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Welcome to New York: City Buzzes for Likely Taylor Swift Wedding Weekend

A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan
A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan
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Welcome to New York: City Buzzes for Likely Taylor Swift Wedding Weekend

A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan
A temporary "no parking" sign issued by the NYPD for a film shoot outside Madison Square Garden, ahead of a reported wedding between singer Taylor Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce, in New York City, US, July 1, 2026. REUTERS/Bing Guan

Fencing is up, streets are closed and all signs point to a lavish wedding for megastars Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in New York City this weekend.

At Madison Square Garden, workers have been hauling in food and decor to make the whole place shimmer.

News cameras captured foliage, a box marked "garden party" and another labeled lobster meat. The venue's public calendar shows no events scheduled till Tuesday - a rare six-day stretch in a summer otherwise packed with concerts, with just the occasional night unbooked.

Several media outlets reported that Swift and Kelce will hold a 100-person event at the sports arena on Thursday followed by a larger celebration in front of 1,000 people on Friday.

The pop superstar and National Football League player have not confirmed when and where they will marry, and ⁠Swift's publicist has ⁠not responded to requests from Reuters for comment.

New York City already was abuzz with major happenings over the US Independence Day weekend. Tall ships will sail into New York Harbor to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on Saturday, and a World Cup soccer match is set for Sunday in nearby New Jersey.

On Wednesday, onlookers stopped to watch a Russian couple of daredevils who climbed to the top of the Empire State building and unfurled a banner urging world peace.

The big events ⁠coincide with high temperatures that prompted city officials to declare a heat emergency. When asked about a potential Swift wedding, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani used the moment to urge people to stay indoors to protect themselves from the extreme weather.

“If you happen to be getting married at MSG, you will be staying inside and staying cool, and I think it’s a good example to set for the city at large,” he told reporters earlier this week.

Reuters confirmed that an event planning company had applied for a permit to close the streets around the Garden from Thursday through mid-day Saturday. Fencing was being erected around the venue's entrances this week.

The venue sits above a major commuter hub, and passersby on Wednesday stopped to watch the preparations.

Hundreds of local law enforcement officers are expected to patrol the area, the New ⁠York Times reported, ⁠citing a memo titled “Taylor Swift wedding at Madison Square Garden.”

New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that officers were "tracking" an event at the Garden on Friday night and "will, of course, have a detail in place."

A department spokesperson did not respond to a Reuters request for additional information.

The union of the "Love Story" singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end, dubbed "America's royal wedding," is one of the most anticipated celebrity weddings of the century.

Speculation has intensified since the couple announced their engagement in August following a public courtship that enchanted fans.

Cameras caught Swift cheering on Kelce at Chiefs games and followed him as he jetted around the world to her concerts.

A star-studded crowd is expected, given Swift's roster of celebrity friends, including Selena Gomez, Ed Sheeran, Emma Stone and Gigi Hadid.

In one TV interview, Swift joked that she would invite "anyone that I've ever talked to." On the groom's side, Chiefs coach Andy Reid was photographed being fitted for a tuxedo.

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Entertainment

Co-Star Says Sam Neill Battled Pneumonia Before Death

Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)
Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)
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Co-Star Says Sam Neill Battled Pneumonia Before Death

Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)
Sam Neill arrives for a gala presentation of Blackbird at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 6, 2019. (Reuters)

Actor Sam Neill battled pneumonia before his unexpected death aged 78, a former co-star said Tuesday as some of Hollywood's biggest names mourned the "Jurassic Park" leading man.

Neill died in Australia on Monday, his family said in a statement that described the loss as "sudden and unexpected".

The New Zealander had undergone treatment for lymphoma in recent years but was cancer free, his family added without elaborating on the cause of his death.

New Zealand actor Rima Te Wiata, who starred opposite Neill in the widely acclaimed local comedy "Hunt for the Wilderpeople", said her friend was not scared of dying but he would be "annoyed".

"It really sucks, actually," she told the New Zealand Herald.

"I think he would be like: 'For goodness sake, I got over my cancer. And now look, now I get pneumonia. What next?'"

Te Wiata did not offer any more detail and it was unclear how recently Neill may have been sick with pneumonia.

Neill revealed in a 2023 memoir he was "possibly dying" with stage-three non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

But he declared himself cancer-free earlier this year, thanks to a genetic therapy that modified his immune system.

Director Steven Spielberg led Hollywood's tributes to Neill, who endeared himself to fans with a modest style that belied his fame.

"I adored making all the 'Jurassic' movies with him," said the "Jurassic Park" filmmaker.

"Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our 'Jurassic' family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world."

- 'True and noble' -

"Jurassic Park" co-star Laura Dern said Neill was a "true and noble gentleman", while Jeff Goldblum said Neill's "next great adventure begins".

Nicole Kidman, who acted alongside Neill in Australian thriller "Dead Calm", said "Sam was one of the greats".

And Cillian Murphy, who worked with Neill on "Peaky Blinders", said he "admired him and adored him in equal measure".

"He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors... RIP."

Neill was born in Northern Ireland in 1947 but moved to the rugged South Island of New Zealand as a child.

He was christened "Nigel John Dermot" but ditched the name in favor of "Sam" because he feared it was too "effete" for New Zealand.

Neill started acting in New Zealand films in the early 1970s before moving into larger roles in Australia.

His breakthrough came in 1993 when he played Dr. Alan Grant in blockbuster "Jurassic Park", which for a period was the highest-grossing film ever made.

At one point he was even touted to replace Roger Moore in the iconic "James Bond" franchise.

When he was not acting, Neill also ran vineyards in the picturesque Central Otago region of New Zealand's South Island.

Entertainment

Anya Taylor-Joy Is Bloodied and Battling in Apple TV’s Crime Thriller ‘Lucky’

This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)
This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)
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Anya Taylor-Joy Is Bloodied and Battling in Apple TV’s Crime Thriller ‘Lucky’

This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)
This image released by Apple TV shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from "Lucky." (Jessica Brooks/Apple TV via AP)

Anya Taylor-Joy finds herself in a familiar setting this summer: In the desert, fighting to stay alive.

She did it in “Furiosa” and the upcoming “Dune: Part Three.” Now she's under the blazing California sun for “Lucky,” a propulsive Apple TV crime thriller that has her trading blows with goons, bloodying her otherworldly face.

“Listen, I’ve been to the desert so many times at this point it’s kind of unreal. I don’t look like a desert creature, and yet I’m always there and I love it,” says the actor. “People like to see me struggle, and they like me to survive. And, luckily, I enjoy doing it, too, so it works out.”

Taylor-Joy plays the title character in an adaptation of Marissa Stapley's novel about a con artist who wakes up in a hotel room and realizes she's been betrayed by a close ally and is forced on the run.

Lucky is soon pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss over a missing $10 million. Her widowed father isn't much help: He raised her to be a criminal but is now behind bars, only helping from a phone call.

“She’s at an inflection point when we meet her in the book and in the show where she’s got to chart her own course. She’s got to take things into her own hands, and she’s got to really decide how she wants to live her life,” says Lauren Neustadter, an executive producer.

The seven-episode series premieres Wednesday, and even in the first episode, Lucky has to fight her way out the closed trunk of a car and slam a screwdriver into the neck of a bad guy, finding herself alone in the desert. “How can someone so small cause so much trouble?” a goon asks.

“We see this character evolve from beginning to end. She starts off being all about the con, and the question is, ‘Where will that go? How will she evolve and who will she become?’ And I think that it’s one of the things that makes this show so special,” says Neustadter.

The series co-stars Annette Bening, Drew Starkey and Timothy Olyphant, with a female-centric soundtrack that includes a stirring theme song by Fiona Apple and tunes by Sleater-Kinney and Siouxsie Sioux.

Bening plays a cold-blooded mob leader who gets stuck between trying to save her son and tangling with her brutal boss and former lover. She's as likely to order a killing as be executed herself.

“She is an abused woman and she’s an abuser,” Bening says. “So, she’s so intriguing. I thought the writing was really good. And I did want to play this kind of borderline sociopathic woman.”

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media company approached Taylor-Joy with the book, asking her to not just consider leading the series as an actor but also offering to make her debut as an executive producer.

“I remember crossing my fingers and thinking, ‘God, I really hope I like this book.’ And then I did and I fell in love with Lucky and I felt that I had something to contribute in this space, which I think if you’re coming on as an executive producer is the feeling that you want to have,” says Taylor-Joy.

The show — created by Jonathan Tropper and written and showrun alongside Cassie Pappas — is a crime thriller but with a family drama at its heart, one that prompts Lucky to wonder if there's another way to live.

“Thematically, that’s what Jonathan and I were really drawn to, is this idea of how much does family affect who you are versus how much can you break that path and write yourself a new one,” says Pappas.

Lucky has grown up grifting with her dad, stealing money-filled envelopes at birthday parties and faking injuries to get free hotel rooms. Now on the run, she leans into those skills to survive but also yearns for a better life.

“We all struggle against sort of the restraints of our past and the baggage we were given by even good parents and getting to a point where we can figure out who we are,” says Tropper. “Hers just has much higher stakes because the act of her trying to figure that out could get her killed.”

For Taylor-Joy, in addition to leaping off trucks, dodging killers and stealing cars onscreen, she got to make casting decisions and advise on the look and sound of the show behind the camera.

“I think we had a wonderful time making it, and I think you can feel that on the screen, despite the screwdrivers through the head,” she says with a laugh.

Entertainment

'Jurassic Park' Star Sam Neill Dies Aged 78

FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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'Jurassic Park' Star Sam Neill Dies Aged 78

FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Sam Neill attends a premiere of the television series 'Apples Never Fall', in Los Angeles, California, US March 12, 2024. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

Sam Neill, a smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose career moved from art film to blockbuster as he dodged velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” to playing Holly Hunter’s husband in “The Piano,” has died. He was 78.

In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Neill died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s social media page.

His death was “sudden and unexpected,” the statement said, adding that he “remained cancer free” when he died. A cause of death wasn’t specified.

“Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” his family wrote.

Neil was one of a host of actors and directors who achieved international fame after an explosion of Australian films that began in the late 1970s, a list that includes Paul Hogan, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Jane Campion, Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong. His range was remarkable, playing opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy “Sweet Revenge” to chopping off Hunter’s finger in “The Piano” to poking his own eyes out in the sci-fi horror “Event Horizon.”

In “Omen III: The Final Conflict,” he played Damien the Antichrist and he also played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in “The Tudors.”

The actor first came to the attention of international audiences in Armstrong’s 1979 film “My Brilliant Career,” which also introduced Judy Davis. He later appeared in Phillip Noyce’s “Dead Calm,” a classy thriller set at sea and co-starring the then-relatively unknown Nicole Kidman.

Neill twice co-starred with Meryl Streep, in Australian director Fred Schepisi’s “Plenty” and — again for Schepisi — in “A Cry in the Dark,” a film about the sensationalized aftermath of a dingo killing a baby in the Australian Outback.

He earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 mini-series “Merlin” and another as narrator of 2017’s “Wild New Zealand.”

But perhaps he achieved his highest level of fame in “Jurassic Park” playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs. He co-starred alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.

His character was thoughtful and reasonable, a scientist who warned the mastermind of the theme park before the chaos: “Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?”

Grant survived the harrowing events when the creatures get loose, but didn’t return for “The Lost World: Jurassic Park II” in 1997. He came back for the third episode in 2001 and “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.

“It’s probably a little late to learn these things,” he told the Daily New of New York in 2001, “but I finally feel I’ve worked out how to be an action hero. I’m happier with Grant this time. He’s gnarly and grizzled, but he looks like he knows what he’s doing.”

Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 7. His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island and he was sent to boarding school in Christchurch. After college, he took the lead in “Sleeping Dogs” in 1977, the first feature made in New Zealand in more than a decade.

Neill’s other film roles included playing a Soviet submarine officer who memorably dreams of a home in Montana in “The Hunt for Red October” and an investigator in director John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness.”

On the small screen, Neill played the malign Chester Campbell in TV’s “Peaky Blinders” and Thomas Jefferson in the four-hour CBS miniseries, “Sally Hemings: An American Tragedy.” On Apple TV+, he was on “Invasion,” playing Oklahoma Sheriff John Bell Tyson, a man late in his career searching for his purpose. In 2024 he starred opposite Annette Bening in the Peacock series “Apples Never Fall.”

His memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This?” came out in March 2023 and he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to film,” a title approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments,” Neill told The Guardian in 2023, referring to his cancer diagnosis and treatment. “But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends.”