedly become highly sought-after since her comeback to screens was announced. Rejoining the entertainment circle has been met with a ripple effect of several teams requesting to have her on a wide range of projects.

Meghan Markle’s return to Hollywood comes almost a decade after she parted ways with the industry following her engagement to Prince Harry. While her comeback has set many tongues wagging, her husband is fully supportive of her decision.

A Plethora Of Jobs Lie In Sight For Meghan Markle 

Since headlines carried the revelation of Meghan’s return to acting, it has reportedly started raining deals for the actress. The deals started rolling in after Eric Roberts, her former “Suits” co-star, announced that she had a comeback to Hollywood in the works at a red carpet event last month. The deals Meghan has been receiving are not tailored to a particular role. A senior casting agent in Los Angeles shared that studios and several production companies have sent offers to the actress for different roles, including horror and soap operas.

Directors and producers have apparently been scrambling over the opportunity to hire Meghan in the last couple of weeks. “Meghan has been the hottest talking point in Hollywood circles in the last couple of weeks. The very suggestion that she is planning to come back to acting has prompted interest the likes I have never seen in my three decades in the business,” the casting agent told Page Six.

The Duchess of Sussex is making her comeback to screens with an upcoming Amazon movie, which she started filming last year. “Close Personal Friends” stars Meghan alongside Brie Larson, Lily Collins, Jack Quaid, and Henry Golding. The insider further revealed that leading roles and development proposals for purveyors of genres including rom coms, drama, and sitcoms are on the table for the “Suits” star.

Netflix Is A No-Go For The Duchess Of Sussex

Meghan’s comeback to entertainment comes after her exclusive multi-million dollar deal with Netflix bit the dust. She has reportedly refused to act in Netflix projects despite their previous partnership. However, the casting agent maintains that her dealings with the streaming service and her off-screen drama with the royal family hold no grounds for her return to entertainment.

“It is irrelevant how her Netflix shows have fared, because this is Meghan back to her first career, which she’s enjoyed experience and success in,” the casting agent explained. Besides companies’ desire to book her due to her phenomenal talent as an actress, evident in her portrayal of Rachel Zane in the legal drama series, Meghan’s status helps build publicity. This attention would extend not only to the states in the U.S. but also to the rest of the world.

Many executives are looking to have the actress on board for their projects as her name alone would gather much attention, which would in turn result in huge viewing figures and cinema ticket sales. Also, Meghan’s participation in a screen project could potentially bring millions of dollars in investment money, according to the casting agent.

Royal Experts Not All Smiles With Meghan’s Return To Hollywood

Previously, it was reported that Meghan stepped away from her career as an actress after her engagement to Prince Harry, as the royal family had concerns about her “very sexy” character. After her role in the Amazon film was announced, many took to the media to scrutinize the mother of two’s decision and the timing of the announcement.

Some experts shared that it was the natural thing for Meghan to return to her job as an actress since she and Harry had stepped down from their positions as working royals, but according to The Blast, others disagree. They highlighted that there could be certain risks associated with her Hollywood comeback, noting that she is not yet fully embraced in the industry.

Royal expert Hilary Fordwich described her latest move as a “vanity project,” suggesting it arrives at a time when Meghan’s public image has struggled. On the other hand, royal commentator Kinsey Schofield pointed out that the timing of Meghan’s announcement clashed with Prince William’s trip to Brazil for the Earthshot Prize. Schofield emphasized that it appears as though Meghan moved to take the spotlight from Prince William, and that would have raised dust in the palace among the senior royals.

Online Critics’ Reaction To The News Of Meghan’s Return

The eyebrows of members in the royal circle were not the only ones raised. Internet users slammed the news, expressing their unfiltered opinions about Meghan behind their keyboards, especially on X. “NO ONE CARES! The best acting job she ever did was conning her way into the Royal Family!” a user expressed. 

“It’s hilarious because usually a cameo is from someone really famous or really interesting, neither of which she is,” one commenter penned. Some users stated that they were not going to watch the movie, calling her out for making moves just to stay relevant. “Cameo”??! “And this needs to be announced on the same day as the Earthshot announcement?!” another user wrote, hinting at the timing of the news.

“I’m so relieved. I thought we’d never see her grace our screens again after she repeatedly “skipped” the Oscars. There’s sure to be a statue with your name on it this time, Megs,” a supporting fan wrote. The Blast detailed that despite the backlash, Prince Harry remains in her corner, cheering her on.

Meghan Markle Allegedly At Odds With Hollywood

The Duchess of Sussex’s initial career in Hollywood lasted close to two decades before she stepped into a different chapter of life. With the negative PR surrounding Meghan and Harry, her 16-year-long standing in the industry quickly took a turn. As reported by The Blast, an insider disclosed that the power couple was no longer welcomed in the entertainment circle as they previously were.

They alleged that “people are sick of them” and there was no “appetite left for them in LA.” The reason behind the shift in reception from the industry was due to their poor business skills. The insider claimed that Meghan and Harry do not work well in professional settings.

Another source claims that Meghan’s personality pushed people away from her. “She’s convinced she’s smarter than everyone and dismissive,” they said, while another stressed that the couple lacked the courtesy needed for business. Besides losing their standing in the industry, some of their friends have been reportedly stepping out of their circle as well.

Which of the deals will Meghan Markle sign next?

2 years after Young Sheldon officially came to an end on CBS, series star Iain Armitage is set to return to the Thursday night lineup, but you won’t see him in the Georgie & Mandy spin-off. In one week, Armitage will be playing himself in a guest role on Ghosts! The episode, titled “Woodstone Royale,” sees Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) agree to host a high-stakes poker game at the mansion as they need to make a lot of cash very quickly after ghost shenanigans get them in over their heads with the IRS. Ahead of the episode, I sat down with Armitage to get the inside scoop on what fans can expect from his appearance on the show.

When asked about what Young Sheldon fans can expect from seeing him back in the Thursday night lineup, Armitage said, “Good point, I’m going to be in our usual spot. That’s tricky because this is sort of the first time I’ve gotten to do a very, very different style of character where I’m sort of playing myself in a fun way. Maybe not exactly,” he mused, “I’d like to think that, at least in real life, I’m a little bit nicer, but I don’t know.” The fictionalized version of Armitage will be participating in Sam and Jay’s poker game as a high roller and bringing plenty of laughs along with him.

Armitage had no shortage of love for the show’s script and his experience on set, for as much as he is a talented young actor, he’s also simply a massive fan of Ghosts. “It was such a funny and fun script to read and such a great time on set,” he explained. “I can’t wait for people to see it.” He also noted that, as an “occupational hazard,” TV isn’t always the first thing he reaches for when he’s looking to relax, but as the exception to that rule, Ghosts is appointment television for Armitage. “Ghosts is one of the only shows that I consistently would watch on the night it aired, right when I got home.” The Young Sheldon star went on to say that he hopes fans enjoy his turn on the show so much that they convince the writers that he simply must come back for future episodes, saying:

“I actually haven’t gotten to see the cut episode yet. There was one line, honestly, probably, I flubbed it by laughing over the line, but there was one line they needed to replace, so I got to see a clip of it while I was doing audio replacement, ADR, but I’m really excited to get to see the proper thing. So, I myself will be enjoying this for the first time, as well. But I hope it’s good enough that fans watch it and they’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, this guy needs to be on Ghosts way more often. This electric combination of Iain Armitage and the Ghosts cast is something that we need.’ So, feel free to write to the writers.”

What’s Next for ‘Ghosts’ Season 5?

Before we jump into next week’s poker game extravaganza, there’s an all-new episode of Ghosts airing tonight on CBS, directed by series star Utkarsh Ambudkar. In “Michael Jackson Goes to HR,” Trevor (Asher Grodman) gets himself — and very likely Sam and Jay — into hot water when he sends a “stripper-gram” to one of his colleagues. Meanwhile, it’s trouble in paradise for Pete (Richie Moriarty) and Alberta (Danielle Pinnock) after he reveals he visited his ex-girlfriend while on one of his trips away. Next week, we’ll catch up with Armitage in “Woodstone Royale,” and on April 23, Justin Kirk will return as Tad the Mayor in “The Investor,” which sees Sam and Jay forced to make a difficult decision to save Woodstone, while Flower and Isaac’s political race for ghost representative finally comes to a head.

Beyond these episodes, Ghosts Season 5 is headed for the show’s first hour-long finale, set to air on May 21. Catch a new episode at 8:30 PM on CBS tonight and stay tuned next week for more from our conversation with Armitage!

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Release Date

October 7, 2021

Directors

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

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Writers

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

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  Rose McIver

  Samantha Arondekar

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  Utkarsh Ambudkar

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  Jay Arondekar

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Horror was in a bad place in the early 90s. The 80s slasher boom, led by Jason Voorhees and the Friday the 13th franchise, was over, and the genre struggled through the first half of the decade. It was saved by an icon when Wes Craven, the mastermind behind A Nightmare on Elm Street, released perhaps his greatest movie, 1996’s Scream. I was 16 when it came out and was in awe of what I saw on the screen. Millions of others must have been too, because the success of Scream led to a franchise.

Thirty years later, there have been seven Scream movies in total. Some have been great, a few okay, and one really bad. Craven was there for the first four before he sadly passed away in 2015. The franchise has since been handed off to the likes of Radio Silence and Kevin Williamson. Scream 8 has already been announced, and like with the Halloween franchise, I’ll keep turning up for Ghostface no matter how many sequels they pump out.

7

‘Scream 7’ (2026)

Image via Paramount Pictures

I like every Scream movie except for one. Scream 7 is garbage. I already had issues with it being made after Melissa Barrera was fired. I felt icky watching it but was ready to give it a fair shot despite the controversy. Scream 7 does admittedly have a fun opening scene, with Ghotsface getting in a few scary moments and burning Stu Maher’s house down. Sadly, it’s all speeding downhill after that, even though Neve Campbell is back as Sidney Prescott and Matthew Lillard, my favorite Ghostface, is sort of back as Stu.

Scream 7 is stacked with unforgettable characters. Sidney’s daughter, Tatum (Isabel May), and her friends are nothing more than lazy tropes. The A.I. plot, while intriguing on the surface in today’s society, has nothing to say. In fact, the whole film has nothing to say. All of the other movies spoke to the current state of the horror movie world. Not Scream 7. It’s your basic slasher, which is unfortunate since it was directed by Kevin Williamson, the man who wrote the original film. There are a few cool kills and eerie shots, but Scream 7 is a rushed mess, all leading to the absolute worst Ghostface reveal ever. Who thought this was a good idea?

6

‘Scream 3’ (2000)

Image via Dimension Films

Scream 3 isn’t a bad movie. It’s just off, and a sharp dip in quality after the first two films. I try to forgive it because Wes Craven was in a tough situation. The original idea for the final story in the trilogy, written by Kevin Williamson, was going to go big. The plot was supposed to be about a cult of Ghostfaces made of high schoolers who worshipped at the feet of Stu, who is shown to be still alive and in prison! Imagine that movie. Tragically, the 1999 Columbine school shooting forced a change in plot, which is why Scream 3 doesn’t feel fleshed out.

Written instead by Ehren Kruger, Scream 3 is still a fun watch because everyone we love is there. Craven is directing, Sidney Prescott is front and center, and Courteney Cox‘s Gale Weathers and David Arquette‘s Dewey Riley are by her side. There are plenty of fun chase scenes and the idea of a new Ghostface taking on the predators of Hollywood with a story about how Sidney’s mother was exploited and abused by the industry is intriguing, especially when rewatching it today. The script is clunky though and doesn’t quite get it right. Kudos to Scream 3 for having only one Ghostface this time, but the reveal was a letdown. And Courteney, what’s up with those bangs?!

5

‘Scream 6’ (2023)

Image Via Paramount Pictures

After how well Scream 5 did, Scream 6 was quickly greenlit and came out the next year. This could have led to another sequel that felt rushed. Instead, for the most part, it’s a pretty good movie, and it did it all without Sidney Precott! When Neve Campbell decided to sit this one out over a pay dispute, writers James Vanderbilt and Gary Busick, and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had the ultimate question to answer: how do you move on from your iconic final girl?

Thankfully, the team had done a tremendous job of building up a new cast of characters in Scream 5. Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown easily carry this on their own. Campbell isn’t even missed. Scream 6 is shot well, with plenty of great kills, and an unforgettable opening scene with Samara Weaving, my favorite since the first film. However, Cox’s inclusion in the movie is pointless, and I was shaking my head at how many stab wounds Chad Meeks-Martin could take and survive. The Ghostface reveal didn’t work for me either. The same old routine of multiple people taking off their masks and giving an explanation is getting old.

4

‘Scream 4’ (2011)

Image via Dimension Films

Eleven years after Scream 3, Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson reunited for Scream 4 in what was supposed to be the first film in a new trilogy. When the fourth film underwhelmed at the box office, those plans were nixed. That’s okay. Scream 4 works on its own and doesn’t feel like the setup for something more. The film is smart in its approach to its characters. Campbell, Cox, and Arquette are all back, but Williamson’s script also develops some new, fascinating characters. Everyone loved Hayden Panettiere‘s Kirby Reed so much that Scream 6 brought her seemingly back from the dead.

Scream 4 returned to the smart and chaotic fun missing from a lot of Scream 3, and I was actually surprised by who one of the Ghostface killers was and bought their motivation. The only issues I really have are all of the annoying fake-outs in the opening scene and the weird, foggy look to everything. Still, this is a great if unnecessary sequel. It was Wes Craven’s last film, a fitting end for such a monumental horror legacy.

3

‘Scream 5’ (2022)

Image via Paramount

Scream 4 came out at the wrong time. Fans have moved on from slashers. 2022, already having seen the successful return of Michael Myers in a new Halloween trilogy, was the perfect moment to bring Ghostface back. I, like many others, felt uncomfortable with the idea of a Scream 5 at first. How can you make a sequel without Wes Craven? What won me over was how Radio Silence and company approached it. Scream 5 is a bridge from the past to the future. This time, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter, are the leads. This is their movie, and that’s not a disappointment.

Scream 5 was brutal. The kills are more vicious and gory, and although it was heartbreaking to see Dewey die, it had to happen. This was Scream 5‘s way of saying that we were entering a new era where anything was possible. Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox are there, too, in roles that make sense and don’t feel forced. They need to be here to fight for Dewey’s memory. The only thing holding Scream 5 back is ghost Billy (Skeet Ulrich). I roll my eyes every time. How convenient that Sam is his secret daughter. And now she’s seeing a badly de-aged version of her dad, still wearing the same white T-shirt? What?

2

‘Scream 2’ (1997)

Image via Miramax

Scream 2 came out only one year after the first. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson had to figure out how you top one of the greatest horror movies ever made. You can’t, and they didn’t try to. Scream 2 is a thrilling sequel which raises the stakes and ups the kills like all sequels do, but without attempting too much. It wisely moved the plot away from Woodsboro, California and put Sidney in an Ohio college, where she meets a whole host of new characters and potential killers.

Scream 2 had a fun opening scene with a Ghostface that dared attack a victim in front of an entire movie theater of people. The death of Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) came out of nowhere, and although I wish he had lived, the decision shook everything up and showed that this killer would still be as much of a threat as the last. Scream 2 has plenty of great chase scenes, especially the one involving the death of Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar). It’s a scary movie, and it doesn’t forget its meta roots either, with the hilarious debut of the Stab franchise. The Ghostface reveals aren’t my favorite, but I was genuinely surprised by one of them. When slashers are so often predictable, that was refreshing.

1

‘Scream’ (1996)

Image via Dimension Films

There could only be one answer for the top of this list. Scream is one of my all-time favorite movies. Slashers were dead and buried until that first movie came out in 1996. Kevin Williamson’s meta script took the familiar and made it feel new all over again by taking a loving jab at tropes of the subgenre without jumping into full Scary Movie parody territory. There are laughs, for sure, but Scream‘s uniquely designed Ghostface killer is genuinely creepy because, in a world of hulking, silent madmen, this guy uses the phone, not only taunting his victims but forcing them to answer horror movie trivia questions with their life on the line.

Roger L. Jackson’s voice is like a character unto himself. No wonder he’s still playing the part thirty years later. He owns that first scene, the best opening in movie history, in my humble opinion, thank you. Those first 15 minutes are perfection. And it was all a setup for more perfection with amazing characters and a thrilling whodunit. The final half of the movie, all set at Stu’s house, is non-stop mayhem, leading to a Ghostface reveal and ending which does everything right. You hit me with the phone, dick!

By Jennifer Asencio
| Published 1 hour ago

When Angel Studios released the trailer for the upcoming Andy Serkis adaptation of Animal Farm, I was already skeptical. The trailer suggested that the movie, led by Seth Rogan, not only missed the point of the novel, but turned it on its ear to support the very communism the book decried. However, back then, we only had the trailer to go by.

Now, independent political commentator Tim Pool has seen the full movie and confirms the impression the trailer conveyed was correct. In fact, the movie skews so far away from the book that Pool has refused to allow the movie to advertise on his podcast. According to Pool, the movie is anti-capitalist rather than anti-communist, which is the entire point of George Orwell’s notoriously anti-communist book.

Angel Studios is a well-known Christian outlet run by three brothers, Shawn, Jeffrey, and Jordan Harmon, the directors behind the campy Squatty Potty commercial. They turned their success into a crowd-sourced studio that is focused on conservative, Christian entertainment, including the Neal McDonough-led movie and series Homeland and the anime-styled Gabriel and the Guardians, a children’s cartoon led by the voice talent of Jonny Young Bosch, former Power Ranger and voice of Vash the Stampede in the English dub of Trigun.

Angel Studios Running Away From Its Conservative Roots?

With Animal Farm, Angel Studios seems to be running away from its conservative roots. Aside from a cast which includes well-known left-wing activist Seth Rogan, key character Snowball is played by trans thespian LaVerne Cox. This is not objectionable by itself, but it is a surprising move for a Mormon film company whose target audience is Christian conservatives.

Additionally, the movie is clearly targeted to and being marketed for children, with adorable, animated animals voiced by other celebrities, like Woody Harrelson and Glenn Close. However, Animal Farm is definitely not a kid’s book and not suitable as a “family film” the way this version is being sold.

However, the most glaring controversy is that the villains are obvious caricatures of famous billionaires, most notably Elon Musk, and that the movie decries capitalism by using the same storyline George Orwell used to criticize Soviet socialism and Stalinism in his 1945 book. The irony is that the book is largely about the use of propaganda to tell people what to think, and the adaptation being released on May 1, 2026 actually is propaganda more in line with a left-leaning Hollywood than a conservative Christian distributor. Even the distribution date is somewhat of an attack on the author of the work, as May 1 was the date of a revolution in Spain that was a significant event in Orwell’s life, about which he wrote a memoir.

Angel Studios May Have Circumvented Its Conservative Donors To Get Animal Farm Made

Angel Studios execs Jordan and Jeffrey Harmon leaped to defend the movie, claiming it was “anti-communist and anti-cronyist;” Jeffrey even went on Tim Pool’s show to respond to his allegations directly. However, the casting, the hints from the trailer, and the testimony of Tim Pool have all raised the eyebrows of many viewers and called attention to the lack of screening by the Angel Guild.

The Angel Guild is a group of donors who help crowd-source the movies Angel Studios produces. Each project is supposed to be voted on by the many members of the Guild, but several responded to various threads about the Animal Farm controversy by admitting they had not known about the vote or been offered a screening of the movie.

The Lord of the Rings is borderline untouchable, as a movie trilogy. That should be stressed right out of the gate. The three movies adapted J.R.R. Tolkien’s massive novel of the same name, with that novel sometimes being called a trilogy, owing to how it was released in three parts. And it was the same deal with the movie adaptation, or adaptations. You sort of have to take them all as one whole, and they were filmed as one huge production, but then there are also, technically, three movies, one released every year between 2001 and 2003 (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King). But since they’re all available now, you’re more than welcome to treat all three as one huge movie, and watch them as such, should you have about nine hours to spare for the theatrical versions, or more like 11 hours to spare for the extended versions. The trilogy (yeah, sorry, it’s going to be called that, for present purposes) is largely centered on an increasingly desperate battle to prevent a dark lord from re-emerging and re-conquering Middle-earth, with a Hobbit entrusted with the task of destroying an all-powerful ring, which is what said dark lord wants no matter what.

To cut a long story short (even though The Lord of the Rings is a long story, but oh well), The Lord of the Rings is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to adapting books to the big screen. There are parts of Tolkien’s work that didn’t get fully translated, and some things that had to be streamlined for the sake of the new medium, but the trilogy really does the vast majority of things right. As such, it’s hard (albeit probably not impossible) to argue that there are genuinely superior trilogies overall, but ever so slightly less difficult to argue that there might be some trilogies from cinema history that are even more entertaining. Some of this comes down to the time commitment, with the following trilogies being debatably easier to watch and enjoy because they don’t require nine to 11 hours, and also, you get variety with these trilogies, to a greater extent than with The Lord of the Rings, so that helps with entertainment value, to some extent. And again, it’s not even that these trilogies are better when you take into account everything… since everything, you know, includes more than just a trilogy’s entertainment value.

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The ‘Star Wars’ Original Trilogy (1977–1983)

Easy pick here, with the first three Star Wars movies, but it does have to be emphasized that it’s the original trilogy being singled out here (so, the three released between 1977 and 1983). There are two more trilogies within the Star Wars series: the prequel trilogy (1999–2005) and the ever-divisive sequel trilogy (2015–2019). The original three, though, are phenomenal, and chronologically come between the prequel trilogy and sequel trilogy. Star Wars, later called Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, gets things off to a phenomenal start, while middle chapter The Empire Strikes Back is pretty much perfect in just about every way, and then Return of the Jedi is admittedly a little more flawed, yet still a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy as a whole. A New Hope might’ve felt like the freshest at the time, and it can still be recognized and appreciated for what it kicked off nowadays, but The Empire Strikes Back is the film that really showcases Star Wars at its best, and its success is a huge reason why Star Wars, as a whole, is now such a monumental franchise.

The Empire Strikes Back has the best pacing of the three original films, and it succeeds in making the conflict first explored in A New Hope feel a little deeper and more personal to some of the central people involved. It also ups the stakes in a big (and nowadays very well-known) way, and Return of the Jedi is at its best when exploring the fallout from the single biggest revelation that comes near the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Assessing the trilogy as a whole, it’s quite easy to watch all three movies in a very short span of time, given they’re all a little over two hours each, and there is a definite progression and upping of the stakes from film to film. Well, okay, if Return of the Jedi feels a little less intense than The Empire Strikes Back, it at least makes up for it, to some extent, with the spectacle it offers, since the whole final act of that movie offers a great deal of action in three distinct settings, cutting between them all in a rather thrilling way. These three movies are all quintessential blockbusters in their own ways, and watching them all back-to-back-to-back proves tremendously entertaining.

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The ‘Cornetto’ Trilogy (2004–2013)

Image via Rogue Pictures

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Call it a loose or thematic trilogy if you want, but the Cornetto trilogy is still a trilogy. Sometimes, it’s referred to as Three Flavours Cornetto, which is a parody of the title of the Three Colours trilogy, and those films are also great, albeit not as entertaining in the traditional sense. But to stick to the Cornetto movies, they’re united by a few things, including the director (Edgar Wright), the two leads in each movie (played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, albeit they’re different characters in each film), and a series of recurring jokes and beats that are hit from film to film. Also, each movie serves as a parody of a different genre, though it’s also worth noting that all these movies go beyond your average parody, and all of them function as genuinely pretty good films if you’re to judge them within those genres they’re parodying.

That’s not the neatest way to put it, but let’s break it down with a little more clarity. You’ve got 2004’s Shaun of the Dead, which more or less puts a comedic spin on zombie movies, and parodies certain conventions of this particular horror sub-genre. At the same time, there is an increasing sense of tension throughout Shaun of the Dead, and its final act, in particular, ends up being a good deal more intense than a fair few actual (more serious) zombie movies out there. Hot Fuzz (2007) does a similar thing, but with buddy cop/action movies, and it also functions as a surprisingly engaging murder-mystery sort of thing, at the same time. Then there’s 2013’s The World’s End, which some people might like to tell you isn’t as good as either Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, but those people are wrong, and time will be kind to The World’s End. It’s the most mature and downbeat of the bunch, exploring a tragic sort of middle-aged angst while parodying – and then also belonging within – the sci-fi genre, more specifically something like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The variety here is what really makes the Cornetto trilogy soar, thanks to all the movies belonging to different genres (and it also helps, of course, that all three films are very funny in their own ways).

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The Original ‘Evil Dead’ Trilogy (1981–1992)

Image via New Line Cinema

Those first three Evil Dead movies are so, so good. Admittedly, the two most recent ones (at the time of writing, from 2013 and 2023) are also pretty good, in their own ways, but here, things are specifically centered on the first three, all of them directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell. It’s the Evil Dead original trilogy, so to speak, and they make up what’s probably the easiest trilogy to watch in one sitting. That does come down to all three movies only being about 80 minutes each, so you can get through all three in just over four hours (and hell, there are some movies that are about four hours long, including the extended edition of The Return of the King). Within those four hours, you will be subject to a lot. Maybe even too much. But it’s a trip to go from the straightforward horror of The Evil Dead to the all-out farce that is Army of Darkness.

To be a little more specific, The Evil Dead (1981) is one of those quintessential “evil cabin in the woods” sorts of movies, and it’s genuinely still quite frightening and intense, with very little in the way of intentional comedy. Evil Dead II (1987), on the other hand, sees the series getting a little more comedic, with it having a similar premise to the first movie, but with a combination of horror and comedy elements. And then Army of Darkness (1992) has the protagonist of the trilogy, Ash, getting transported back to medieval times (well, it technically happens at the end of Evil Dead II, but Army of Darkness fully commits to the cliffhanger/bit). In those medieval times, he becomes something of an unlikely action hero and quip machine, and almost nothing is taken seriously. It’s all played for comedy, and it’s all very over-the-top. But if you watch all these movies from start to finish, it makes sense, somehow. You go from grisly horror to glorious camp, and it works. There might be movie trilogies better than the first three Evil Dead films, but there probably aren’t any trilogies that stand as genuinely more entertaining.