TV/Film
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When Sting was first approached about being a mega mentor on this season of The Voice, he had his doubts.
“I was reticent, to be honest,” he says on the Universal Studios set of the NBC series. “The premise of the show is frightening to me, this sort of competition. I think art and music aren’t really competitions. If you win the U.S. Open, you are the best player at that particular time. But singing is different. Everybody’s voice is unique.”
It turns out he was very glad he said yes. Sting, who serves as a mega mentor for Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg’s teams during the Knockout rounds airing Monday (Nov. 11), found the experience to be a wonderful one.
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The former schoolteacher found the contestants needed very little instruction. “I’m still a student of music, but I’ve been doing it for a long time, so I can give them a tiny hint,” he says, “but the standard of singing is so high, there’s nothing you can say. They know how to sing. There’s little bits of presentation or posture or the way that you present yourself I can probably help, but technically, they’re great singers.”
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Still, the experience was rewarding. “It was very nourishing to see a small piece advice that you’re given and then their next run through, they put that into action and the whole thing is raised,” he says.
As far as the best advice he ever got from a mentor came from his dad and he clearly took it to heart. “He said go to sea. See the world. Make something of yourself,” he says. “Basically, take a risk.”
Sting was already friends with Stefani and Snoop Dogg before the taping. He and Stefani first met when she was 13 and she approached him as a fan. They then met again when her group No Doubt and Sting (both as a solo act and as a member of The Police) were on A&M Records, including playing the Super Bowl halftime together in 2003.
“I’ve been so impressed by how succinct she is in her comments about the artists, how compassionate she is and her wisdom,” he says of Stefani’s coaching technique. “She’s very clever lady, and, also, she’s not hard to look at!”
As far as his other coaching partner, Sting appears on Missionary, Snoop Dogg’s first new solo album since 2022 out in December. Snoop and Dr. Dre, who produced the set, asked Sting to play on a song from his past.
“Dre and Snoop sent me a version of [the Police’s 1979 hit] ‘Message in a Bottle,’ and I was very impressed by it. Frankly, it was great,” he says. “It’s a rebirth of the song, if you like. I played the guitar on it. I sang a verse, but in order to sing a verse that would match what they’d done, I had to raise my game, sing in a way that I don’t normally sing in a rhythmic way. It was challenging, but very, very satisfying. It’s a great version of the song.”
Reba McEntire, who is in her second year as a coach, started as a mentor, but Sting quickly denies advancing to that status is his endgame. (Jennifer Hudson serves as McEntire and fourth coach Michael Bublé’s mega mentor.) “I’m not a judge, I’m still a student,” he says. Plus, as he notes, “I have another job and that other job seems to be going very, very well.” Indeed, the day after Sting appears on The Voice, his stripped-down Sting 3.0 tour will start a five-date run in Los Angeles. The outing wraps in Sweden in July.
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes. Two super lightweight boxers go head-to-head in “The Island of Enchantment” on Saturday (Nov. 9): Puerto Rican Subriel “El Orgullo de […]
All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
At some point, you may have been asked what you would say to your younger self if you could. Well, Amazon MGM Studios has explored that exact scenario in My Old Ass. Starring Agatha All Along‘s Aubrey Plaza and the drama series Nashville‘s Maisy Stella, the coming-of-age comedy sees what happens when an 18-year-old comes face-to-face with her older self.
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My Old Ass had a limited theater release on Sept. 13, but for those who couldn’t get tickets to see the movie on the big screen (or who just want to rewatch every nostalgia-inducing scene), you can now watch My Old Ass online on Prime Video.
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The movie officially dropped onto streaming on Thursday (Nov. 7). Keep reading to learn about all of the streaming options available.
How to Watch My Old Ass Online for Free
You can watch My Old Ass online for free exclusively through Prime Video. Since the film is a part of Amazon MGM Studios, that means you can only stream it through Amazon’s streaming platform. Prime members can watch My Old Ass for no additional cost when you sign into your account.
Don’t have a Prime membership? Amazon offers a 30-day free trial to new users who sign up. You’ll be able to watch My Old Ass in addition to the entire Prime Video library for free. Once the free trial is over, you’ll be charged the regular subscription price of $14.99/month or $139/year.
Bonus savings: Adults ages 18-24 or students at an accredited university can get a six-month free trial and 50% off membership fee when you sign up for Prime Student. Qualifying government programs can also get you access to the EBT/Medicaid membership, which has a 30-day free trial and half-off subscription price.
In addition to being able to stream My Old Ass online for free, Prime members get access to everything within the Prime Video library, including original and exclusive content such as The Idea of You, Fallout, Citadel: Honey Bunny, From, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, The Boys, Gen V, Reacher, Them: The Scare and Infinite.
To expand you program offerings, the Prime Channel Storefront offers premium channels including streamers like Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+ and Starz to give you even more content to stream all in one spot.
Watch the official trailer for My Old Ass below:
In a new trailer for Paramount+’s new film Dear Santa, Post Malone dances with the devil — literally.
The two-minute teaser released Thursday (Nov. 7) opens with a young boy named Liam (played by Robert Timothy Smith) addressing a letter to Santa. However, as the narrator explains, he’s a “crappy speller” and accidentally writes “To: Satan” instead. Once summoned, the devil — played by a bearded Jack Black with pointy horns — promises to grant Liam three wishes.
But there’s a catch. “By the way, after you make your wishes I’m taking your soul,” Black tells his new companion. “Let me show you a few of the things I can do for you.”
One of those things, apparently, is getting Liam into the backstage area of a Post Malone concert, where the “Psycho” musician — seemingly under Black’s spell — greets the young fan like an old friend before inviting both Liam and Satan to join him on stage during the show. In addition to shots of Posty hamming it up for the crowd with the two main characters showing off their lasso dance moves, Black also introduces the little boy to gambling at a casino, making “snow angels” in a pile of cash and playing beer pong.
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Dear Santa is set to premiere on Paramount+ Nov. 25. The cast also features Keegan-Michael Key, Brianne Howey, Hayes MacArthur, P.J. Byrne, Jaden Carson Baker and Kai Cech.
The movie isn’t the first onscreen project Posty has lent his star power to, with the 10-time Grammy nominee previously appearing in Road House, Wrath of Man and Spenser Confidential. Earlier this year, he also made a cameo in Jennifer Lopez’s This Is Me… Now: A Love Story.
The star’s latest film will arrive just a few months after his most recent album, F-1 Trillion, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. He’s also fresh off of a video of the year win at the 2024 VMAs thanks to his part in Taylor Swift’s visual for their “Fortnight” duet, which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Watch the Dear Santa trailer featuring Post Malone below.
Cynthia Erivo has said that she was definitely changed for the better after working with Ariana Grande on Wicked, and in a new interview, the Tony winner hinted that she wouldn’t have necessarily felt the same if anyone else had gotten the pop star’s role in the films.
When the two costars — who play Elphaba and Glinda in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming film adaptations of the Broadway musical, which was based on Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name — were asked by The New York Times to share their initial reactions to each other’s casting in the project, Erivo was frank.
“Absolutely no surprise whatsoever,” the Harriet star recalled of learning Grande had nabbed the part of Glinda in the joint interview published Wednesday (Nov. 6). “Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with.”
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In reaction to Erivo’s subtle shade, the “We Can’t Be Friends” musician replied, “Oh my God!”
Grande also shared her reaction to the “I Might Be in Love With You” artist landing Elphaba in the films, the first of which arrives Nov. 22. “I said, ‘Thank God,’” she revealed.
News that Erivo and the two-time Grammy winner had been cast in Wicked arrived in November 2021. At the time, the duo sent each other congratulatory flowers, with the Pinocchio star writing in a note to Grande, “Congratulations Miss A, The Part Was Made For You, I Look Forward To Sharing This Musical Journey With You.”
The leading ladies went on to work on the duology for two years in London alongside cast members Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang and Marissa Bode. A year after Wicked part one arrives at the end of the month, the second installment will hit theaters in November 2025.
Grande has previously been open about the intensive audition process for Wicked, for which she recently said she had to “erase” her public persona in a recent interview on the Sentimental Men podcast. “People sometimes say to me, ‘You had to audition?’ Of course, are you out of your gourd?” she continued on the Nov. 1 episode. “It’s Wicked! And it requires a totally different skill set than people know me for and have ever seen me do anything like.”
While speaking to NYT, Grande echoed those remarks. “Some members of my team at the time were like, ‘You shouldn’t even have to audition,’ and I was like, ‘You don’t understand, of course I have to. This is something that has to be earned,’” she told the paper. “I have so much to prove, and I threw myself at it in every way that I could.”
When you’re just one member of a genre-defining pop band such as BTS, how do you make room for just yourself? That’s the question RM finds himself pondering in the newest trailer for his forthcoming documentary RM: Right People, Wrong Place released on Tuesday (Nov. 5). The new clip follows RM as he performs in […]
Barry Keoghan stars in the music video for Fontaines D.C.’s new single “Bug,” which was directed by Andrea Arnold. It follows the Irish actor’s music video debut for Sabrina Carpenter’s Billboard Hot 100-topping hit “Please Please Please” earlier this year.
The track is the fifth single to be released from Fontaines D.C.’s fourth LP, Romance, which arrived in August via XL Recordings. The accompanying clip includes footage from Arnold’s soon-to-be-released film, Bird, which also stars Franz Rogowski and the Dublin band’s own Carlos O’Connell, among others.
Speaking about the video, which has been billed as a “short form reimagination” of Bird, O’Connell said in a press release, “Andrea Arnold was kind enough to cut up a sequence to our tune ‘Bug’ featuring Barry Keoghan playing the character Bug in her new movie Bird.”
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He added: “In my eyes, the character Bug, the tattoo ‘Bug’s Life,’ Andrea’s essential and romantic worlds, and the line ‘Changed my name to “Promise you, Yea”,’ when put all together make convincing needless and conviction undeniable. Big thanks to Andrea Arnold for letting us in so close to her visionary universe. She’ll be remembered how we remember Bacon or Goya.”
Bird marks the fifth feature-length film from the Academy Award and BAFTA-winning director Arnold, whose past work includes credits on HBO’s Big Little Lies and 2016’s American Honey. The film also stars Nykiya Adams and newcomer Jason Buda, and is slated for release on Nov 8. Fontaines D.C.’s music will feature prominently in its soundtrack, alongside tracks from Coldplay, Blur and The Verve.
“I’ve loved the Fontaines since I first heard them. Some music just sits in your bones like it always belonged, like you know it already, like it’s part of you,” explained Arnold in the release. “It’s why I asked to use ‘Too Real’ and ‘A Hero’s Death’ for my Bird film. Their music felt like it belonged there, in my world.”
Upon the release of Romance, Fontaines D.C. achieved its fourth consecutive top 10 studio album on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, while it landed at No. 97 in the U.S. – their highest entry to date on the Billboard 200. The band are currently on tour across Europe in support of the record, and will head to Japan, Australia, South America and North America in early 2025.
Speaking to Billboard earlier this year, frontman Grian Chatten discussed the creative leap the band took on Romance, which expands its sound to include elements of nu-metal, pop and string-laden ballads. “I think change was just generally a very enticing thing for us. We wanted to really indulge in something new, and we didn’t want to risk it being only a half-step,” he said. “We always think that we’re pushing the boat out, or taking some new turn, with each record. And I think probably the reality is that it was a lot less of a turn than we thought. But this time, I feel good about it being a full f–kin’ turn.”
Watch the music video for “Bug” below:
The late composer’s cinematic work earned him seven Oscar nominations and an Emmy win.
Ye (formally knows as Kanye West) has another documentary in the works, but this time it’ll be directed by a newcomer with “a billion-dollar budget” and “armed with an iPhone” instead of a couple old friends from Chicago.
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Directed by 18-year-old Nico Ballesteros, and produced by Goodfellas and Utopia, the doc will be introduced at the upcoming American Film Market in Las Vegas with a promo reel this week with a hopeful release date some time in 2025.
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Via press release, the synopsis reads as follows: “With a billion-dollar budget and a commitment to truth, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, invites 18-year-old Nicolas Ballesteros armed with an iPhone on a six-year journey revealing unfiltered aspects of celebrity life which confront the provocative opinions, grand visions and bold contrarianism that defined him as the world’s most controversial artist.
“The film follows Ye’s ascent to becoming the richest Black man in American history while uncovering why the superstar risked everything he had built in the name of freedom. Examining the culture that birthed the star, ‘In Whose Name?’ explores the overlapping influences of corporate exploitation, racial complexities and psychological struggles inherent in the American dream.”
Marie Zeniter, VP of Sales at Utopia had this to say in a statement: “We’re thrilled to present In Whose Name? This powerful documentary offers an unfiltered view without narration, it invites audiences to draw their own conclusions on themes of fame, religion, and power. We believe audiences globally deserve the chance to witness how one of the world’s most influential figures navigates the complexities and contradictions of celebrity.”
Ballesteros posted a picture from the doc and a text exchange with Ye on Instagram, along with the caption, Coming to Theaters Worldwide 2025.” In the text exchange, Ye apparently told the young filmmaker, “The doc was very deep. It was like being dead and looking back on my life,” to which Ballesteros answered, “This is the most profound text message I have ever received. I love you brother.”
Aside from the doc, Ye is also working on his 11th studio album entitled Bully.
Ariana Grande is paying homage to her younger self. In an interview with Australia’s Hit 104.7 Canberra, the “We Can’t Be Friends” singer was asked why she chose to use her “grown-up name,” a.k.a. her birth name Ariana Grande-Butera, in the credits of Wicked. “Technically, it’s my little girl name! It’s technically little Ari’s name,” […]