Gold Derby’s top news stories for April 23, 2025.

Die, My Love and The Chronology of Water added to Cannes lineup

The Cannes Film Festival announced several additions to its 2025 lineup, including Lynne Ramsay‘s psychological thriller Die, My Love starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, which will screen in competition, and Kristen Stewart‘s feature directorial debut, biographical drama The Chronology of Water, which will premiere as part of Un Certain Regard.

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Other additions include Ethan Coen’s Honey Don’t in the midnights section; Saeed Roustaee’s Mother and Child in competition; Anna Cazenave Cambet’s Love Me Tender, Simón Mesa Soto’s Un Poeta and Pedro Pinho’s O Riso E A Faca (Le Rire et le Couteau) in Un Certain Regard; Kōji Fukada’s Renai Saiban, Hlynur Pálmason’s Ástin Sem Eftir Er, Lav Diaz’s Magalhães in premiere; and Vincent Maël Cardona’s Le Roi Soleil in midnights.

These films join previously announced premieres Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning; Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, Ari Aster‘s Eddington, and many, many others on the festival’s slate next month.

20th Century drops Predator: Badlands trailer

In Predator: Badlands, the Predator is the hero. The new teaser trailer for reveals that the upcoming sci-fi action movie from 20th Century will follow a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) who is outcast from his clan and teams up with Thia (Elle Fanning), an inhabitant of the remote future planet where the story takes place, and goes on a quest to find the “ultimate adversary.” The film is directed by Dan Trachtenberg, who previously directed the acclaimed Predator prequel Prey.

HBO sets Pee-wee Herman documentary

Pee-wee As Himself, a two-part documentary on the life and career of Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman, is coming to HBO and Max on May 23. The doc is built around a lengthy “soul-bearing” interview with Reubens, who died in 2023, plus archival footage and never-before-seen photographs from Reubens’ personal collection. It gives the most complete portrait of the enigmatic performer, who rose to fame in the 1980s with his childlike Pee-wee Herman character and tried — and didn’t always succeed — to keep his personal life private; in the doc, Reubens discusses the impact his career-derailing 1991 arrest for indecent exposure.

Bill Hader developing Jonestown series for HBO

Emmy-winning Barry creator and star Bill Hader and Damages co-creator Daniel Zelman are developing a series about the People’s Temple and the Jonestown massacre for HBO. Hader will direct and potentially star as cult leader Jim Jones, should the project go forward. Hader and Zelman are writing and executive-producing.

Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton join Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest for Neon

Rising stars Sophie Thatcher (Heretic) and Charles Melton (Warfare) have joined the cast of Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn‘s upcoming film for Neon, Her Private Hell. Kristine Froseth (Oh, Canada) and Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms) also star. No other details were included in Neon’s social media post announcing the project, other than that it’s “something groovy.” It shares a title with a 1968 British sexploitation film about a model being taken advantage of by her employers. Her Private Hell is Refn’s first feature since 2016’s The Neon Demon; he previously made the limited series Too Old to Die Young for Prime Video in 2019 and Copenhagen Cowboy for Netflix in 2023.

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John Cena and Idris Elba team up for Heads of State

Prime Video released the trailer for Heads of State, a silly buddy action comedy coming to the streaming service on July 2. John Cena and Idris Elba play the U.S. President and the U.K. Prime Minister, respectively, obviously. They’re rivals who are forced to work together to save the world. According to Amazon, the film “combines fast-paced action sequences and creative stunts with a heavy dose of nostalgia fit with all of the 90s charm of the golden era of buddy action comedies.” It’s directed by Ilya Naishuller (Nobody), and also features Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Carla Gugino, Jack Quaid, Stephen Root, Sarah Niles, Richard Coyle, and Paddy Considine.

MGM+ orders American Hostage starring Jon Hamm

Streaming service MGM+ has ordered a series adaptation of scripted podcast American Hostage. The series will star Emmy winner Jon Hamm, who also starred in the podcast. It’s created by Shawn Ryan (The Night Agent) and Eileen Myers (Big Love), who executive-produce with Hamm. The series is described as a “psychological thriller set in the 1970s that tells the harrowing true story of Fred Heckman (Hamm), a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program.” The first season will consist of eight episodes, and the plan is for it to become an anthology series.

Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton join Olivia Wilde’s The Invite

Olivia Wilde (Don’t Worry, Darling) has set her next film, a provocative comedy called The Invite, about a couple that invites the neighbors over, and the night turns into an unexpected emotional journey where repressed emotions and sexual desires come out. Seth Rogen (who recently gave Wilde a scene-stealing supporting role in an episode of his series The Studio), Penélope Cruz, Edward Norton, and Wilde herself will star. It’s based on a Spanish film called Sentimental, and written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack.

Dominic Sessa to star as Anthony Bourdain in biopic Tony

The Holdovers and Saturday Night breakout Dominic Sessa has officially signed on to play Anthony Bourdain in Tony, an A24 biopic about the late chef, author, and TV personality. Antonio Banderas has also joined the cast. The film is being directed by Matt Johnson (Blackberry) and is set in 1976, when young Bourdain has a life-changing experience while working in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

House of the Dragon Season 3 adds three to cast

Tom Cullen (The Gold), Joplin Sibtain (Andor), and Barry Sloane (The Sandman) have been added to the cast of Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon for Season 3. Cullen will play Ser Luthor Largent, Sibtain Ser “Bold” Jon Roxton, and Sloane Ser Adrian Redfort. They join other new cast members James Norton, Tommy Flanagan, and Dan Fogler. House of the Dragon Season 3 is in production now.

Shudder gets deeper into the Boulet Brothers business

Horror-focused streaming service Shudder announced an expanded, multi-project deal with drag performers the Boulet Brothers, who already host the reality competition series The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula. Dracmorda and Swanthula Boulet will return for a seventh season of the Emmy-nominated flagship series and a second season of spinoff The Boulet Brothers Dragula: Titans, an all-star competition. Shudder also ordered The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors, a holiday special cohosted by David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil). Season 2 of Titans will premiere first later this year on Shudder and AMC+.

Santa Barbara International Film Festival announces 2026 dates

SBIFF has set its 2026 dates. The festival will run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 15 in Santa Barbara, California. Honorees at the 2025 edition, which took place last month, included Will Ferrell, Angelina Jolie, Colman Domingo, and Zoe Saldaña.

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