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J.K. Rowling Praises Scripts for ‘Harry Potter' HBO Series as Fans Continue Boycott Over Anti-Trans Views
J.K. Rowling Praises Scripts for ‘Harry Potter' HBO Series as Fans Continue Boycott Over Anti-Trans Views

Yahoo

time6 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • Yahoo

J.K. Rowling Praises Scripts for ‘Harry Potter' HBO Series as Fans Continue Boycott Over Anti-Trans Views

As backlash over J.K. Rowling's stance on transgender rights continues to grow, the controversial author is doubling down on her involvement in the upcoming Harry Potter reboot at HBO — and giving fans a first taste of what's to come. While many longtime fans have vowed to boycott the new series due to Rowling's anti-transgender rhetoric, the author is hyping up those still on her side as the Warner Bros. Discovery project heads into production this summer, with a 2026 premiere date on the horizon. 'I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD!' Rowling shared on X, adding that she's 'worked closely' with the show's writers' room. When one follower asked if she's directly writing the new scripts, Rowling clarified, 'No, but I've worked closely with the extremely talented writers.' HBO Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys has previously addressed the controversy surrounding Rowling and whether her politics will influence the reboot. 'The decision to be in business with J.K. Rowling is not new for us,' Bloys said during an appearance on The Town with Matthew Belloni podcast. 'We've been in business for 25 years. We already have a show on HBO from her called C.B. Strike that we do with the BBC.' Bloys continued, 'It's pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She's entitled to them. Harry Potter is not secretly being infused with anything. If you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter.' According to Deadline, Rowling was involved in the original pitch process and will executive produce the series through her Brontë Film and TV banner. Bloys confirmed her involvement, saying, 'She will be involved. She's an executive producer on the show. Her insights are going to be helpful on that.' He added that Rowling's ongoing controversies are 'very nuanced and complicated,' but emphasized, 'Our priority is what's on the screen. Obviously, the Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That's our priority — what's on screen.' Rowling sparked renewed outrage after she publicly praised the UK Supreme Court's ruling that trans women can be excluded from the legal definition of 'women.' In response, more than 400 individuals signed an open letter demanding the UK film and TV industry take action. Among them was actor Paapa Essiedu — who is now confirmed to play Professor Snape in the upcoming reboot.

Did Nathan Fielder Fly The Plane? ‘The Rehearsal' S2 Finale, Explained
Did Nathan Fielder Fly The Plane? ‘The Rehearsal' S2 Finale, Explained

Forbes

time30-05-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Forbes

Did Nathan Fielder Fly The Plane? ‘The Rehearsal' S2 Finale, Explained

Nathan Fielder appears to fly a plane in the season 2 finale of HBO's 'The Rehearsal' HBO's The Rehearsal season 2 finale has sparked debate, as viewers were left wondering how much of the series had been staged, or deceptively edited. Nathan Fielder's comedy has always walked a fine line between truth and performance. In the finale of The Rehearsal's second season, Fielder appears to fly a plane full of passengers, and lands safely. Viewers weren't sure what to make of the stunt. Did Nathan really fly that plane? Were the passengers actually on board? Was the truth behind the flight really the point? Given the premise of the show and hints dropped by Fielder during the finale, it seems that the truth lay somewhere in the middle, with the ambiguity being the point. Yes, and no. Fielder has always been interested in the performance that people instinctively adopt for the camera, and uses his intensely awkward persona to break that facade. His work often explores the phenomenon of people working together toward a delusional goal, and the shared hesitance to voice the obvious. Previously, Fielder has discussed being inspired by the 2008 financial crisis, rooted in "these personal moments between people where someone senses something's wrong, but they don't want to speak up." His breakout series, Nathan For You, saw Fielder successfully convince real people to undertake ludicrous business proposals. In season one of The Rehearsal, Fielder still leaned on the eccentric individuals that his process uncovered, but the focus was more on himself, or rather, his persona. Season 2 is even more focused on Fielder, with the distinction between persona and personality all the blurrier. Season 2 of The Rehearsal sees Fielder explore his fixation with plane crashes, which he believes are often caused by miscommunication between co-pilots and their captains. Fielder comes to the conclusion that the hierarchy in the cockpit, combined with the professional consequences of speaking out, often leads to tragedy. Fielder reckons that these crashes can be avoided if pilots could be encouraged to speak their minds, and embarks on an increasingly bizarre series of training exercises and rehearsals to try and enter the minds of pilots. Fielder's talent for finding eccentrics and oddballs is still there—he meets a couple who cloned their dog multiple times, and a man who attempts to sell a hilariously dilapidated plane, assuring Fielder that broken dials and knobs will not affect his safety in the slightest. Fielder, however, is the main character of this series, and some of the most surreal moments come from his self-imposed experiments (a scene where a diaper-wearing Fielder is breastfed by a gigantic, motherly puppet has to be seen to be believed). The series walks a fine line between truth and fiction, but the finale reveals that Fielder has spent two years training for his pilot license, and is now qualified to fly a 737. Fielder is then shown flying the plane with a visibly nervous co-pilot, who Fielder encourages to speak his mind. Fielder appears to successfully land the plane, with 150 people on board. However, not all is as it seems, as Fielder deliberately mentions the art of pulling off a 'magic trick' during the finale, hinting at some sort of deception. Judging from the footage, which was also shot outside of the plane, Fielder does appear to have flown the 737. On Reddit, fans of the show even tracked down the flight, which appears to have taken place on Feb 16 of this year. However, it appears that the plane was not actually full of passengers, and that Fielder's co-pilot was the only individual on board. Scenes of the passengers entering the plane, and applauding Fielder's landing seem to have been edited alongside the real flight, the 'magic trick' that Fielder told his audience he was going to pull off. Despite Fielder's meta-comedy, it appears he was attempting to make a serious point, not just about airline safety, but the persona that people put on when in positions of responsibility and authority. In a final twist, Fielder appeared on CNN to discuss his findings from the show, and cheekily pointed out that the power dynamic between Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown mirrored the imbalance in the cockpit. 'You're Wolf Blitzer, right?' Fielder said. 'So you're like, your name is first on the thing. So I'm sure, Pamela, at times you might not want to say, 'Oh, Wolf wants to do something. I don't think it's a good idea.' You might not want to express that, always.' Both hosts appeared disarmed by Fielder's comment, and stammered a defense, with Brown politely insisting that Blitzer doesn't have an 'ego' and that she feels free to speak up. However, Brown did admit that Fielder had a point. Clearly, Nathan Fielder's talent for disarming people on camera, even media-savvy news hosts, is as sharp as ever.

‘The Last Of Us' Finale Viewership Down 30% From Premiere, With Two Catches
‘The Last Of Us' Finale Viewership Down 30% From Premiere, With Two Catches

Forbes

time27-05-2025

  • Entertainment
  • Forbes

‘The Last Of Us' Finale Viewership Down 30% From Premiere, With Two Catches

The Last of Us HBO The Last of Us season 2 ended its second season abruptly this weekend, with just seven episodes compared to season 1's nine. It was so sudden that many viewers didn't even realize it was the finale, and now we have some stats in that…do not look great. The finale of The Last of Us season 2 saw a 30% drop in viewership compared to the season 2 premiere. It also dropped 55% from the season 1 finale. Bad, quite bad on its face, but there are two caveats here that are worth exploring before alarms fully start going off. Still, it's probably not great to simply hand-wave this away given what's happened with the show this season. You can still look at other reported figures, usually live viewing, for trends here. The Last of Us season 1 almost doubled its viewership by its finale. It went up almost every week other than a big drop on Super Bowl weekend. The Last of Us HBO Season 1 also has three episodes above a million live viewers and season 2 has zero, indicating an overall trend even of post-live viewership is a huge factor now. And that's even with almost double the viewers of the season 1 premiere to start with. Viewership appears to have dropped sharply after the premiere, which was not actually Joel's death episode, rather the next one was. But views were middling all season with no big increases seen over time like season 1 had. Even if it's not 30% lower in the end, it seems possible, if not likely that it is lower than the premiere. Regardless, these trendlines are not great. Reasons for that? I have more to say on this, but no, things have certainly not moved in a great direction in season 2 in a number of ways.

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