State Champ Radio

by DJ Frosty

Current track

Title

Artist

Current show
blank

G-MIX

7:00 pm 8:00 pm

Current show
blank

G-MIX

7:00 pm 8:00 pm


Film

Page: 2

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: YouTube / Sony
With the surprising success of Netflix’s Cobra Kai series, The Karate Kid is finding new life in a new generation and is now returning to the big screen as it first did back in 1984.

Looking to capitalize off the hype of Cobra Kai, Sony Pictures just dropped their first trailer to their upcoming Karate Kid: Legends starring Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan who starred alongside Jaden Smith in the 2010 remake of the classic film. Linking up two generations of Karate Kid characters, the film centers around Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) and Mr. Han (Chan) taking a new student under their wing (Ben Wang) and showing him the ropes in the world of martial arts.

Looking more like a Street Fighter film than anything, it seems like the tournaments and competitions will be taking place on rooftops and underground garages as LaRusso and Chan also get into some fisticuffs along the way.
Real talk, this joint looks entertaining as hell. We lowkey hope that Jaden Smith pops out with a jump kick at some point cause that’ll really set the audience on fire. Just sayin.’
Check out the trailer for Karate Kid: Legends below and let us know if you’ll be checking for this when it hits theaters on May 30, 2025.

Bluey is coming to a movie theater near you. Don’t tell your kids just yet — you’ll have to wait a couple years to see it.
A CG-animated feature film based on the hit series is slated for a 2027 release from The Walt Disney Company and BBC Studios, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It’ll stream on Disney+, and it will air on ABC iview and ABC Kids in Australia, after the global theatrical run of the movie.

The feature is set to “continue the adventures of Bluey, a loveable, inexhaustible, blue heeler dog, who lives with her Mum, Dad and her little sister, Bingo,” reads a description from a statement announcing the film.

Vocal talent families already know — including Melanie Zanetti and David McCormack (as Bluey’s mum and dad, Chilli and Bandit Heeler) — are on board for the film, as well as the series’ music composer, Joff Bush.

Trending on Billboard

BBC Studios will finance and license the Bluey movie for distribution, while Disney will release it in theaters worldwide. Bluey creator Joe Brumm is writing and directing, and Ludo Studio is producing in collaboration with BBC Studios.

Series creator Brumm said, “I really enjoyed the experience of working with a longer format on ‘The Sign’ in Series 3, so going even further with a feature film feels like a natural extension of that. I’ve always thought Bluey deserved a theatrical movie. I want this to be an experiential event for the whole family to enjoy together.”

Last month the Bluey franchise’s latest soundtrack, Bluey: Rug Island, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Kid Albums chart. Available on vinyl (in a sunset orange edition, or as a picture disc), on CD and as a digital download, almost 60% of the Oct. 25 releases’s 3,000 first-week sales came from vinyl purchases.

Bluey: Rug Island is the third soundtrack album from the series, following Bluey: The Album (2021) and Dance Mode! (2023). At press time, Bluey: Rug Island ranks at No. 7 on the Kid Albums chart — the chart is currently led by the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s classic A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack as the holiday nears.

Charli XCX, who hosted SNL last month, has another acting credit in the pipeline. The Brat hitmaker joins the cast of the upcoming film The Gallerist, directed by Cathy Yan. Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega were previously announced as stars of the movie, which is in pre-production and expected to begin shooting at the end […]

Last week, Sky Ferreira revealed she was releasing her first song as an independent artist in conjunction with the upcoming A24 drama Babygirl. The reaction was instant, with fans, fellow artists and critics welcoming the news. The new song, “Leash,” serves as a return for the singer-songwriter, whose last album, the acclaimed Night Time, My Time, dropped way back in 2013. “I was already so excited for babygirl but now we get babygirl + a new song from Sky,” tweeted friend and collaborator Charli XCX. “Omg stan mode activated.”

Explore

Explore

See latest videos, charts and news

See latest videos, charts and news

The fervent reaction — and her involvement in the Nicole Kidman-starring awards season favorite – comes after an admittedly dark time for the artist, during which she endured an acrimonious split with Capitol Records. “There’s a lot of people who are starting to understand the extent of what happened,” she told IndieWire of the period.

Trending on Billboard

Now, Ferreira finally feels free, and her new song speaks as much to the plot of Babygirl as it does her own career. The singer-songwriter spoke to Billboard about reactions to her song, her creative inspirations and how she’s taken back her professional and creative power.

When all this was announced, the internet went ballistic. What did you make of the reaction?

I’m excited that my fans like it, you know? I always feel weird being like “My fans!” (Laughs) But you know, people that listen to my music often or whatever. But I’m glad that it’s just out now. It was just this thing that I was anticipating. Now I’ve been doing all these interviews and stuff like that, and I haven’t been doing that in quite a while, so I’m kind of adapting to that again. But I’m glad that it has positive feedback, for the most part, from what I’m aware of because (coming out with this song) wasn’t the most conventional choice. I wasn’t really sure how people were going to take it or if they were going to accept it as much.

I think your fans were clamoring for this comeback, redemption arc, or whatever you want to call it. Especially in an era when people are taking charge of their own stuff, whether Taylor Swift or Kesha, artists who are reclaiming their power in their own ways.

Definitely, definitely, and I mean, it does seem like maybe there’s finally some progress in that sense where people are starting to feel more comfortable talking about this without all the repercussions of doing so. I mean, I feel those repercussions a little bit — not as much as I used to years ago talking about it. I don’t feel like I’m just yelling into a void or something.

What do you think changed?

Well, I can’t pretend that misogyny still isn’t rampant by any means, because it definitely is. There’s even moments with this when I’ve noticed it. But for the most part, I feel like people are more aware of this thing, that it happens. It’s not just something that happened in the ‘90s, 80s or ‘70s. I think younger people too, especially artists, maybe are more aware that they’re supposed to have more ownership of not just of their music but their career. They’re aware of the importance of it. I think that makes a big difference. It’s holding some space (for the fact that) the music industry might have to be more accountable for these things now. And someone like Taylor Swift definitely has made a huge impact in a sense, because she’s the biggest pop star on earth. So I think that brought a lot of awareness.

Have you spoken to other artists who have been in vaguely similar situations?

I’ve talked to some people that were older that have been in deals, maybe they were married to someone that they were signed to, stuff like that. But that was a long time ago, that sort of thing. But no, I actually haven’t. And obviously I would like to. I don’t really know that many people. I’ve known people that have been buried for other art, like, other artists, but they weren’t held captive by their label for such a long period of time. I know that happened to JoJo, right? I think she was stuck in her deal forever. But I’ve never really come across anyone that’s had it to the extent where I have, where they just kind of sit on you for years, because I think that’s why a lot of people seem to not believe certain artists or me even. I feel like the common thing is people ask, “Well, why won’t they just drop them?” And it’s not a wise business decision on their part. I think they don’t want you to do better elsewhere. So it’s better to just keep you there, because they don’t want to lose their jobs or something. At least that’s one way of trying to think about it. I’ve gone through so many of the motions of trying to understand why it happened and to the extent that it happened and there’s really no answer that I can think of that makes it seem reasonable.

It’s incredible to think with your own body of work that your last album was released before streaming really kicked into gear. Are you seeing new audiences discover you now that “Leash” is out?

You know, it’s so weird when people are like, “I was the fifth grade when your album came out!” Like, I’m that old. Like, f–k! It is funny though because there’s young people who don’t realize I’m 32. They see the album cover and think I’m a teenager or something.

Let’s talk about “Leash” which is adventurous, provocative, creative — all of these things you’re known for. Where’d the title come from? Did you feel you were inserting your own experiences in at least the title of the song?

I mean, yes and no. It’s funny; the song was due and it was like, “What do we name this song?” We’re going through titles and “Leash” was the one I liked the most that I wrote down. There were different ones that didn’t capture the energy of the song. I didn’t want it to be too tragic sounding. The title definitely tied in with — I don’t know if you’ve watched the film — but it tied in with this dog that’s kind of like a symbol in the film.

I know you said the song got you out of your comfort zone while you were creating it. How so?

I felt responsible to make something for other people besides me. I don’t make creative decisions based off of other people, like what they would want. And this actually wasn’t a challenge because they gave me a lot more trust and freedom that I didn’t expect. But I was hired to do this thing and serve the film, so I wanted to be in line with whatever the director, the music supervisor and A24 envisioned for it. So I felt responsible to do that while trying to create something that is memorable, but also captures something within the film without being on the nose. I’m not describing anything that actually happens in the film or any of the plot — it’s more of a feeling.

I know you started the song fresh. Why not just get inspiration from your own archives? I’d assume you have a mountain of unreleased material right now.

I think for me, I’m trying to move forward. I wanted to show myself and try new things and I didn’t want to answer to anyone. I didn’t want to have to deal with any of that. It was definitely a therapeutic experience for me, a learning experience. I knew how to do all this and I have been doing it but it was validating. My self-esteem was pretty low after the last year. I had a pretty rough year. I’ve had a pretty rough year for like five years. But it showed that I’m capable of doing this without having to listen to the outside world telling me what I can do, what I can’t do, and what I’m capable of, or worrying what people will think of me. Because when people are saying things already, what more could they say? What more could they do at this point, you know? And it kind of allowed me to kind of deal with a few things to write about, that I subconsciously didn’t realize I was doing at that time. It showed that I don’t have to fully be stuck in my past. Though, I’ve never felt stuck in my past. Like, “Oh, the good old days!” or something like that. I’ve always been trying to make something new and challenge myself in some way. But I wanted something that didn’t carry all the weight because I already carry that.

The idea of putting a countdown in the song before that switch up I thought was really interesting. It reminded me of Madonna. Where did the idea of putting that countdown in there come from?

Well, there were a few things. How I developed writing pop songs and the stuff I generally tend to lean toward pop-wise are definitely more ‘80s and ‘90s music. In a way that’s kind of just where my mind goes. I’m a big Madonna fan and I’m a big Janet Jackson fan. I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t think of Janet Jackson on purpose, but after I did it I was like, “Oh, it doesn’t sound like Janet Jackson, but she I feel like she counts a lot in all of her songs, right?” But also I thought it would be fun to kind of have a little nod to Nicole Kidman somewhere in there. And I was originally trying to find scenes from Eyes Wide Shut, just little clips and distort it and do something like hidden within it and turn it into almost like an instrument within itself. What we ended up with was the counting from the film; I mean, I jumped over it because apparently I could probably get in trouble for that, so it’s my voice counting. I just kind of sat there for like 30 minutes trying to sound like Nicole Kidman. And I actually got pretty close. It was funny. I was like, “Oh, this is what I would sound like if I was more womanly and less, I don’t know, West Side L.A. girl sounding.”

I know you know one of your most vocal supporters has been Charli XCX. She tweeted about the song and you’ve collaborated in the past. What do you make of her success with Brat, from your perspective?

Well, I wasn’t necessarily surprised by it by any means. The only thing I’m surprised by is that it didn’t happen sooner. I’m so proud of her, I’m so happy for her, and it shows that hard work and talent does matter. It’s not just based off of who knows who or whatever. I think she had such a huge following to begin with before this, with her diehard fans and a great body of work. I mean, I can’t really think of anyone else I’d rather see that happen to. She’s always been so kind since I’ve known her for the past 12 or 13 years. I was always expecting it.

Today (Dec. 12), Daft Punk’s 2004 anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is screening in more than 800 theaters in 40 countries. While some of these theaters will host additional screenings over the weekend, this cinematic event is largely a one night only affair.  
And in the numerology-centric Daft Punk universe — the group announced its breakup on 2/22/21 and livestreamed Interstella 5555 on Twitch exactly a year later, 2/22/22 — this screening happening on 12/12/24 is obviously not accidental. 

“I think it’s a just a fun way to find a date to release something,” says Pedro Winter, who managed Daft Punk from 1996 to 2008. “Most of the time we do things for fun.” 

Trending on Billboard

A quarter-century ago, creating an animated companion piece to the duo’s 2001 Discovery seemed like one such fun idea. The project would, however, also become an expensive, multi-year process that was a huge undertaking in an era when animation was still done by hand and resulted in a film that was only seen in full by a select few.

“I let you imagine the face of the accountant when you tell him you want to produce 14 videos that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each,” says Winter.  

Animated by legendary Japanese anime artist Leiji Matsumoto in collaboration with Japan’s Toei Animation studio and scored by Discovery, Interstella 5555 was created as a series of music videos set to each of the album’s 14 perfect songs. (See an exclusive clip of the remastered film’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” section below.)

Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo conceived of the idea for the project, which tells the story of an evil music industry tycoon who kidnaps and brainwashes an alien rock group, transforms them into cookie cutter pop stars, brings them back to Earth and weasels them to the top of the charts. (The film “was written 25 years ago…. and it’s so relevant in 2025,” says Winter.) 

While his memories of the creation process are reasonably hazy 25 years on, Winter says he’s pretty sure Bangalter and de Homem-Christo “produced the music first and then wrote the film around it. They needed the sound as a skeleton.” Once they had the script, they had to get Matsumoto onboard, knowing the artist – whose manga series Space Pirate Captain Harlock had been turned into an animated show the Daft Punk members watched as kids – might get their vision.  

“While on a promo trip in Japan they met with Leiji Matsumoto, the legendary creator of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock anime to discuss their project with him,” says Emmanuel de Buretel, the founder of Because Music and former head of Virgin Records who signed Daft Punk to the latter label. “He was excited and quickly agreed to work with them on a manga movie inspired by Discovery.” 

Daft Punk – Interstella 5555

Courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing

The project would be expensive, but Bangalter and de Homem-Christo had the will to make it happen and “pitched the concept themselves to Virgin Records,” recalls Winter. “Luckily the head of Virgin at the time was de Buretel, the only major label’s CEO who could understand Daft Punk’s vision… He was the one who fought and managed to get the approval from the whole EMI group.” 

Ordering 14 custom-made anime music videos from one of the world’s great masters of the style may have seemed like a flight of fancy to the accounting department — but then again, at one point the idea of two guys playing electronic music while dressed as robots probably did too.  

“Great artists are rare,” says de Buretel. “Great, hardworking and humble artists are even rarer. Visionaries like these are few and far between, and you can’t help but be inspired and motivated by their vision and work ethic.” 

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo initially planned to finance the film themselves, although Virgin ended up fronting the money for a project that de Buretel says “very quickly became highly complex and costly, since they had to fly to Japan every month to finish editing, while also promoting the project. We, at Virgin, decided to help them finance it to finish quickly — that was a result of really believing in the project and their vision.” (Winter says “Virgin records was putting up the money, but at the end it was Daft Punk who paid the bill.”)

There was also one major benefit to Virgin helping with the financing: “They also made a very nice concession to do another album,” says de Buretel. (2005’s Human After All would complete Daft Punk’s three-album run on Virgin.) 

Once financing was sorted, work on Interstella began in Japan, where Matsumoto worked in collaboration with animation studio Toei Animation. “We all went to Tokyo in early 2000,” recalls Winter. “We met Leiji Matsumoto at his place. It was magical, for real. He was a living legend. We grew up with his characters on French TV. He loved the robot characters of Daft Punk. They were speaking the same language; it was just amazing to see the band and Leiji getting along so well.” 

A group of creators who may have seemed worlds apart found they actually had a lot in common. De Buretel calls the film “a blend of two cultural movements exploding at the same time, electronic music and anime. The modernity of the concept: using science fiction to explore themes of artists’ exploitation, could only have been done by such powerhouse thinkers as Leiji and Daft Punk.” 

Daft Punk – Interstella 5555

Courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing

Daft Punk creative director Cédric Hervet soon joined the team to help develop the screenplay and the characters. While the idea was to launch the film at the same time as the album, that was not to be, with the film ultimately released two years after Discovery came out in February of 2001. (The album spent 30 weeks on the Billboard 200 across spans in 2001 and 2015.) 

“Animation is such a long-term process,” says Winter, who recalls “receiving faxes from Toei Animation every week” with updates. “I loved the way the characters evolved, how the whole story took life,” he says. 

Clips for the album singles “One More Time,” “Aerodynamic,” “Digital Love,” and “Harder Better Faster Stronger” were released first, and the complete film screened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, along with a limited run in approximately 30 French theaters. A DVD of the full project them came out in late 2003. (“The animated House Musical,” the DVD’s cover reads.) 

Daft Punk – Interstella 5555

Courtesy of Trafalgar Releasing

But until now, Interstella 5555 has never had a wide cinematic release in its full, hour-long form. The screenings are happening in partnership with Trafalgar Releasing, which specializes in special event cinema distribution and also worked on the 2023 cinematic releases of Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour concert film and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. 

The remastered version showing globally today has been, de Buretel says, “upgraded to fit current standards and give all fans the opportunity to engage in it.” He adds that this global event is an opportunity for fans to “discover and re-discover the group’s magic artistically and sonically,” to celebrate Matsumoto, who passed away last year at age of 85, and to stir up some fun and celebrate a work that, like so much of Daft Punk’s output, was ahead of its time.  

“The project seemed difficult 24 years ago,” says de Buretel. “It probably seems straightforward today, but it was very risky and hard to wrap your head around at the time. I think that’s why it is a cult movie now.” 

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: Matt Reeves / Twitter/@mattreevesLA
Following the success that The Penguin series experienced on the HBO network, DC seems to be willing to roll the dice on another Batman villain that has yet to make his live-action debut.

According to Deadline, DC Studios has just greenlit a Clayface project as they look to further expand their Batman universe in preparation for the highly anticipated The Batman 2 which is set to release sometime in 2026. The news comes a year after writer Mike Flanagan pitched the idea to DC Studios and it seems like they’ve decided to give it a shot. Known for his work on the reboot to The Exorcist, Flanagan had publicly expressed his interest in creating a movie centered around the shapeshifting Batman villain and it seems like fans are about to get their wish as Flanagan wants to make the film a “horror/thriller/tragedy.”
Per Deadline:

In March 2023, our sources told us that Flanagan’s take on Clayface will not feature the character as a villain, after the writer had a meeting with DC Bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran, who took over at DC Studios in 2022.
Although Flanagan wasn’t pitching the character to be part of Matt Reeves’ DC elseworld, other sources have said that Clayface is a big addition to Reeves’ The Batman 2.
Clayface got his DC introduction as part of Detective Comics #40 in June of 1940. While there would eventually be a number of shape-shifting DC antagonists using that alias, the original Clayface was a moderately successful actor who adopted the identity of a character he’d portrayed in a horror pic after turning to crime. He’s a frequent adversary of Batman with a body seemingly made out of clay who has appeared over the years in numerous films, television series, animated works, video games and other forms of media, being portrayed on the series Gotham(The CW) and Pennyworth (Epix/HBO Max) by Brian McManamon and Lorraine Burroughs, respectively. The rationale behind Clayface’s appearance emerged in comics of the 1970s, which evolved the character into a scientist with hormone irregularities.
While previous live-action Batman villains such as The Joker, Penguin and Bane have been more of the grounded variety, Clayface is a bit more sci-fi as the villain is able to literally change his facial and bodily features at a moments notice. That being said, there are rumors that The Batman 2 will also feature Mr. Freeze, so maybe Matt Reeves is ready to take the live-action Batman franchise to a science fiction plane when the highly-anticipated sequel goes into production come 2025.

What do y’all think about Clayface making his cinematic debut? Which actor and director would you like to see take part in the project? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disney Animation’s Tangled is about to get a live-action adaptation, Deadline first reported on Wednesday (Dec. 11). The screenplay is generally expected to follow the one Disney fans already know and love, Deadline says, though plot specifics remain confidential at press time. Casting details also haven’t been shared, but The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey […]

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
A$AP Rocky will indeed be taking his main character energy to Hollywood. Spike Lee has confirmed he will have the main role in his new upcoming film.

As reported by Hype Beast the legendary movie marker recently conducted an interview with Deadline. During the Q&A the Brooklyn, NY native discussed reuniting with his longtime collaborator Denzel Washington on his forthcoming film Highest 2 Lowest. The project is inspired by the 1963 crime thriller High and Low. “This is not a remake, this is a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s great film” Spike says. The original follows a high profile executive who is extorted after his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for payment.

Related Stories

“In Kurosawa’s film, Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker,” said Lee. “In our film Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business. So, this is the fifth film with the dynamic duo.” The two have worked on several iconic movies including Malcolm X, Inside Man, He Got Game and Mo’ Better Blues. When asked for further details on the plot Spike Lee didn’t elaborate further but did share that A$AP Rocky has the “the main role” in the film. Fellow rapper Ice Spice also has a part in Highest To Lowest.
You can see Spike Lee discuss the project below.

HipHopWired Featured Video

Source: Michael Buckner / Getty
It’s official, Captain America is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the Russo brothers Avengers: Doomsday and no, we’re not talking about the Papa Doc version of the character.

According to Deadline, Chris Evans is set to return to the MCU for the highly anticipated fifth installment to the Avengers franchise and though we all know and love him for his iteration of Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll once again be rocking the Stars and Stripes on his costume. In Deadpool & Wolverine he returned to his original Marvel superhero form of Johnny Storm a.k.a The Human Torch of the Fantastic 4, so don’t be surprised if the Russo brothers have an entirely different character in mind for Evans as the MCU is experiencing a multiverse event in which your favorite movie stars are taking on entirely new roles.

With that being said, there are also rumors that the plot will revolve around Robert Downey Jr.’s Dr. Doom recruiting evil versions of the OG Avengers to help him execute his evil plot of creating Battle World where all your favorite multiverse heroes and villains exist in a single reality. So there’s a chance we may get our first live-action look at the Hydra version of Captain America.
Per Deadline:
As Deadline previously reported, expect many MCU OG characters to return in the Russo Brothers’ latest. As unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con back in July, Robert Downey Jr. ne Iron Man will be stepping into the role as the main baddie, Dr. Doom — if that isn’t upside down multi-universe enough.
Evans was always iffy as he would need a strong reason to return. The new Fantastic Four of Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Vanessa Kirby and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are also set to star in Avengers: Doomsday.
While the rumors about Chris Evans return has been circulating for the past year or so, it was believed he’d return as Captain America in a Disney+ series centered around Cap returning the infinity stones to their proper realities. We were all on board for that as we wanted to see Captain America’s interaction with the Red Skull who went on to become the guardian of the Soul Stone. But this is also cool too.
Could Chris Evans return as the OG Captain America? Hydra’s Captain America? The Human Torch? Old Man Cap? With the Russo brothers you never know but what we do know is it won’t be boring. That’s for damn sure.

What do y’all think about Chris Evans returning to the MCU? Who would you like to see him return as? Let us know in the comments section below.

Ariana Grande’s performance as Glinda in Wicked has been generating awards buzz since even before the film’s Nov. 22 release. Now, the Palm Springs International Film Awards has selected Grande as the winner of the Rising Star Award, an honor previously presented to such actors as Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation) and Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone).
The awards ceremony will be held at the Palm Springs Convention Center on Jan. 3. The festival will take place from Jan. 2-13.

Trending on Billboard

“In Wicked, Ariana Grande’s portrayal of Glinda elevates her to new heights with a powerful acting performance that beautifully combines her outstanding musical talent, brilliant characterization and impeccable comedic timing,” Festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi said in a statement. “Ariana is an iconic global performer, who has seamlessly transitioned to film in her first major starring role, proving herself to be a multifaceted and undeniable talent. This role is certain to be the beginning of the many accolades she will garner throughout her acting career. It is our great honor to recognize Ariana Grande with the Rising Star Award.”

Billboard’s Joe Lynch was similarly impressed with Grande’s performance. He allowed that he wasn’t sure she had the acting chops to play the role made famous on Broadway by Kristin Chenoweth. “No one with ears could question Grande’s pipes, but based on her acting credits, we simply didn’t know if she was capable of filling Chenoweth’s small but mighty heels. Well, having seen Wicked: Part 1 in theaters, I can say without exaggeration that Grande isn’t just a good witch – she’s sinceriously astonishing,” playing off Glinda’s penchant for amusing spoonerisms.

Lynch’s bottom-line: “Some pop stars turned actors acquit themselves competently on the big screen, but like Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born, this performance signals the arrival of a formidable cinematic talent with a lot more to show us.”

Fans, of course, have also rallied behind the film, which was directed by Jon M. Chu and which also stars Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh and Jonathan Bailey. The film has grossed $275.8 million in the U.S. and Canada. Worldwide, it has grossed $372.9 million.

This year’s award winners also include Timothée Chalamet for the chairman’s award for his performance as a young Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown and Emilia Pérez actors Karla Sofia Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Edgar Ramírez and director Jacques Audiard for the vanguard award.