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Hollywood’s Brightest Stars Turn Out for the American Film Institute Awards

Leonardo DiCaprio attends the AFI (American Film Institute) Awards Luncheon in Los Angeles, California, US, January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Leonardo DiCaprio attends the AFI (American Film Institute) Awards Luncheon in Los Angeles, California, US, January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
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Hollywood’s Brightest Stars Turn Out for the American Film Institute Awards

Leonardo DiCaprio attends the AFI (American Film Institute) Awards Luncheon in Los Angeles, California, US, January 12, 2024. (Reuters)
Leonardo DiCaprio attends the AFI (American Film Institute) Awards Luncheon in Los Angeles, California, US, January 12, 2024. (Reuters)

Laughs and hugs were shared between Hollywood's best — including Margot Robbie, Meryl Streep and Leonardo DiCaprio — during a celebratory ceremony where everyone ended up walking away a winner at the American Film Institute Awards on Friday.

The annual invite-only luncheon honored 10 films and 10 television shows with well-spoken words about each celebrated project followed by a brief clip of a scene.

“Welcome to the annual AFI group hug,” institute President Bob Gazzale said as many in the audience chuckled. “For those who are new to this humble affair, the answer is ‘No. ... No.' You are not going to lose. Losing doesn't happen here.”

Most appeared in a jovial mood with smiles and lengthy conversations in the ballroom in Beverly Hills.

Robbie chatted for a while with “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan, who eventually pivoted to shake hands with Robbie's “Barbie” castmate America Ferrera. “Maestro” stars Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan enjoyed their time together on the red carpet while “Beef” star Ali Wong caught up with Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix.

“American Fiction” stars Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown huddled up with “Jury Duty” star James Marsden and former BET CEO Debra L. Lee. Director Steven Spielberg took photos with “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig.

The AFI event is all about having fun, creating a laid-back vibe with no pressure.

“When we began this event, now over 20 years ago, the idea was simple: We tell you you're great and why,” Gazzale said. “We share a moment of your film or television program. ... This community is not competition. It's never a competition. I know that doesn't sound ideal. But that's who we are.”

Films honored include “American Fiction,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “May December,” “Oppenheimer,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things" and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

Television shows recognized were “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Beef,” “Jury Duty,” “The Last of Us,” “The Morning Show,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Poker Face,” “Reservation Dogs” and “Succession.”

Others in the star-studded room included Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Jennifer Aniston, Robert Downey Jr., Emma Stone, Selena Gomez, Quinta Brunson, Lily Gladstone, Ayo Edebiri and Tracee Ellis Ross.

Ellen Burstyn closed the luncheon with a benediction to celebrate the honorees, whom she praised.

“I feel blessed to be part of this amazing tribe,” the 91-year-old Oscar, Emmy and Tony award winner said. “Thank you all for celebrating the best without making it a competition, just a shared appreciation. We appreciate you all.”

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Entertainment

Labubu Creators Hope for Monster Film Hit in Sony Co-production

FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
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Labubu Creators Hope for Monster Film Hit in Sony Co-production

FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Toys are displayed at at Pop Mart's Skullpanda pop-up shop in Manhattan, in New York City, US, December 12, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

China's snaggle-toothed Labubu dolls will soon come alive on the big screen after flying off the toy shelves, with maker Pop Mart announcing a collaboration with Sony Pictures.

The movie, which is still in early development, will feature the fanged plushie monsters in a "live-action and CGI hybrid", Beijing-based Pop Mart said on Thursday.

Created in 2015 by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung, Labubus sparked a craze nine years later, with the "ugly-cute" charms adorning the handbags of celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa and sparking massive queues at Pop Mart stores around the world.

Vivian Jia, a Canadian tourist visiting Pop Mart's flagship Shanghai flagship store, said she was looking forward to watching the Labubu movie with her children.

"I think they're so cute, especially the ones with the eyes that move... my friends' kids all like (Labubus) too," she told AFP.

Jia said she spent more than 400 yuan ($58) on a Labubu figure, which she said she planned to display in her living room in Vancouver.

The new film project, unveiled by Lung and director Paul King ("Wonka" and "Paddington") in Paris on Thursday, will seek to capitalize on the dolls' viral fame by bringing "Labubu's whimsical world to the big screen", Pop Mart said.

The collectable dolls, which typically sell for around $40, are released in limited quantities and sold in "blind boxes", meaning buyers do not know the exact model they will receive.

Some of the less common Labubu figures can fetch thousands of dollars.

Pop Mart sold more than 100 million Labubu dolls worldwide last year, with Chinese officials hailing the toothy characters' popularity as evidence of China's growing cultural and soft power.

They have become furry ambassadors for a "cool" China, even in places such as Europe and North America, where public opinion towards Beijing has not always been positive.

Camilla Pinheiro, a Brazilian Pop Mart fan who bought several dolls at the Shanghai store, said she would prefer a movie franchise about some of Pop Mart's less well-known toy lines, such as the punk-inspired Peach Riot figures.

"The whole (Labubu) fever, it was kind of intense... by the time they finish the movie, it will be so saturated," Pinheiro said.

King will share scriptwriting duties with Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson.

"The collaboration between Pop Mart and Sony Pictures marks a significant milestone," Pop Mart said, which promises "a unique cinematic experience with creative storytelling, artistic vision and enduring global appeal".

The company now has more than 600 stores in over 30 countries and regions.

A release date for the film has not yet been announced.

Entertainment

Tina Turner’s Name, Image, Likeness and Most Music Catalog Rights Acquired by Pophouse

Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
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Tina Turner’s Name, Image, Likeness and Most Music Catalog Rights Acquired by Pophouse

Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)
Tina Turner is shown during an interview in New York on Sept. 14, 1984. (AP)

Pophouse Entertainment has acquired Tina Turner’s name, image and likeness rights as well as the majority share of her music catalog rights from music company BMG, it announced Thursday.

The Swedish company, co-founded by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, is known for their digital avatars and immersive experiences.

Pophouse CEO Jessica Koravos would not disclose the deal's financial details or describe the company's plans for the Turner acquisition but told The Associated Press “that one of the reasons that we were so interested in Tina is because she has such an incredible visual presence and such an incredible stage energy. And so, we’re very much looking at projects that can portray that and try to recreate that to some degree.”

“What we want to do is really help to consolidate her legacy,” she added. “I think that Tina Turner is up there, or is going to be up there, with the Elvises and the Marilyn Monroes of the world.”

Koravos would not confirm if a digital avatar is on the way. She did say Pophouse will announce plans in the next six months.

Turner, known as the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll” for her chart-topping hits such as “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Best” and “Proud Mary,” died in 2023 at 83. Across her multidecade career, Turner won 12 Grammy Awards — including a Lifetime Achievement Award — was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and 2021, was honored at the Kennedy Center in 2005 and sold over 150 million records worldwide.

Conversations for the Pophouse deal began after her death. Koravos told the AP that BMG still holds a percentage of her catalog. She said Turner's estate was not involved “as a counterparty but certainly involved and in the sense of informed and participating in the conversations.”

“Tina Turner’s voice and spirit shaped modern music and popular culture,” Alistair Norbury, president of BMG UK, Continental Europe and APAC, wrote in a statement. “Our responsibility, alongside Pophouse and the Estate, is to ensure her work continues to resonate with audiences around the world, while remaining true to the strength, independence and originality that defined her career.”

One of many musical investments Pophouse has been making investments outside of Sweden as of late. In 2024, hard rock quartet Kiss sold their catalog, brand name and intellectual property to Pophouse in a deal estimated to be over $300 million. Previously, the band partnered with Pophouse to develop digitized avatars of themselves, which they revealed onstage at the final night of their 2023 farewell tour.

The cutting-edge technology was created by George Lucas’ special-effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, in partnership with Pophouse. The same companies teamed up for the “ABBA Voyage” show in London, where fans could attend a full concert by the Swedish band in their heyday, as performed by their own digital avatars.

Also in 2024, Cyndi Lauper entered a partnership with Pophouse, which included the sale of the majority share of her music.

“Most suits, when you tell them an idea, their eyes glaze over, they just want your greatest hits,” Lauper told the AP at Pophouse's Stockholm headquarters at the time. “But these guys are a multimedia company, they’re not looking to just buy my catalog, they want to make something new.”

“I think what interests artists, and the estates of artists in some cases, is that there aren’t very many people who are talking to them about what they want to achieve, creatively, around their body of work,” Koravos says. “So I think that is interesting to people, it's interesting to artists, who have got creative projects in their heads that they would like some support realizing. And those are the people we’re interested in talking to.”

“We’re not trying to be a major (label),” she adds. “It’s not a volume game for us. We want to acquire 10 or 12 really unique properties that have even more unique projects attached to them.”

Entertainment

Director Plans to Put Val Kilmer Back on Screen Thanks to AI

A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP
A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP
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Director Plans to Put Val Kilmer Back on Screen Thanks to AI

A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP
A director says Val Kilmer authorized using AI to have him 'act' in a movie after his death. JIM WATSON / AFP

The late American film star Val Kilmer could soon be "acting" on the big screen again after allowing a director to use AI tools to produce his likeness for an upcoming film, media reports said Wednesday.

Coerte Voorhees had tapped Kilmer, who died of pneumonia last year after years of battling throat cancer, for "As Deep as the Grave," about the pioneering archaeologist Ann Morris, a co-discoverer of the Anasazi civilization.

Kilmer was to play a Catholic priest named Fintan, said AFP.

"He was the actor I wanted to play this role," Voorhees told industry magazine Variety. "It drew on his Native American heritage and his ties to and love of the Southwest."

He said Kilmer signed on to the project but later became too ill to begin filming.

"I was looking at a call sheet the other day, and we had him ready to shoot," Voorhees said. "He was just going through a really, really tough time medically, and he couldn't do it."

He said Kilmer's family had provided video images of Kilmer, who was known for keeping a vast archive of footage from various moments of his life, that would be used to build the AI actor.

The project will likely get a wary welcome from many in Hollywood, where actors, writers and others are worried that AI could replace an array of jobs.

AI was already used with Kilmer so he could again play one of his most iconic roles, the cocky pilot Iceman, in the 2022 sequel to the era-defining 1980s hit "Top Gun."

Kilmer, who played in big-budget successes and indie films throughout his career, was one of the late actors praised during the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars ceremony on Sunday.