Skip to main content

Entertainment

The Verge’s entertainment section collects the latest news from the worlds of pop culture, music, movies, television, and video games. Whether you want to know what to watch on Netflix or how to make the most of your streaming service budget, the entertainment section acts a reliable source. There’s simply too much to read, watch, hear, and play. Let us be your tour guide.

The plan to quietly kill Coyote v. Acme blew up in David Zaslav’s face

Swift public outcry gave the movie a chance to speak for itself.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
The plan to quietly kill Coyote v. Acme blew up in David Zaslav’s face

Swift public outcry gave the movie a chance to speak for itself.

Charles Pulliam-Moore

Latest In Entertainment

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Our Steam Controller AMA for subscribers is starting soon!

If you have any burning questions about Valve’s new gamepad after reading our reviews, Cameron Faulkner and I will be responding in the comments of this article starting at 3PM ET.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Valve tells IGN that it’s “hard at work” on the next Steam Deck.

There’s still no word on when it will be out, though. And with Valve still working on getting the Steam Controller out the door next week and shipping the Steam Frame and Steam Machine sometime this year, we could be waiting a while for a Steam Deck 2.

Valve’s new Steam Controller is as good as I hoped

It’s not perfect, but I’m buying one anyway.

Jay Peters
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Pop Culture Jeopardy! returns for a second season on Netflix.

The game show spinoff, which covers topics like music, movies, culture, sports, celebrities, and entertainment, debuted on Amazon Prime Video. Now it’s headed to Netflix for another trivia-filled season starting May 11th, with host Colin Jost.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Here be dragons.

Games of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon is heading into its third season, and HBO just released a new and appropriately-dragon filled trailer ahead of the premiere. The show debuts on June 21st.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Webtoon’s animated AI avatars want to chat with you.

Hot on the heels of its new AI-powered localization tools, Webtoon is partnering with AI avatar firm Genies to launch a new chatbot feature that will allow users to “talk” with characters from comics featured on the platform.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
In space, no one can hear you over-decorate for Halloween.

Home Depot’s 12-foot Skelly is still a holiday headliner after nearly 7 years, but Spirit Halloween’s new Alien Xenomorph could be an even bigger draw for brave trick-or-treaters this year. The $450 animatronic features sounds inspired by the original film and multiple movements including an inner mouth that extends and screams.

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

<em>The animatronic stands 6 feet 8 inches tall and features a detailed exoskeleton design.</em>
<em>All of the Xenomorph’s sounds and movement are triggered by an IR sensor so it’s not terrorizing your neighbors non-stop.</em>
1/2
The animatronic stands 6 feet 8 inches tall and features a detailed exoskeleton design.
Image: Spirit Halloween
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Our first look at Alien: Isolation’s sequel.

In 2024 Creative Assembly announced a followup to the only game that has ever made me genuinely freeze in fear. A year and half later, yesterday’s “Alien day” (4/26, get it?) brought us a brief first look. We don’t see much, but it looks like this time we might be going planetside.

Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Is Letterboxd looking for a new owner?

Tiny — the movie-tracking social media platform’s controlling investor — has reportedly pitched its stake to potential buyers , including CNBC parent company Versant and Hollywood startup The Ankler. Tiny hasn’t modified much since it bought Letterboxd in 2023, but that could change under a new steward.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
The villain-loaded Spider-Noir trailer comes in two flavors.

There’s the way any good noir is meant to be consumed — in high-contrast monochrome below. And then there is a “True-Hue Full Color” that frankly sucks all the fun out of it and just serves to highlight the seams in the mediocre CGI.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Two racers break the two-hour barrier in London Marathon.

Sabastian Sawe was first to cross the finish, setting a new world record with a time of 1:59:30. Yomif Kejelcha wasn’t far behind, finishing in 1:59:41, making him the second man to run a sub-two-hour marathon. Nike targeted this goal in 2016 with Breaking2, but couldn’t quite reach it, as Eliud Kipchoge won in 2:00:25.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
New Art City is a free virtual gallery filled with beautifully bizarre art.

There are dozens of exhibitions that you can walk through in your browser. Some feature 3D scanned sculptures, others are glitchy worlds populated by sound experiments, and some have branching poetry for you to explore. Each 3D world is “multiplayer”, so you can visit a virtual opening and chat with other art fans.

New Art City: Virtual Art Space

[New Art City • Virtual Art Space]

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Stream your slop while you drive.

Suno is available on Android Auto, and CarPlay support is in the works. Now you can stream all your illicit AI covers on your road trip from Hell. According to a post in the Suno Discord, features are limited, with only search, library and explore support, plus playback control.

Suno on Android Auto.
Suno on Android Auto.
Image: Suno
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Analog horror masters Local 58 take on our modern AI apocalypse.

The Thought Research Initiative is a known entity in the Local 58 universe. But a new video and website bring the TRI from the 80s into the 2000s, with its new breakthrough — Qualiaform Intuition. It brags that it’s “taught, not trained” and “genuine, not generative,” hinting at the horror behind the scenes.

Two Japanese movies that confront what it means to be alive

Sho Miyake has been celebrated for his quiet, careful character portraits in his home country. Now his two latest films are available stateside.

Robyn Kanner
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
The critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is coming to the Switch 2.

Square Enix just announced a bunch of news for its MMO, including an expansion called Evercold, an Evangelion crossover, and a port for Nintendo’s new console in August. The Switch 2 version will get a month-long (free) early access period, though it sounds like it will have its own separate subscription.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Baldur’s Gate 3 books are coming soon.

The main highlight is a prequel novel, Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion, by T. Kingfisher, coming September 29th, plus a notebook, coloring book, and a cookbook, which are all coming out this year.

Publisher Random House Worlds says it plans for the initiative to continue with more titles next year.

The cover of Baldur’s Gate 3: Astarion.
Image: Random House Worlds
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Video game movies have become a battlefield.

If we’re getting a Call of Duty movie, I guess it only makes sense that we get a Battlefield one as well. According to the Hollywood Reporter, EA’s shooter series is being adapted into a film with longtime Mission Impossible director Chrisopher McQuarrie at the helm, and Michael B. Jordan attached as star.

How Project Maven taught the military to love AI

A new book shows how the controversial Silicon Valley partnership has accelerated the pace of war.

Joshua Dzieza
Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Spotify is finally bringing playlist folders to its mobile apps.

Organizing playlists into folders was introduced in 2010, but only available on the desktop app. Now it’s reportedly rolling out to mobile users. Tap the + icon in your library, and you should see a new “folder” option. You can even play an entire folder of playlists, or shuffle them.

Screenshots of the Spotify iOS app showing the ability to organize playlists using folders.
Screenshot: FN-1708 via Reddit
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
DirecTV is streaming TV directly into Meta Quest headsets.

DirecTV now supports mixed reality with its new app for the Quest 2, 3, 3S, and even Pro headsets. There’s live TV for subscribers, plus on-demand and ad-supported content anyone can watch, available in the app store or through the Horizon TV hub Meta launched last year.

A person watching The Pitt on DirecTV with a Meta Quest headset
Image: DirecTV
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Are you ready, kids?

Ubisoft just officially unveiled its Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag remake, and you’ll be able to live out your Jack Sparrow fantasies pretty soon: it’s launching on July 9th. Here’s a gameplay trailer for a little more detail.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
WBD’s shareholders yearn for the sweet embrace of David Ellison.

Deadline reports that WBD’s shareholders have “overwhelmingly” voted the sell the legacy studio to Paramount Skydance for $31 per share. Shareholders rejected a proposed compensation package for current CEO David Zaslav that could range from $500-800 million. But Zaslav could still wind up walking away with a lot of money because that vote was non-binding.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Casio’s handheld sampler sold out super fast in Japan.

The SXC-1 was teased at NAMM, but Casio launched its return to sampler glory in Japan this week for ¥39,930 (around $250), and preorders almost immediately sold out. There’s still no word on a US launch, but a video (in Japanese) does show off the features and workflow in detail.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Spotify’s logo hasn’t actually changed that much in 20 years.

The original from 2006 stands out like a sore thumb, but after that, it’s just flattening and tweaks to the font. To celebrate its anniversary, the service is taking a victory lap and talking design. It’s also shared all-time most-streamed lists. No surprises there — it’s Taylor Swift and Joe Rogan.

A grid of four Spotify logos over 20 years showing very little change.
Image: Spotify
Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Apple TV’s sci-fi run continues.

Over the last few weeks the streamer has provided updates on new seasons of Dark Matter and Silo, and now we have the first proper trailer for Star City, the For All Mankind spinoff that shows things from the Soviet perspective. It starts streaming on May 29th.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
Somehow Yoshi got even more adorable.

There’s just something impossibly charming about the storybook art style of the upcoming Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, but if you’re curious how the Switch 2 game actually plays, Nintendo just dropped a six-minute-long overview trailer. The only thing missing is Donald Glover.

Terrence O'Brien
Terrence O'Brien
Spotify starts rolling out its voluntary AI labels.

After announcing in September it was working with industry group DDEX on a standard for disclosing when AI is used in a song, AI credits are launching with DistroKid as the first partner. Unfortunately, even if the rest of the industry gets on board, voluntary labels likely won’t be enough as AI uploads threaten to overtake humans.

AI credits on Spotify’s mobile app showing generative AI being used to create the synthesizer track.
1/2Image: Spotify
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Why the long face?

The latest poster for DC Studios’ upcoming Clayface movie — out October 23rd — from director James Watkins definitely leans into a kind of body horror that’s very different for the DCU. That kind of energy could be nice change of pace as the studio builds its new cinematic universe.

Update: And now we’ve got a trailer.

Andrew Webster
Andrew Webster
The long wait is over.

Boards of Canada have just confirmed that their first album in well over a decade, called Inferno, will be out on May 29th. I was already sold, but this cryptic 40-second-long teaser has me even more excited.

Charles Pulliam-Moore
Charles Pulliam-Moore
Wile E. Coyote lives to scheme another day.

Though Warner Bros. tried to kill Coyote vs. Acme for the insurance money tax write-offs, Ketchup Entertainment has released the long overdue movie’s first trailer ahead of its theatrical debut on August 28th.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Two more states announced settlements with Roblox.

Following Nevada’s settlement on Friday, West Virginia and Alabama have settled with company to address alleged child safety issues, as reported by Bloomberg. Last week, Roblox announced a bunch of new safety updates, including dedicated Kids accounts with increased restrictions.