Movies

The latest on the union strikes in Hollywood

4:41pm June 06, 2023

by Mandalit del Barco

Amid the ongoing writers' strike in Hollywood, the guilds representing directors and actors have also been negotiating the future of their contracts and the future of the streaming business.

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Books

'The Last Action Heroes,' by Nick de Semlyen, focuses on 8 action stars

5:06am June 06, 2023

NPR's A Martinez speaks to film journalist Nick de Semlyen about the actors who dominated action films in the '80s and '90s — including: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.

National

'Spider-Man' kicks off summer blockbuster season with big, broad audiences

5:34pm June 05, 2023

by Bob Mondello

Spider-Man has kicked off summer blockbuster season with bigger — and broader — attendance than expected. The film opened strongly in 59 countries, with unusually diverse audiences in North America.

Margot Robbie stars in the live-action Barbie movie, whose production reportedly required jaw-dropping amounts of pink paint.

Arts

Did the 'Barbie' movie really cause a run on pink paint? Let's get the full picture

1:31pm June 05, 2023

by Rachel Treisman

A Barbie production designer said "the world ran out of pink" because of how much paint the movie set needed. It had apparently been in short supply to begin with.

Set designers of the new 'Barbie' movie went through a lot of pink paint

6:12am June 05, 2023

They cleaned out the entire global stock of one paint supplier's pink. A spokesperson for the Rosco brand says supply chain issues made it hard to keep up.

Sudan and South Sudan's ethnic and religious divisions play a role 'Goodbye Julia'

5:09am June 05, 2023

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Mohamed Kordofani about his film Goodbye Julia. It's about two very different Sudanese women who form a friendship against the backdrop of a civil war.

National

How the ongoing writer's strike has affected film and T.V.

7:59am June 03, 2023

by Scott Simon

How is the writers' strike, entering its second month, affecting content on broadcast and streaming platforms? NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter.

Teresa Huang is a member of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. She organized a special K-Pop day at the picketline outside Universal Studios this week.

Arts

Hollywood writers still going strong, a month after strike began

7:16pm June 02, 2023

by Mandalit del Barco

Members of the Writers Guild of America continue to strike against the major Hollywood studios, pushing for higher pay, more residuals and regulations on AI, among other things.

'Past Lives' star Greta Lee on how language and identity are intertwined

4:58pm June 02, 2023

Greta Lee stars in the new movie Past Lives. She talks with NPR's Ailsa Chang about the film and the ways language and identity are intertwined.

National

'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse' exceeds sequel expectations

4:38pm June 02, 2023

by Bob Mondello

The first film in an animated "Spider-Verse" trilogy won an Oscar in 2018. The latest installment, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, will be a strong contender to repeat that accomplishment.