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Actor Anne Heche 'Not Expected to Survive' after Crash: US Media

US actress Anne Heche is 'not expected to survive' after spending a week in a coma following a fiery car crash Angela Weiss AFP/File
US actress Anne Heche is 'not expected to survive' after spending a week in a coma following a fiery car crash Angela Weiss AFP/File
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Actor Anne Heche 'Not Expected to Survive' after Crash: US Media

US actress Anne Heche is 'not expected to survive' after spending a week in a coma following a fiery car crash Angela Weiss AFP/File
US actress Anne Heche is 'not expected to survive' after spending a week in a coma following a fiery car crash Angela Weiss AFP/File

US actor Anne Heche is "not expected to survive" after suffering a serious brain injury in a car crash in Los Angeles last week, US media has reported.

The fiery crash left Heche, 53, comatose with a "severe anoxic brain injury," according to a statement from a representative quoted by several outlets on Thursday, AFP said.

"It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she's being kept on life support to determine if any are viable," the statement said.

It also thanked Heche's well-wishers, along with those caring for her at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital.

"Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit," the statement added.

"More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life's work -- especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love. She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light."

Heche has been comatose since crashing her car into a two-story house in the Mar Vista neighborhood on August 5, resulting in "structural compromise and... heavy fire" at the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The ensuing blaze took 59 firefighters 65 minutes to contain and fully extinguish, the department said.

Los Angeles police said in a statement on Thursday that they would be conducting tests of Heche's blood, and that investigators intended to "present this case to the appropriate prosecuting office", though they did not specify a charge.

Local media reported the same day that preliminary tests had come back positive for narcotics, though more were needed to ensure the drugs had not been administered in the course of her treatment.

Celebrity gossip outlet TMZ, citing unnamed police sources, said Heche had tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, with the latter sometimes used for pain relief in clinical settings.

Heche starred in a number of movies from the 1990s including "Six Days, Seven Nights," "Donnie Brasco" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

Heche is also known for her role on the soap opera "Another World," for which she won a Daytime Emmy in 1991.

During the 1990s, she was in a high-profile relationship with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

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Entertainment

Indie Horror Flicks ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms’ Draw Gen Z to Cinema

This image released by A24 shows Chiwetel Ejiofor in a scene from "Backrooms." (A24 via AP)
This image released by A24 shows Chiwetel Ejiofor in a scene from "Backrooms." (A24 via AP)
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Indie Horror Flicks ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms’ Draw Gen Z to Cinema

This image released by A24 shows Chiwetel Ejiofor in a scene from "Backrooms." (A24 via AP)
This image released by A24 shows Chiwetel Ejiofor in a scene from "Backrooms." (A24 via AP)

The multi-million-dollar openings of indie horror flicks "Obsession" and "Backrooms" have Hollywood buzzing about the 20-something YouTuber directors who are driving Generation Z audiences to the theater in droves.

The endless yellow hallways of A24's "Backrooms," directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, terrified tens of thousands of people in its opening weekend to rack up $118 million at the box office.

And Focus Features film "Obsession," directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker, has taken in $148 million worldwide in two weeks -- a smash hit for a production that cost $750,000.

"It's a huge, huge success and a real turning point for the industry, potentially," said associate editor Matthew Frank of The Ankler, a digital media company that covers Hollywood.

"They're breaking out with these films that are appealing to a younger demographic," Frank said, adding that the vast majority of ticket buyers the past couple weekends "have been under 35 and even, you know, under 25. So it's appealing to this demographic (that) normally doesn't really get spoken to."

In recent years multiplexes have faced a multi-fold decline, fueled by the rise of streaming, a lag in recovery in ticket sales since Covid, and the strikes that halted production in Hollywood in 2023.

But this year's numbers are drumming up optimism for the best year since the pandemic.

This is thanks in part to Generation Z, which boosted the box office by 25 percent last year, according to a report from the National Research Group.

Theater owners are "ecstatic about these weekends," said Ronnie Yount, owner of the Phoenix Theaters chain in the midwest.

Yount compared both films to "Lilo & Stitch" for driving box office -- which seemed unthinkable.

- Franchise fails -

The trick to tapping into the younger market is to "deliver the right films," Frank said.

"Hollywood's problem, for a while, was saying, 'oh, it's young people,' when in fact it was because they were making the 10th (installment in) pre-existing franchises that were popular for their parents."

The safe bets from studios that hoped to cash in on an endless slate of summer action hero movies turned off younger audiences.

"When you make something that's for that audience, that's when they'll come out," Frank said.

Parsons, who is known to his 3.2 million subscribers as Kane Pixels on YouTube, has racked up more than 300 million views.

The inspiration for "Backrooms" came from a photo posted to an internet forum in 2019 showing, without context, a yellow space.

Parsons, then a teenager, told AFP that he saw the image as a "vaguely nostalgic and vaguely dreamlike but also very tangible science-fiction concept."

His YouTube video of a young man lost in terrifying corridors amassed millions of views in a matter of days, and led to a contract with A24.

His endless nightmare is now on the big screen, starring Oscar-nominated actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve.

Barker went from an audience of 1.1 million subscribers on his channel "That's a Bad Idea" to premiering "Obsession" at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025.

The movie follows the horrifying consequences after a young man's wish comes true, and the target of his romantic attention begins to love him more than anything else in the world.

Frank said very production company and studio in Hollywood right now is asking: "How can we replicate this?"

"Not just because they're huge successes, but they're also made for these limited budgets."

But he warned it's not just about finding successful YouTubers.

"It still requires just finding the great filmmakers, which can come anywhere."

Entertainment

Jason Momoa Says Having Best Year of His Career

Jason Momoa. (Getty Images)
Jason Momoa. (Getty Images)
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Jason Momoa Says Having Best Year of His Career

Jason Momoa. (Getty Images)
Jason Momoa. (Getty Images)

With several films yet to be released, and riding his success from the global hit "A Minecraft Movie," Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa says he is living a unique moment.

"It's probably my biggest year of my career," Momoa, 46, told AFP in an interview.

The actor said he's enjoying playing a range of roles, including Lobo, the intergalactic bounty hunter in the upcoming "Supergirl" film, which he described as "a childhood dream."

The star also appears in the film adaptation of "Street Fighter" and in the "Dune" trilogy, whose final installment hits theaters in December.

Momoa, who rose to fame thanks to "Game of Thrones," had the opportunity to work with Julian Schnabel, whom he described as his favorite director, in "In the Hand of Dante," which premieres this month on Netflix.

The actor is feeling like he's on a roll after playing a comedic role in last year's box office hit, "A Minecraft Movie," which he starred in with Jack Black.

"Minecraft really was huge, you know?" he said. "We didn't see that coming."

"I always wanted to do comedy. I mean, I've always done action my whole life," where playing superheroes felt "inevitable." But he enjoyed the opportunity to "make people laugh."

The actor said that comedic roles like those in "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part," in which he voices a parody of Aquaman, a character he has portrayed in several productions, also allowed him to connect with a very special audience: his family.

"It was an epic moment because my kids got to see me do the looping (voiceover)," he said. While they don't seem to care much about his other roles, "when I'm involved with Lego, I'm an all-star."

The actor reconnected with the famous brick brand by debuting this Monday as "the Playmaster," the central figure in Lego's "Never Stop Playing" campaign to encourage families to dedicate more time to playing with their children, as social media and screens gain ground.

"I grew up with Lego. My children grew up with Lego," said Momoa, who sees the colorful pieces and their infinite possibilities as a tool for developing creativity and imagination.

"It's something that makes my heart smile," he said.

The unique role came with a bonus: "Being chosen by Lego to have your own little action figures... for them to make that was pretty special."

Entertainment

'Backrooms', Based on YouTube Horror Series, Breaks Box Office Records

Kane Parsons, aged 20, is the youngest director with a number one feature film debut in North America. LISA O'CONNOR / AFP
Kane Parsons, aged 20, is the youngest director with a number one feature film debut in North America. LISA O'CONNOR / AFP
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'Backrooms', Based on YouTube Horror Series, Breaks Box Office Records

Kane Parsons, aged 20, is the youngest director with a number one feature film debut in North America. LISA O'CONNOR / AFP
Kane Parsons, aged 20, is the youngest director with a number one feature film debut in North America. LISA O'CONNOR / AFP

A24's "Backrooms," the big screen adaptation of a viral YouTube horror series, smashed several box office records with an $81.5 million North American debut, US media reported Sunday.

Directed by 20-year-old Kane Parsons, who created the "Backrooms" web series as a teenager, the movie's massive opening weekend haul is the largest ever for an original horror film and more than doubles A24's previous best domestic opening, according to Variety.

Parsons also becomes the youngest director ever to debut at number one with a feature film, the entertainment trade publication said.

Starring Oscar nominees Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, the movie follows a furniture shop owner (Ejiofor) who discovers a mysterious, labyrinthine complex underneath his store, AFP said.

When the man goes missing, his therapist (Reinsve) steps inside the liminal space to try and find him.

The online series, which began in 2022, became part of a phenomenon known as "creepypasta" -- a short horror story reposted and modified around the web, to which other users added details such as monsters and undiscovered dimensions.

Second place went to another horror film, Focus Features' "Obsession," whose strong critic and audience reviews have seen it steadily notch higher earnings in its three weeks out.

Directed by 26-year-old Curry Baker, the film took in another $26.4 million at the domestic box office, Exhibitor Relations reported, and now has a global estimated haul of nearly $150 million on a budget of less than $1 million.

Inde Navarrette has earned particular plaudits for her role as a young woman who becomes dangerously infatuated with a man, played by Michael Johnston, after he makes a magical wish for her affection.

"Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu," Disney's latest entry in the blockbuster sci-fi franchise, plummeted nearly 70 percent in its second weekend in theaters, taking in $25 million and finishing in third place.

The film is a jump to the big screen for the hit streaming series, and the first Star Wars film to be released in theaters since 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker."

Maintaining its place in the top five for a sixth weekend was Lionsgate's "Michael," the biopic about king of pop Michael Jackson, which added $11.7 million.

The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring the late popstar's nephew Jaafar Jackson, has now taken in $340 million at the domestic box office and over $845 million globally, according to Exhibitor Relations.

Fifth place went to Sony's comedy "The Breadwinner," which took in $7.5 million in its debut weekend.

Comedian Nate Bergatze -- one of the highest-grossing American stand-ups with a deadpan act focusing on family life -- stars in the movie as a dad who must take care of the kids while his wife is away on business.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"The Devil Wears Prada 2" ($5.9 million)

"Pressure" ($5.8 million)

"The Sheep Detective" ($4.6 million)

"Passenger" ($2.6 million)

"Mortal Kombat II" ($2 million)