🤯 White Lotus’ New Sound, Bond’s Big Move & The Saddest Fish Alive

Vol. 2 Issue 8 – 22nd February 2025

Jahnvvi Kuumar

Feb 22, 2025

The White Lotus finally returned with Season 3, reviving the HBO Sunday ritual many of us had missed. While the trailers and promos had prepared the audiences for the new setting of Thailand, and with White Lotus you always expect your fair share of kooky characters, what took everyone by surprise was the new theme song when the first episode aired. The ‘doodududoo’ of the previous season has been replaced with a more melodious and slower beat, and everyone is making their distaste for it VERY evident online.
The Broccoli family, who produce the James Bond films, have teamed up with Amazon MGM to share ownership of the beloved franchise’s intellectual property, granting Amazon MGM exclusive creative control. In turn, Jeff Bezos even took to X to ask fans who they would like to see as the next Bond, as the future of this iconic spy feels precarious in the hands of a streaming giant!
Ellis Rosen for The New Yorker
The first look at Matt Damon in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has been revealed. He will be leading the star-studded magnum opus as Odysseus.
A new Martin Scorcese movie is in the works starring… Dwayne The Rock Johnson (okayyy), Leonardo Dicaprio (that seems more like it) and Emily Blunt (fair enough). Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Warner Bros are in a bidding war already. A streamer will most likely be the highest bidder and win the rights.
The Residence, a new Shondaland whodunnit series set in the White House, premieres 20th March on Netflix. Starring Uzo Aduba as detective Cordelia Cupp, here’s the trailer for the murder mystery.
Nicole Kidman’s new thriller movie, Holland, premieres 27th March on Prime Video. Kidman pledged in 2017 to work with a female director every 18 months, and eight years later she has more than upheld her promise by working with NINETEEN female directors since then. TIME Magazine has named Nicole Kidman one of their Women of the Year.
Matt Bomer’s Neal Caffrey will be returning to our screens soon! A White Collar reboot is moving forward with the actors ready to reprise their roles. Titled White Collar: Renaissance, the series is being pitched to potential buyers.
The breakout show, Jury Duty’s Season 2 has already been filmed! While the first season of the reality-hoax-sitcom show focused on a real-life oblivious juror among actors, Season 2 will follow a David vs. Goliath theme focused on a small business going on a company retreat, with the real unsuspecting person tested when a Goliath suddenly shows up.
Leighton Meester is set to join real-life husband Adam Brody in Season 2 of Nobody Wants This. Known for playing Blair Waldorf, she will be joining her Gossip Girl alum, Kristen Bell, as a school friend-turned mommy blogger.
Severance has become the most-watched AppleTV+ show, surpassing Ted Lasso. (Stop living under a rock and watch these FANTASTIC shows, if you haven’t already).
The trailer for action-comedy Freaky Tales is here, starring Pedro Pascal, Tom Hanks and Normani.

Sound off

Selena Gomez, Benny Blanco & Gracie Abrams’ have released a new song they worked on together, ‘Call Me When You Break Up’. Tate McRae's latest single from her new album is ‘Revolving Door’. JENNIE & Doechii’s collab, ‘ExtraL’, from the former’s upcoming album Ruby, is also out now!
Chappell Roan has been teasing her new single, The Giver with promotional posters and hoardings of her dressed like a lawyer with a phone number that people can called to hear a snipper of the song.
Lizzo is teasing something for 28th February, possibly the announcement of her next album.

Around the world

IFPI’s (The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) (Yes, that’s a thing) Global Artist rankings were topped by Taylor Swift this year, for a record total of five times.
Apple has announced the launch of iPhone 16e after the 16. Additionally, they will be discontinuing phones up until the iPhone 14.
The creator of Nutella, Francesco Rivella, died on Valentine’s Day.
Another week, another plane crash it seems. A Delta airlines plane crashed while landing in Toronto. It flipped upside down on the tarmac, thankfully no one was hurt. The airlines were offering $30,000 each in damages but the passengers are planning a lawsuit now.

Viral this week

Anthony Mackie DOES always look like he knows something you don’t. The new Captain America’s signature smize is being endlessly memed for looking like he’s trying to hold in a laugh/say a bad pun/reveal your secrets.
Short form videos about “waiting for my boyfriend to ask me to be his ____ for ____ Day” are all over after Valentine’s Day, when despite being in a relationship girlfriends still expect to be asked to be their partner’s valentine.
A video of an Anglerfish is going viral. This six-inch fish usually found in deep water is seen uncharacteristically swimming towards the surface. This fish are known for creating their own bioluminescent light so many are speculating it was swimming towards the sunlight as it didn’t have light of its own. The video is now being used as background for inspirational and emotional quotes.

Celebrity buzz

Meghan Markle launches her new brand, As Ever. Categorised in the lifestyle segment, it’s still not concrete on what exactly the Duchess is planning to sell.
A new video of Drake taken by a drone was thought to be an invasion of privacy by fans as he’s seen throwing his shoes at the drone but, it turned out to be an advertisement for Stake, the gambling website, which was displayed on his laptop in the video.
Tom Cruise (62) and Ana De Armas (36) were spotted on a date together.
Hunter Schafer has posted a video showing her new passport misgendering her as Male, after Trump’s executive orders against Trans people.
ASAP Rocky jumped and hugged Rihanna as he was found not guilty for his shooting trial.
Mindy Kaling got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first South Asian actress to be honoured, and obviously, BJ Novak was by her side, once again leading many to speculate what their relationship status actually is.

A round of applause

The Bafta’s took place last Sunday. Adrien Brody, despite his controversy of using AI to perfect his accent in the Brutalist, took home the Best Actor award. Mikey Madison won Best Actress for Anora, and Conclave was named Best Picture. As the Oscars creep up on us, many Academy Award members have been anonymously interviewed, and there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on which way the majority will lean.
Saturday Night Live celebrated it’s 50th year with an anniversary special, with many past castmembers, hosts and musical guests returning to celebrate and pay tribute to its legacy. Some of the highlights for me were:
- The return of the Domingo sketch- The viral badly-sung Espresso sketch featuring Ariana Grande had a full circle moment as Sabrina Carpenter joined the cast to sing to the tunes of Wicked’s Defying Gravity, Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me and her very own, Espresso. Domingo was also joined by his brothers played by Pedro Pascal and Bad Bunny!
- Who would’ve thought Meryl Streep dating Martin Short would mean she finally makes her SNL debut! Joining the iconic Close Encounter sketch, playing Kate McKinnon’s mother, you can’t miss her cheeky nod to The Devil Wears Prada.
- Emma Stone showed up to the red carpet with pockets full of ~~sunshine~~ popcorn!
- Steven Spielberg watching the camera setup during the concert.
- Ryan Reynold’s response to being asked “how is it going?" by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey.
- Pedro dancing.