Michael Douglas Hints at a Life-Altering Shift & It Has Everything To Do With Catherine Zeta-Jones
The Oscar-winning actor isn't upset about his decision, though, he's taken on a new role that is a very personal one — and it has everything to do with his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones. He revealed the news at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic and explained why he decided to retire after a storied career, including projects like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Fatal Attraction, and The War of the Roses.
More from SheKnows
LeAnn Rimes Opens up About Her Affair With Eddie Cibrian: 'I Know What I'm Responsible For'
'I have not worked since 2022 purposefully because I realized I had to stop,' he explained, per Variety. 'I had been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set. I have no real intentions of going back. I say I'm not retired because if something special came up, I'd go back, but otherwise, no.'
Of course, the actor can't retire 100%, there is 'one little independent movie' that he hopes to pursue, but otherwise, his life is all about Zeta-Jones, and their two children, Dylan, 24, and Carys, 22, plus Cameron, 46, his son with first wife Diandra Luker. That's when Douglas revealed his new purpose in life — and it's really cute.
He's not pursuing other Hollywood projects because 'in the spirit of maintaining a good marriage,' Douglas is 'happy to play the wife.' Zeta-Jones is free to pursue her entertainment industry career because The Kominsky Method star is happy to support her at home.
The couple's love story may seem like a fairytale, but they've certainly had their share of bumps along the way, only to recommit to their relationship. After meeting in 1998, they fast-tracked their romance with their first son and marriage just two years later. By 2003, Carys had arrived, and everything seemed perfect, but trouble was on the horizon. Douglas was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer in 2010, which took a toll on their marriage. By 2013, the dynamic duo split amid Zeta-Jones' struggles with her mental health — she was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder.
After admitting to People at the 2013 Primetime Emmy Awards that they were 'working things out, talking,' the couple found their way back to each other in 2014. Despite the 25-year age gap, Douglas and Zeta-Jones are two peas in a pod — and he wants to spend every moment with his bride.
'It's not ideal for him [when Zeta-Jones is away working] because he would prefer she never leave his side, but he also loves to cheer her on and see her succeed so he's sucking it up and promising her he's fine with it, but he admits to his friends how dreadful things are without her around,' a source told Closer Weekly in April. 'He says he doesn't sleep well when she's not in the bed, after so many years together, it's like missing his security blanket.'Best of SheKnows
Amber Heard's Entire Dating History: Johnny Depp, Elon Musk, & More
11 of Prince William & Kate Middleton's Biggest Relationship Controversies
13 Celebrities Who Secretly Welcomed Children During Affairs
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
15 minutes ago
- Fox News
Fox News Entertainment Newsletter: Ozzy Osbourne dead at 76, Kevin Sorbo sees Hollywood dramatically shift
Welcome to the Fox News Entertainment Newsletter. TOP 3: - Ozzy Osbourne dead at 76 - 'Hercules' star Kevin Sorbo claims he was 'first cancel culture victim' before it had a name - Christie Brinkley reveals Billy Joel's three final words to her before she left him SPICY CROSSOVER - Snoop Dogg calls his country music collaboration with the Zac Brown Band 'gangster gumbo.' TRAGIC TIMING - Police cleared the scene moments before the 'American Idol' exec and husband were killed. LARGER THAN LIFE - Hulk Hogan's Hollywood era: From cult classics to reality TV fame. BEHIND THE SCENES - Tom Cruise's former girlfriend admits what she really thinks of him four decades after their romance. 'I BELONG TO ME' - Jessica Simpson finds new purpose, returns to music after stepping away from Los Angeles. FAMILY FIRST - 'Duck Dynasty' stars Willie and Korie Robertson say kids weren't ruined by reality show fame. HUMOROUS RESPONSE - Astronomer 'temporary spokesperson' Gwyneth Paltrow answers questions in post-scandal company video. LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS FOLLOW FOX NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Forbes
26 minutes ago
- Forbes
7 Must-Watch Netflix Movies You Might Have Missed
Suki Waterhouse stars in the 2016 dystopian thriller film 'The Bad Batch.' We all know that feeling: you're scrolling endlessly through Netflix's myriad offerings, passing by the same movies over and over, wondering if this movie is worth watching or if that movie is any good—yeah, it's tough to choose. While many of those films are hyped by the streaming service or gain moments of traction on social media, the simple reality is that many of them will forever remain unknown. But what if we gave seven of those movies another chance? Seven movies that often fly under the radar, that still haven't gotten their moment in the sun, that are still waiting to find their audience, sometimes decades after their release? Well, let's do just that. This list features seven awesome movies on Netflix that aren't super popular. I determined this by arranging over 5,000 Netflix movies on Letterboxd, ranked by popularity. I then found movies buried way down on the list that I've enjoyed in the past, that offer lots of great insights and image, that I believe will provide some much-needed entertainment next time you need a break on the couch. I chose several different genres and styles to appeal to many different movie watchers, so hopefully you find a brand new favorite in this bunch. Good luck, and happy watching! 7 Must-Watch Netflix Movies You Might Have Missed Noah Baumbach became more of a household name after receiving an Oscar nomination for co-penning the Barbie script alongside wife Greta Gerwig. But he was well-respected by many prior to 2023, with Oscar nominations coming for Marriage Story in 2019 and The Squid and the Whale in 2005 as well. But long before those projects—back in 1995, to be exact—Baumbach released his first feature-length film, one that many consider to be his best: Kicking & Screaming. A dry, talky, sneakily profound comedy about post-college limbo, the film follows a group of friends: Grover (Josh Hamilton), Max (Chris Eigeman), Otis (Carlos Jacott) and Skippy (Jason Wiles). As part of what is a refreshingly meandering story that isn't driven purely by plot, these four recent graduates hang out at the same bar, argue about literature and wax poetic about their aimlessness, seemingly unable to move on from their responsibility-free university lives. All the while, Grover mourns a breakup with his girlfriend Jane (Olivia d'Abo), who has left for grad school in Prague. With its episodic structure and sharp, hyperverbal dialogue and many great character performances (including one from the forever-great Parker Posey), Kicking and Screaming wears its Gen X malaise on its sleeve, capturing that very specific post-graduate dread where everything feels both possible and pointless at the same time. Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto enjoyed some notoriety for his participation in two of the popular horror anthologies: The ABCs of Death, V/H/S/2 and V/H/S/94. But he's found a special audience on Netflix, where he's released a few of his films—The Night Comes for Us, May the Devil Take You and The Shadow Strays. That final film is the polar opposite of Kicking & Screaming: a ferocious, blood-soaked action film that hits with the velocity of a freight train. But there's so much more than action to be found in its story. Aurora Ribero plays '13,' a 17-year-old assassin raised by a secret international organization known as the Shadows. After a mission in Japan goes array, her mentor Umbra (Hana Malasan) suspends 13 and sends her to Jakarta for monotonous, numbing psych retraining. There, she forms a protective bond with 11-year-old Monji (Ali Fikri), whose mother was lost to a human trafficking ring. After Monji is abducted, 13's violent training resurfaces with explosive force, propelling her on a revenge-fueled rampage through the Indonesian capital's darkest corners. Recalling the unbelievable fight sequences that littered Gareth Evans' popular Indonesian film The Raid, this work of wonder is stuffed to the brim with Tjahjanto's signature style: kinetic camerawork and brutal hand-to-hand choreography, relentlessly conveyed through extended set pieces. Yet beneath the spectacle is a story about conscience and guilt—a story of human connection that makes its revenge story all the more enrapturing. Joaquin Phoenix won a well-deserved Oscar for his portrayal of the Joker—an award that almost served as a retrospective honoring of his past work that went unnoticed by the Academy. For while he received nominations for the likes of Gladiator, Walk the Line and The Master, what is perhaps his greatest (and most devastating) performance got nothing—not even a nomination. The romantic drama Two Lovers follows Phoenix's character Leonard, a man who returns to live with his parents after a broken engagement drives him to attempt to take his own life. With his existence in limbo, Leonard suddenly finds himself torn between two women: the sweet and stable daughter of a business associate, Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), and the fragile, unpredictable neighbor involved with a married man, Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow). The love triangle that unfolds symbolizes Leonard's torn psyche: Michelle represents desire, uncertainty, emotional risk, while Sandra embodies love, dependability, future promise. Director and writer James Gray (who also created We Own the Night and The Immigrant) avoids clichés in this transfixing story, using Leonard's unstable condition to explore several ideas: how bipolar disorder shapes one's indecision and relational hesitations; how the struggle between passion and pragmatism mirrors a broader search for self; how self-forgiveness and self-acceptance are essential in pointing us in the proper direction. When baseball nerds describe Nolan Ryan's career as an MLB pitcher, I'm not sure his dominance can be properly conveyed via stats alone: his 5,714 strikeouts are more than 800 ahead of the second-place Randy Johnson; only Gerrit Cole's 326 strikeouts come near Ryan's season-best of 383 strikeouts; he has three more no-hitters (seven) than the next closest, Sandy Koufax; and on top of it all, Ryan was still throwing 95+ mph into his 40s, an accomplishment practically unheard of. So if you want to see such supremacy in action, then watch Facing Nolan. Yes, there's plenty of information and stories about Ryan's storied career, which fully detail his reputation as an unstoppable pitcher. But what makes the documentary stand out is how it balances the myth with the relatable, humble man: a Texas rancher, husband and father whose drive was grounded in love and hard work, not just athletic prowess. Featuring interviews with baseball legends like Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens, Pete Rose, this documentary from Bradley Jackson not only offers insight into how he achieved such a ferocious fastball (often clocking in over 100 mph), but also how his Texas values—his integrity, his resilience, his loyalty to family and his home—were crucial ingredients for one of the most intimidating figures ever to step on the mound. Do you love genre-bending post-apocalyptic thrillers? How about when they mix Mad Max-style wastelands with cannibalistic horror and tender romances set in a lawless Texas desert? If that kind of movie sounds too impossible to exist, then you haven't seen The Bad Batch—and that needs to be fixed immediately. Conceived by director/writer Ana Lily Amirpour (whose first feature, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, was met with critical acclaim) as 'Road Warrior meets Pretty in Pink,' this gritty, unapologetically weird slice of body horror showcases the auteur's ambition to fuse brutal aesthetics with surreal romanticism, employing an evocative, almost hypnotic aesthetic that's filled with constant tonal shifts, from eerie notes of silence to sudden bursts of violence. The film centers on Arlen (Suki Waterhouse), a young woman literally branded as part of the 'bad batch,' who is dropped into the desert and immediately captured by a group of cannibals. After a brutal escape, Arlen drifts through a wasteland populated by scavengers, bodybuilders and misfits—including a mute drifter known only as Miami Man (Jason Momoa) and a hedonistic cult leader called The Dream (Keanu Reeves). These ever-watchable characters make the jagged but immersive world imagined by Amirpour all the more intoxicating, showcasing the director's world-building talents as she takes a bold, creative leap from her first feature. If you're not up on Emma Seligman, the director of Bottoms, then you're not up on one of the most exciting voices in comedy right now: her ability to turn everyday situations, from family gatherings at funerals to unsure romance amidst high school politics, allows her to craft small worlds that feel huge; her razor-sharp dialogue allows her to turn social anxieties into moments of both hilarity and dread; and her comedic timing is as much about silence, glances and pacing as it is about punchlines. She has such a unique voice, and it was fully on display in her debut feature, Shiva Baby. The film centers on college student Danielle (Rachel Sennott), who attends a shiva with her parents. But little does she expect to run into her sugar daddy, Max (Danny Deferrari), nor her ex-girlfriend, Maya (Molly Gordon), at an event filled with intrusive relatives and nosy family friends. Adapting her own short film with razor-sharp efficiency, Seligman stands out in her debut because of her ability to tell stories from perspectives that rarely get center stage—her protagonists are often queer, complex, and flawed, allowing her comedy to explore identity with nuance rather than stereotypes. Drawing on her own Jewish upbringing and millennial experiences, Seligman crafts characters who feel both highly specific and widely relatable, resulting in an empowering collaboration with Sennott that's driven by strong, unconventional characters. Dystopian movies are a dime a dozen (heck, there's even another one on this list), but using the zombie formula as a deadpan ode to ennui and small-town Americana is definitely a unique approach—one that writer/director Jim Jarmusch utilized nearly 40 years into his legendary career (he also created films like Down by Law, Dead Man and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai). The result is The Dead Don't Die, a commentary via absurdity, a film that riffs off zombie godfather George Romero's anticapitalist undercurrents (think Dawn of the Dead) but also brings that message into the 21st century with MAGA hats, juvenile detention and environmental disaster denial. Set in the sleepy rural town of Centerville, the cast includes Bill Murray as Chief Cliff Robertson, Adam Driver as the stoic Deputy Ronnie Peterson and Tilda Swinton as the town's Harley-riding mortician, Zelda Winston. When the dead start rising from their graves, the townspeople are caught off guard. And instead of the usual frantic panic, Jarmusch lets the apocalypse unfold with bizarre calmness: Murray and Driver patrol in sloth-like formation, Zelda welds coffins for fun and Jarmusch himself even pops up onscreen as Officer Ronnie's aging hippie father. The cast is rounded out with so many great actors, from Chloë Sevigny to Steve Buscemi to Danny Glover to Austin Butler to Selena Gomez—seriously, the list goes on. They all come together for a film that treats horror convention with ironic distance: zombies shuffle, characters muse and apathy often feels more dangerous than the undead.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Box Office: ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps' Clobbers $57 Million Opening Day — Second-Biggest of the Year
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' stretched its arms around $57 million from 4,125 theaters across Friday and preview screenings. Per Disney's numbers, that's the second-biggest opening day of the calendar year, ranking just behind 'A Minecraft Movie' ($57.11 million). The film is playing Imax and other premium large format auditoriums. It also just edges out Marvel Studios' comic book banner rival, DC Studios' 'Superman,' which began with a $56.1 million opening day just two weeks ago. It'll be a close call on whether 'Fantastic Four' can keep pacing ahead to beat the $125 million three-day opening of 'Superman.' More from Variety 'Fantastic Four' Credits Scene Confirms Franklin Richards' Role in 'Avengers: Doomsday,' but It's a Big Risk Pedro Pascal Downplays Reed Richards Becoming the New Leader of the Avengers in 'Doomsday': 'That's a Little Bit of a Mislead' Box Office: 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' Makes $24.4 Million in Previews, Beating 'Superman' for Biggest of 2025 It's the best first day kick-off for a Marvel Cinematic Universe entry since 'Deadpool & Wolverine' dominated the box office 12 months ago. And like that R-rated smash, 'Fantastic Four' is based on Marvel characters that were acquired by Disney after the studio's acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, demonstrating some value to that $71 billion merger. Three previous big-budget 'Fantastic Four' entries were produced at Fox, from 2005 to 2015. (There was also an unreleased 1994 feature, spearheaded by Roger Corman as a means to retain film rights for German producers. It circulates among diehards.) With a story that has little connection to other Marvel Cinematic Universe entries, 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' has presented itself as a relatively fresh entry point to audiences. Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who lead the film as Marvel's first family, are all MCU newcomers. 'First Steps' also has the benefit of strong reviews and good audience sentiment (pollster Cinema Score turned in an 'A-' grade among ticketbuyers). At a production cost of $200 million, plus much more to market and distribute, the film will need to hold as one of the biggest grossers of the year to turn a profit in theaters. Marvel's two previous 2025 releases, 'Captain America: Brave New World' and 'Thunderbolts*,' launched to $88.5 million and $76 million respectively. Both ended up losing money theatrically. Disney hopes to gain some momentum with the Matt Shakman-directed 'Fantastic Four,' ahead of the studio's extensive hiatus from superhero films. Marvel is producing 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' the fourth Tom Holland-led entry set to release July 2026. But Sony is distributing that film. Disney will have nearly a year and a half to plan for its next MCU installment, the mega-team-up 'Avengers: Doomsday,' set for December 2026. Second place goes to Warner Bros.' 'Superman,' which added $7.1 million on Friday. It's down 57% from its daily total a week ago, now competing with a newer superhero spectacle. The cinematic universe-rebooter should fly to a $289 million domestic total after its third weekend, which will put it ahead of 'Sinners' ($278 million) to have it rank as the fourth-highest grossing North American release of the year. Universal's 'Jurassic World Rebirth' is sliding to third in its fourth weekend, adding another $3.6 million on Friday. The seventh entry in the dinosaur series is projecting $13 million for its fourth weekend, which would be another good hold at a 45% drop. Total domestic gross is expected to pass $301 million through Sunday — only the third release of 2025 to get into the triple hundreds. Fourth looks to go to 'F1.' Warner Bros.' release of Apple Studios' racing thriller added $1.8 million Friday, down just 37% from its daily total a week ago. At a production cost of $250 million, theatrical profitability is a questionable prospect at best for the Brad Pitt-led feature. But it has put up strong holds since debuting a month ago. The film looks to hit a $165 million domestic total through Sunday. Paramount's IP revival 'Smurfs' rounds out the top five, adding $1.72 million on Friday and projecting $5.6 million for its second weekend. After a low opening, that's a 49% second-weekend drop, showing some relative staying power as the only new animated offering to families. Domestic total will hit $22.9 million through the first 10 days — a disappointing result against a $58 million production budget. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples
