Paul McCartney: AI Helped Create 'Last Beatles Record'

FILE - Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'If These Walls Could Sing' in London, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'If These Walls Could Sing' in London, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
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Paul McCartney: AI Helped Create 'Last Beatles Record'

FILE - Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'If These Walls Could Sing' in London, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'If These Walls Could Sing' in London, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP, File)

Artificial intelligence has been used to extract John Lennon's voice from an old demo to create “the last Beatles record,” Paul McCartney said Tuesday.

McCartney, 80, told the BBC that the technology was used to separate the Beatles' voices from background sounds during the making of director Peter Jackson's 2021 documentary series, “The Beatles: Get Back." The new song is set to be released later this year, he said.

Jackson was “able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette and a piano,” McCartney told BBC radio. “He could separate them with AI, he’d tell the machine ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar’.”

“So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record, it was a demo that John had that we worked on," he added. “We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI so then we could mix the record as you would do. It gives you some sort of leeway.”

McCartney described AI technology as “kind of scary but exciting," adding: “We will just have to see where that leads.”

The same technology enabled McCartney to “duet” virtually with Lennon, who was murdered in 1980, on “I've Got a Feeling” last year at Glastonbury Festival.

The singer-songwriter is set to open an exhibition later this month at the National Portrait Gallery featuring previously unseen photographs he took during the early days of The Beatles as the band rose to worldwide fame.



A Minute With ‘Knives Out’ Director Rian Johnson on Third Franchise Film 

Rian Johnson. (Getty Images/AFP)
Rian Johnson. (Getty Images/AFP)
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A Minute With ‘Knives Out’ Director Rian Johnson on Third Franchise Film 

Rian Johnson. (Getty Images/AFP)
Rian Johnson. (Getty Images/AFP)

Writer and director Rian Johnson is unveiling his third “Knives Out” mystery movie, “Wake Up, Dead Man,” which streams on Netflix on December 12.

The film centers around Father Jud Duplenticy, played by Josh O’Connor, who finds himself the prime suspect in a murder amidst a small, close-knit Catholic church congregation.

The “Knives Out” detective from the previous franchise films, Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, turns up to solve the mystery.

Johnson told Reuters about the process of creating the third film in the franchise.

Q. When you’re picking titles for films, like the last film “Glass Onion,” and this one “Wake Up, Dead Man,”– how much are you trying to befuddle the audience just with the title alone?

A. Well, I mean, you’re trying to pick a title that sounds like a good murder mystery title, that sounds a little intriguing but also that hopefully once you see the movie, you’re like, "it couldn’t have been named anything else." And this movie, I think the title is apropos.

Q. When you’re writing these mysteries, do you know who you have in mind for who the cast is?

A. I try not to, because it’s a pathway to heartbreak because in one way, all the actors are excited about being in them. It’s still we’re going after people who are the busiest people in the world, who are these movie stars so you don’t always know if it’s going to work out schedule-wise. So, if you’ve written with somebody deeply ingrained for that part and you can’t get them, then that’s a heartbreak. I try and write just to the characters. I try and just write an interesting group and then find the best people to play them.

Q. I think last time I interviewed you for "Glass Onion", you’d done this script already. How far ahead are you of future installments?

A. I actually think it’s quite important for me not to come up with an idea and start writing it until I know it’s going to be the next thing. So it’s not like I have a drawer of ideas for these things.


Full List of 2026 Golden Globe Nominees

A podium stands near Golden Globe statues, ahead of the announcement of the nominations for the 83rd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
A podium stands near Golden Globe statues, ahead of the announcement of the nominations for the 83rd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
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Full List of 2026 Golden Globe Nominees

A podium stands near Golden Globe statues, ahead of the announcement of the nominations for the 83rd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
A podium stands near Golden Globe statues, ahead of the announcement of the nominations for the 83rd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, December 8, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Nominees for the 2026 Golden Globe Awards have been announced and “One Battle After Another” is this year's leading nominee.

Here's the list of who's nominated for this year's awards, which will be held Jan. 11 at the Beverly Hilton. Nikki Glaser will host the ceremony, according to Reuters.

MOVIES Best motion picture, drama “Frankenstein”; “Hamnet”; “It Was Just An Accident”; “The Secret Agent”; “Sentimental Value”; “Sinners.”

Best motion picture, musical or comedy “Blue Moon”; “Bugonia”; “Marty Supreme”; “No Other Choice”; “Nouvelle Vague”; “One Battle After Another.”

Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, drama Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”; Jennifer Lawrence, “Die My Love”; Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”; Julia Roberts, “After the Hunt”; Tessa Thompson, “Hedda”; Eva Victor, “Sorry Baby.”

Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture, drama Joel Edgerton, “Train Dreams”; Oscar Isaac, “Frankenstein”; Dwayne Johnson, “The Smashing Machine”; Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”; Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”; Jeremy Allen White, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.”

Best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”; Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked: For Good”; Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”; Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another”; Amanda Seyfried, “The Testament of Ann Lee”; Emma Stone, “Bugonia.”

Best performance by a male actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”; George Clooney, “Jay Kelly”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”; Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”; Lee Byung-hun, “No Other Choice”; Jesse Plemons, “Bugonia.”

Best performance by a female actor in a supporting role Emily Blunt, “The Smashing Machine”; Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value”; Ariana Grande, “Wicked: For Good”; Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”; Amy Madigan, “Weapons”; Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another.”

Best performance by a male actor in a supporting role Benicio del Toro, “One Battle After Another”; Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”; Paul Mescal, “Hamnet”; Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”; Adam Sandler, “Jay Kelly”; Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value.”

Cinematic and box office achievement “Avatar: Fire and Ash”; “F1”; “KPop Demon Hunters”; “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”; “Sinners”; “Weapons”; “Wicked: For Good”; “Zootopia 2.”

Best motion picture, non-English “It Was Just an Accident,” France; “No Other Choice,” South Korea; “The Secret Agent,” Brazil; “Sentimental Value,” Norway; “Sirāt,” Spain; “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Tunisia.

Best motion picture, animated “Arco”; “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle”; “Elio”; “KPop Demon Hunters”; “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”; “Zootopia 2.”

Best director Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”; Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”; Guillermo del Toro, “Frankenstein”; Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident”; Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value”; Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet.”

Best screenplay “One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson; “Marty Supreme,” Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie; “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler; “It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi; “Sentimental Value,” Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier; “Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell.

Best original score “Frankenstein,” Alexandre Desplat; “Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson; “One Battle After Another,” Jonny Greenwood; “Sirāt,” Kangding Ray; “Hamnet,” Max Richter; “F1,” Hans Zimmer.

Best original song “Dream as One,” from “Avatar: Fire and Ash”; “Golden,” from “KPop Demon Hunters”; “I Lied to You,” from “Sinners”; “No Place Like Home,” from “Wicked: For Good”; “The Girl in the Bubble,” from “Wicked: For Good”; “Train Dreams,” from “Train Dreams.”

TELEVISION Best television series, drama “The Diplomat”; “The Pitt”; “Pluribus”; “Severance”; “Slow Horses”; “The White Lotus.”

Best television series, comedy or musical “Abbott Elementary”; “The Bear”; “Hacks”; “Nobody Wants This”; “Only Murders in the Building”; “The Studio.”

Best performance by a female actor, drama Kathy Bates, “Matlock”; Britt Lower, “Severance”; Helen Mirren, “Mobland”; Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”; Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”; Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus.”

Best performance by a male actor, drama Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”; Diego Luna, “Andor”; Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”; Mark Ruffalo, “Task”; Adam Scott, “Severance”; Noah Wyle, “The Pitt.”

Best performance by a female actor TV series, musical or comedy Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”; Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”; Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”; Natasha Lyonne, “Poker Face”; Jenna Ortega, “Wednesday”; Jean Smart, “Hacks.”

Best performance by a male actor, TV series, musical or comedy Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”; Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”; Glen Powell, “Chad Powers”; Seth Rogen, “The Studio”; Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”; Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear.”

Best limited series, anthology series or movie made for television “Adolescence”; “All Her Fault”; “The Beast in Me”; “Black Mirror”; “The Girlfriend”; “Dying for Sex.”

Best performance by a male actor in a limited series, anthology series or movie made for television Jacob Elordi, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”; Paul Giamatti, “Black Mirror”; Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”; Charlie Hunnam, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”; Jude Law, “Black Rabbit”; Matthew Rhys, “The Beast in Me.”

Best performance by a female actor in a limited series, anthology series or movie made for television Claire Danes, “The Beast in Me”; Rashida Jones, “Black Mirror”; Amanda Seyfried, “Long Bright River”; Sarah Snook, “All Her Fault”; Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”; Robin Wright, “The Girlfriend.”

Best performance by a female actor in a supporting role Carrie Coon, “The White Lotus”; Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”; Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”; Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio”; Parker Posey, “The White Lotus”; Aimee Lou Wood, “The White Lotus.”

Best performance by a male actor in a supporting role Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”; Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”; Walton Goggins, “The White Lotus”; Jason Isaacs, “The White Lotus”; Tramell Tillman, “Severance”; Ashley Walters, “Adolescence.”

Best performance in stand-up comedy on TV Bill Maher, “Is Anyone Else Seeing This?”; Brett Goldstein, “The Second Best Night of Your Life”; Kevin Hart, “Acting My Age”; Kumail Nanjiani, “Night Thoughts”; Ricky Gervais, “Mortality”; Sarah Silverman, “PostMortem.”

Best podcast “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard”; “Call Her Daddy”; “Good Hang with Amy Poehler”; “The Mel Robbins Podcast”; “SmartLess”; “Up First from NPR.”

 

 

 

 

 

 


Paramount Makes $108.4 billion Hostile Bid for Warner Bros Discovery

The Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, US November 18, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, US November 18, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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Paramount Makes $108.4 billion Hostile Bid for Warner Bros Discovery

The Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, US November 18, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake
The Warner Bros. studios in Burbank, California, US November 18, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion for Warner Bros Discovery, throwing a wrench into the deal with Netflix in a last-ditch effort to create a media powerhouse that would challenge the dominance of the streaming giant.

The streaming giant had emerged victorious on Friday from a weeks-long bidding war with Paramount and Comcast, securing a $72 billion equity deal for Warner Bros Discovery's TV, film studios and streaming assets.

The offer, which is worth $82.7 billion including debt and comes with a $5.8 billion break-up fee from Netflix, is likely to face strong antitrust scrutiny, Reuters reported.

Paramount submitted multiple offers starting in September to forge an entertainment powerhouse capable of challenging Netflix and tech giants such as Apple that have expanded into media but faced rejections.

It has offered to buy the whole company at $30 per share, compared with Netflix's nearly $28 per share offer for its assets.

Paramount remains one of Hollywood's major studios, but its box office record has been uneven, with occasional franchise wins offset by periods in which its slate has trailed Disney, Universal and Warner Bros in US market share.

It had sent a letter to Warner Bros, questioning the sale process and alleging the company has abandoned a fair bidding process and predetermined Netflix as the winner.

That followed reports that Warner Bros' management called the Netflix deal a "slam dunk" while speaking negatively about Paramount's offer.

Analysts and industry experts see Paramount as the best candidate for acquiring Warner Bros Discovery, given Ellison's deep pockets - backed by his father, Oracle co-founder and the world's second-richest person Larry Ellison and the close ties with the Trump administration.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday the Netflix-Warner Bros combo could raise market share concerns and he would have a say on the deal.

Bloomberg News has reported Trump met Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos in mid-November, telling the executive Warner Bros should sell to the highest bidder.

Netflix's bid has already drawn sharp criticism from bipartisan lawmakers and Hollywood unions on concerns that it could lead to job cuts as well as higher prices for consumers.

The combined company will have substantial overlap and its combined streaming revenue would decline unless Netflix doubles its prices or runs separate platforms, neither of which the brokerage expects, Morningstar analysts have said.

Looking to allay antitrust fears, Sarandos had said the deal would drive value for consumers, shareholders and talent, saying Netflix is "highly confident" in the regulatory process.

Analysts said Netflix's motivation would stem from securing exclusive, long-term control over premium IP and reducing reliance on external studios as it expands into gaming, live entertainment and broader consumer ecosystems.

Access to WBD's vast IP trove would provide immediate credibility, audience reach and merchandising potential for its gaming ambitions, an area where Netflix is still building original content and brand recognition.