The Weirdest, Wildest Moments of 2024

“Holding Space” for the ‘Wicked’ Press Tour

The press tour for Wicked began oddly and simply obtained odder because it rolled alongside. In October, star Cynthia Erivo obtained so upset over a fan-made poster — it positioned her character’s hat in order that it obscured her eyes — she posted on social media that it was the “wildest, most offensive factor I’ve seen.” Then there was the mix-up by Mattel by which Wicked-inspired Barbie dolls shipped out in containers misprinted with the URL of a porn web site. That impressed a category motion swimsuit in opposition to the toy producer by a South Carolina resident who thought this was the wildest, most offensive factor that they had ever seen. For weeks, Erivo and co-star Ariana Grande cried their method by questions on friendship and emotions of insecurity. The most viral second got here when Erivo was advised by a journalist that “persons are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and actually holding area with that.” Erivo responded by placing a hand to her chest and providing — with both real tenderness or Oscar-worthy dedication — “I didn’t know that was taking place.” Grande supported her co-star by reaching out and grabbing her … index finger? Christopher Guest couldn’t have directed a wackier parody.

George Clooney Wrote the Dumbest Op-Ed Ever

At the time, it appeared like a wise sufficient concept. After all, throughout his 90-minute senior second on the June debate in opposition to Donald Trump, Joe Biden appeared like a surefire loser. So why shouldn’t Clooney, a serious Democratic fundraiser, write an op-ed for The New York Times prompting the president to step apart and let a youthful candidate run? What may probably go fallacious? Oy. But to be truthful, Clooney wasn’t the one left-leaning movie star who underdelivered this election cycle. Beyoncé, Will Ferrell, Richard Gere, Katy Perry, Dick Van Dyke — none of them have been in a position to transfer the needle of public opinion sufficient to get Kamala Harris into the White House, not even Taylor Swift. In the top, America listened to Hulk Hogan.

Nicole Kidman (and Other Actresses of a Certain Age) Crushed it

You can’t go to the flicks nowadays with out bumping into Nicole Kidman (actually, if you happen to’re in an AMC theater, the place Kidman’s “We Make Movies Better” pre-previews advert has been operating for what looks as if a long time). At 57 — as soon as thought-about a clumsy age for actresses — Kidman by no means has been extra in demand. Her steamy function in Babygirl, the brand new erotic thriller by which she performs a CEO who dabbles in a harmful liaison with a a lot youthful intern, gained her the perfect actress prize on the Venice Film Festival in September. On the small display screen, she headlined Netflix’s greatest hit of 2024, Perfect Strangers, and her sequence on Peacock, Lioness, simply obtained picked up for a second season. Nor is Kidman the one over-50 actress who had a terrific 2024. Demi Moore’s harrowing flip in The Substance, enjoying an getting older starlet who injects herself with an iffy youth serum, has earned the 62-year-old actress a number of the most glowing opinions of her profession (“Fearless,” gushed The Guardian). Pamela Anderson, 57, simply gained a Gotham Award for her function in The Last Showgirl, whereas Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, each 64, are garnering raves for his or her performances in The Room Next Door, which gained the Golden Lion in Venice (after its premiere acquired an 18-minute standing ovation). There additionally have been notable turns by 50-year-old Amy Adams in Nightbitch, 57-year-old Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths and 52-year-old Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez, to say nothing of Thelma star June Squibb, who in November turned a sprightly 95.

Will Smith Was Forgiven

So, it seems slapping Chris Rock within the face in entrance of 17 million Oscar viewers wasn’t such a horrible profession transfer in spite of everything. Just two years after the smack — and his 10-year banishment from the Academy Awards — Will Smith was again on prime of the field workplace, with June’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die grossing $404 million globally.

E.T. Went to Washington

There have been, as all the time, loads of extraterres- trials on screens in 2024. A Quiet Place: Day One (pictured beneath) landed in theaters in June, grossing $261 million worldwide, adopted in August by Alien: Romulus (above), which grossed $350 million. Alien docs invaded the streamers, with The Manhattan Alien Abduction and Investigation Alien on Netflix and Beyond: UFOs and the Unknown on MGM+. But probably the most entertaining alien present this yr was in Congress, which in November continued hearings began final yr to resolve the thriller of real-life UAPs, or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (what they’re calling UFOs nowadays). “Let me be clear,” testified Luis Elizondo, a former navy intelligence officer who spent a decade operating an X Files-like program on the Pentagon investigating unexplained phenomenon. “UAP are actual. Advanced applied sciences not made by our authorities, or another authorities, are monitoring delicate navy installations across the globe.”

LFG L.A.! (They Not Like us)

Californians introduced residence seven golds from the Paris Olympics, then in October the Dodgers gained the World Series and in December the Galaxy raised the MLS Cup. No much less an authority than WalletHub topped the metropolis the nation’s prime sports activities vacation spot. We’re No. 1! 

Men Began Wearing Shirts Again — however Chest Hair Stuck Around

Male film stars began shedding their shirts a few years in the past (see Timothée Chalamet on the 2022 Oscars), however in 2024, the masculine shirt made a triumphant return to the purple carpet. The solely factor was, numerous guys apparently forgot the way to button them up (see Pedro Pascal on the SAG Awards or, for that matter, Glen Powell on the duvet of May 22’s Hollywood Reporter). Not to be outdone by the boys, some feminine stars — like Bella Hadid, Zoë Kravitz, Kendall Jenner and Jennifer Lopez — additionally turned up on the purple carpet this yr with uncovered (though a lot much less bushy) higher torsos.

Joaquin Phoenix Had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 2024

Joker: Folie à Deux was such a colossal flop that it may have ruined any actor’s yr. The grosses for this shock musical (not one of the trailers hinted there could be singing) have been disappointing to say the least, a fraction of the billion {dollars} the unique made in 2019. And the opinions! Harley Quinn couldn’t have been extra brutal together with her bat, with one critic accusing director Todd Phillips of constructing the film “unhealthy on objective” and one other calling it “regardless of the precise reverse of fan service is.” Still, regardless of all that, the 50-year-old Oscar-winning actor might need walked away from the wreckage in a single piece. Except simply earlier than the movie got here out, Joaquin Phoenix stepped on one other rake, pulling out of Todd Haynes’ homosexual romance film 5 days earlier than manufacturing was scheduled to start in Mexico. He by no means provided any public rationalization for his abrupt departure from the since-scuttled mission, which solely made the reputational injury worse.

Podcasters Became Kingmakers

He hasn’t but been provided a Cabinet submit, however that’s in all probability as a result of there isn’t a job within the White House that would make him extra highly effective than his present gig — podcaster in chief. Joe Rogan’s three-hour dialog with an almost-stable-sounding Donald Trump simply days earlier than the election — and Rogan’s subsequent endorsement hours earlier than the polls opened — might have normalized Trump simply sufficient to sway undecideds (some voters in Arizona advised reporters that Rogan’s interview, streamed by some 40 million Americans, was a “deciding issue”). Had the outcomes gone otherwise, by the best way, we’d be heralding Alex Cooper as a queenmaker, gushing about Kamala Harris’ October look on her Call Her Daddy podcast.

Former Kid Stars Finally Got Some Respect

There’s nothing new about youngster actors rising as much as be pop stars — Britney Spears, Olivia Rodrigo and Justin Timberlake, to call just a few — nevertheless it’s not yearly a pair of them find yourself as Oscar contenders. Ariana Grande’s efficiency in Wicked and Selena Gomez’s in Emilia Pérez are each producing tons of awards buzz. Meanwhile, Shake It Up‘s former Rocky Blue, Zendaya, was on a scorching streak in 2024, enjoying a tennis coach in Challengers and a Fremen warrior in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (and getting forged in Christopher Nolan’s subsequent top-secret mission). And let’s not overlook Miley Cyrus, who simply obtained nominated for a Golden Globe, or ex-Disney legend Lindsay Lohan, who had one thing resembling a comeback in 2024, starring in Netflix’s Christmas comedy Our Little Secret and an upcoming Freaky Friday sequel.

Alec Baldwin Was Acquitted … And Landed On a Reality Show

The windup to Alec Baldwin’s trial in July took three years — cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was by accident shot and killed on the New Mexico set of his low-budget Western Rust in October 2021 — however the proceedings ended up lasting simply three days. The choose tossed out the involuntary manslaughter prices in opposition to the 66-year-old actor earlier than testimony had even begun. A tearful Baldwin hugged his spouse, Hilaria, and obtained again to his life, which can quickly embody a TLC actuality sequence concerning the day-to-day contained in the Baldwin family that’s scheduled to debut in 2025. Rust, in the meantime, premiered in November in Poland. Baldwin was not invited.

YouTube Influencers Became the New Walter Cronkite

It was round Labor Day after I formally swore off community information. Election fatigue performed a job in disconnecting, to make certain, however I’d additionally discovered an alternate: YouTube pundits who spend hours stay on their channels dissecting the highest tales of the day and exploring each attainable angle. They have names like DJ Akademiks and Kempire, who specialise in hip-hop and popular culture; Emily D. Baker and the Florida Law Man, who break down authorized headlines and filings; and titles like Popcorned Planet, The Art of Dialogue and, my private favourite, Tisa Tells. 

As it seems, I’m not the one one who has made the swap from broadcast and cable information to YouTube — a latest Pew Research Center research discovered that 54 % of U.S. adults now get at the very least a few of their info from YouTube newscasters, 25 % of them frequently (particularly, curiously, girls, who make up 57 % of the YouTube information viewers).

If you occur to be on the opposite facet of these percentages and haven’t but watched one among these “exhibits,” they don’t have anything just like the slickly produced anchor chair- and roundtable-filled units of CNN, MSNBC or Fox. Most hosts are working with little greater than their built-in pc digital camera and a hoop mild. There isn’t any producer to talk of, and definitely not a teleprompter. Much of the time, these MCs are offering evaluation in actual time, sourcing their info from throughout social media and the web and counting on their viewers to fill within the blanks. 

Tisa’s each day reviews all begin the identical, with the bubbling host — whose 5-year-old channel boasts almost 500,000 subscribers — declaring, “Heyyyy, what’s up, guys? Well, child, in case your title is [insert headline-grabber of the day] …” She goes on to synthesize the scandal, then dives into the paperwork, sharing any supporting proof, and interjects loads of opinion whereas taking in a high-speed scroll of feedback. For some matters, she would possibly converse for 3 hours straight. Tisa’s tally of movies associated to Diddy’s intercourse trafficking trial and all its sordid tentacles: More than 1,000. 

Of course, there’s no division of requirements and practices for these broadcasters — or, for that matter, a long-standing custom of journalistic ethics. YouTube does have strict neighborhood tips, though seasoned hosts know the way to evade algorithmic censors (which is why they generally converse in what looks as if code, referring to, say, “PDF information” as a substitute of utilizing a red-flag phrase like “pedophiles”). As for vetting — you recognize, whether or not or not the information they’re placing out on the earth is true — Tisa, for one, says her sources are nearly as good as they arrive, and he or she makes an attempt to independently confirm every declare with 5 completely different strategies, together with public filings. If that’s adequate for her half one million followers, I assume that’s adequate for me, at the very least for now. 

The Future of Driving Finally Arrived … and Got Stuck in L.A. Traffic

Getting round Hollywood was as maddening as ever this yr, however at the very least there have been some eye-popping new contraptions for commuters to ogle whereas idling at a purple mild. A fleet of totally autonomous Waymo taxis — these driverless white sedans that look a bit like a cross between a Jaguar I-Pace and the robotic from the unique Lost in Space — started working in March in L.A. So far, there’s been just one main accident, nevertheless it wasn’t the Waymo’s fault (in May, a human driver rushing at 86 miles per hour on the ten east crashed into the again of 1; no one was severely injured). Even extra head-turning (and head-scratching) was the armada of $100,000 Tesla Cybertrucks — Elon Musk’s electrical Hummer — that began rolling into city late final yr. Oddly, the soon-to-be-official car of the Department of Government Efficiency was an instantaneous hit in probably the most liberal metropolis in America.

Pop Music Popped (But Not for Katy Perry)

Taylor Swift gained greatest album (Midnights) on the Grammys in February, Billie Eilish picked up artist of the yr (for her Barbie anthem “What Was I Made For?”), Sabrina Carpenter (talking of former Disney stars) opened for Swift’s Eras Tour and had one of many greatest singles of the yr with “Espresso,” and Chappell Roan — who simply three years in the past was performing “Pink Pony Club” in a Chicago park in entrance of all of fifty individuals — performed a historic set at Lollapalooza for round 80,000 followers, one of many greatest crowds within the pageant’s historical past. But, in fact, the pop gods giveth and taketh, and 2024 was much less terrific for Katy Perry, who left her gig on American Idol to launch a comeback album she cryptically titled 143. Or possibly that was its place on Billboard‘s chart? More of a snore than a roar.

Business Was … Meh. And That Was a Win.

Sure, there was loads of unhealthy information in 2024. The layoffs by no means let up (as just lately as November, CAA slashed 20 brokers from its payrolls, and there was Paramount’s large purge just a few months earlier than that), whereas movie and TV manufacturing continued to stoop (down 40 % at one level this yr from its peak in 2022). Still, the post-strike field workplace apocalypse that so many anticipated for 2024 by no means totally materialized, with billion-dollar hits like Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine adopted by the most important Thanksgiving feast in historical past (Moana 2, Wicked and Gladiator II) that ought to lead to theatrical being down a modest 5 % or much less from 2023. Meanwhile, a number of streamers — Disney+, Paramount+ and Max — lastly reached profitability, one thing solely Netflix may beforehand flex about. Even Comcast’s Peacock had an OK 2024, shedding a measly $1.4 billion this yr, or about half of the $2.75 billion hit it took in 2023. Granted, none of this has anyone in Hollywood singing a rousing refrain of “Happy Days Are Here Again,” nevertheless it does supply a glimmer of hope for the approaching yr. 

What Was Old Is New Again (Again)

It was déjà vu another time on the field workplace, with 2024’s greatest hits — Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Despicable Me 4, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Wicked, Dune: Part Two, Twisters and Moana 2 — all remodeling acquainted IP. Of course, that itself feels a bit like a repeat; in recent times, the most important grossers have nearly all the time been sequels, prequels or reboots, with solely an occasional utterly unique idea slipping into the highest ranks (like 2023’s Oppenheimer). Audiences, although, clearly don’t appear to thoughts. In reality, in a yr that was anticipated to be a field workplace catastrophe, two releases joined the billion-dollar membership, with Pixar’s Inside Out 2 raking in $1.7 billion globally and Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine grossing $1.3 billion. Still, being a sequel doesn’t assure boffo ticket gross sales: Paddington in Peru barely made any honey in any respect, grossing a bearish $40 million.

Diddy Was Arrested … And His Streams Soared

After he was busted in New York in September — charged with racketeering, intercourse trafficking, compelled labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, obstruction of justice and no matter crimes he might have dedicated with these 1,000 bottles of child oil — the 55-year-old music mogul noticed his streams bounce 20 %. That’s not fully shocking; R. Kelly’s numbers almost doubled after a 2019 documentary accused him of sexual misconduct with underage ladies. Still, Diddy is in no place to take pleasure in his streaming spike. He’s incarcerated on the infamous Brooklyn detention middle awaiting trial in May. If convicted, he faces 15 years to life.

Francis Ford Coppola and Kevin Costner Took Big Swings And Whiffed

Francis Ford Coppola bought his wine firm and sunk greater than $100 million of his personal cash into Megalopolis, his futuristic utopian epic that ended up grossing a really dystopian $12 million globally when it was launched in September. Kevin Costner ditched his day job (on Yellowstone, the most important drama on tv), mortgaged his 10-acre Santa Barbara residence and sunk almost $40 million of his personal coin into the primary two installments of Horizon — his deliberate four-part Western film sequence — that he filmed back-to-back in Utah. The first film carried out so poorly, grossing a paltry $31 million when it opened in June, that the second nonetheless doesn’t have a launch date. Parts three and 4 doubtless won’t ever be shot.

The Penguin Saved Gotham

And not simply Gotham. Colin Farrell’s all-in (and closely latexed) flip as Oswald Cobblepot rescued HBO Max from its House of the Dragon and Tokyo Vice funk whereas additionally liberating DC from the inventive Arkham it had been caught previously couple of years. The eight-part sequence was set in the identical gritty big-screen universe as 2022’s The Batman (and its sequel, arriving in theaters in 2026), however there have been few references to a sure caped crusader. Instead, Farrell and govt producer Matt Reeves turned Batman’s wobbly supervillain right into a Tony Soprano-like antihero, bringing the mob drama again to HBO Max and attracting a a lot bigger viewers than anyone anticipated. It was the streamer’s third-biggest first-season present ever. 

Shockingly, Hollywood Celebrities Didn’t Fix the Middle East …

… though they tried, posting their opinions concerning the Israel-Gaza battle throughout social media, often with career-cratering outcomes. Starting on the finish of 2023, there was actress Melissa Barrera, who obtained dropped from Scream VII after resharing a submit that accused Israel of “genocide and ethnic cleaning.” Around the identical time, CAA agent Maha Dakhil — who reps Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman and, till she began posting about Israel, Aaron Sorkin — was compelled to step down from her company’s board after she described the Gaza bombing as “genocide” on Instagram. Then there was WME agent Brandt Joel, who shortly after Hamas murdered six hostages in September angrily posted, “Screw the left kill all,” on a WME WhatsApp group chat. He ended up deleting the remark and later apologized to his co-workers throughout a Zoom assembly. But even luminaries who by no means stated a peep concerning the Middle East have been drawn into the controversy, sarcastically getting singled out exactly due to their silence. In May, whereas stars filed into the Met Gala in New York, activists on TikTok launched “Block Out 2024,” urging the plenty to unfollow celebrities who hadn’t but taken a stand in opposition to Israel’s battle in Gaza. Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift, each of whom have remained tight-lipped on the topic, reportedly misplaced a whole lot of 1000’s of followers within the days afterward, though it wasn’t lengthy earlier than they picked them up once more.

Blake Lively Apparently Missed That Day at Media-Training School

Here’s a useful tip for anybody selling a drama coping with the delicate topic of home violence: Maybe don’t attempt to slip in a plug in your hair merchandise line. Also, pitching the movie as a giddy ladies’ night time out — “Grab your pals, put on your florals!” Blake Lively chirped in a single TikTok spot — is probably not probably the most applicable tone for an image exploring spousal abuse. Joking with an interviewer who requested a honest query about followers wanting to debate the themes of the film with its star (“You imply, like, ask me for my deal with, cellphone quantity?”) might be a nasty concept, too. In reality, for a full tutorial on how to not promote an image like It Ends With Us — the variation of Colleen Hoover’s best-seller about filial cruelty directed by Lively’s co-star Justin Baldoni (till Lively wrested management from the contentious filmmaker and introduced husband Ryan Reynolds in for some script tinkering) — simply watch the actress’ eyebrow-raising press interactions and social media spots in the course of the movie’s summer season press tour.

Congrats, Chris Weitz! You made the Biggest Flop of 2024

He directed American Pie, About a Boy and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, however right here’s one he’d in all probability fairly overlook. Weitz’s Afraid, a sci-fi thriller a few residence digital assistant that goes haywire and terrorizes a younger household, was the smallest-grossing main launch of the yr, making all of $6.7 million domestically and $6.2 million abroad, for a grand complete of $12.9 million, or roughly the codpiece price range for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II.

Jennifer Lopez Learned Love Does Cost a Thing

Turns out love isn’t all the time extra fantastic the second time round. In February, simply as Jennifer Lopez was gearing as much as launch This Is Me … Now, a brand new album celebrating her romantic reunion with former fiancé Ben Affleck, rumors started swirling that their relationship was in hassle (once more). Making issues much more awkward, the album was accompanied by an Amazon Prime musical in addition to a documentary gushing concerning the couple’s newest love affair — each co-written by Lopez and Affleck themselves — even because the liaison was clearly already floundering. Sales for Lopez’s deliberate tour selling the album within the spring have been so sluggish, she ended up canceling to “give attention to herself.” By April, after simply two years of matrimony, Lopez filed for divorce.

Hollywood Left the Messaging to Western Union

Looking again, the shuttering of Participant Media in April might have marked a turning level — the waning of social messaging (for now) in movies and tv. For 20 years, the manufacturing firm had boldly churned out social affect movies like Spotlight, An Inconvenient Truth and RBG. But as 2024 unfolded, it turned clear simply how allergic Hollywood had change into to politically charged content material. Hard-edged documentaries like Union (concerning the labor motion) in addition to No Other Land and The Bibi Files (each concerning the Middle East battle) failed to search out U.S. distributors, whereas A24 buried the discharge of The Sixth, its Jan. 6 doc, even whereas releasing a scripted Alex Garland drama a few fictional civil battle. Even MSNBC chickened out, scheduling Separated — a doc by Errol Morris and NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff on the child-separation scandal in the course of the first Trump administration — to air after the 2024 election. “Make your personal inferences,” Morris cryptically posted on social media.

This story appeared within the Dec. 13 problem of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click right here to subscribe.