The problem with letting the weekly pop culture news recap slide is that the longer the coverage period runs, the harder it is to get on top of it. To accomplish that feat, below you’ll find a list-style article covering all the big stories and trailer reveals that stood out for us over the past month, with links off to more information as needed.
Film
Out 2 May next year is The Devil Wears Prada 2, which brings back Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci after 20 years. Adding some relevance, the film will reportedly deal with the decline of traditional print media and the resulting fierce competition for ad spend.
The next big musical biopic out the gates is Michael, based on the early solo success of Michael Jackson. Jackson’s real-life nephew Jafaar Jackson plays the King of Pop while Antoine Fuqua directs. Bohemian Rhapsody’s Graham King produces if you want a sense of how critical the film will be vs. crowd-pleasing. Michael hits cinemas, including IMAX, on 24 April.
Count us excited for the next Star Trek movie. The creative team picked to helm the next instalment is Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, the writer-directors of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. For the record, the Chris Pine/JJ Abrams era is done, and the next big screen Star Trek will likely centre on new characters.
Believe it or not, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz may be reuniting as period adventurers Rick O’Connell and Evelyn Carnahan for a fourth Mummy movie. Weisz previously skipped the third instalment in the franchise. Scream VI, Abigail and Ready or Not’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are set to direct.
On the acting obituaries front, Britain’s Pauline Collins, probably most famous for playing Shirley Valentine on stage and screen, passed aged 85 after living with Parkinson’s disease for several years. Another British comedy legend, Prunella Scales, who portrayed Sybil Fawlty in beloved Fawlty Towers, also died aged 93. She had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014. Diane Ladd, the mother of Laura Dern, and three-time Oscar nominated actress, died at 89. Ladd’s career spanned over 70 years, and included roles in the likes of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Chinatown and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. She was working as late as 2022. Finally, you may not know his name, but there’s a good chance you know the face of French actor Tchéky Karyo, who appeared in the likes of Bad Boys, GoldenEye, La Femme Nikita, and TV series The Missing. Karyo was taken by cancer at 72.
Series
Smash hit Fallout, based on the post-apocalyptic Bethesda video game series, returns with its Season 2 on Prime Video from 17 December. This time around, it’s drawing heavily from Obsidian’s spin-off Fallout game New Vegas.
Netflix dropped a full trailer for the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, which is releasing in three parts, with episodes veering to film-length. Volume 1 debuts on 26 November with four episodes, Volume 2 is a Christmas Day gift with three episodes, and then the series finale lands on New Year’s Eve.
When have we ever covered reality or game shows on this site? We’re starting now with the news that Netflix and A24 are teaming up to make a competition show based on high-stress restaurant simulation game Overcooked! Multiple players will have to work together as chefs to prepare, cook, and serve meals before time runs out in kitchens filled with various obstacles and hazards.
On the series renewal and cancellation front (well, kinda), Alien: Earth has been given a thumbs up for a second season (so we’ll know what happened after that cliffhanger S1 ending). Meanwhile, Disney has parted ways with the BBC in terms of collaborating on Doctor Who. The BBC has promised that even with the partnership ending, Doctor Who will be back on screens with a Christmas special in December 2026.
Gaming
Valve is on a mission to make PC gaming more accessible for players. They just announced three new pieces of gaming hardware, following the success of the handheld Steam Deck: the Steam Controller, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame.
The Steam Machine is probably of most interest, as it bridges PC and console gaming, letting people play their Steam games on a TV while enjoying the comfort of their couch, and none of the fiddling and set-up complication associated with PC gaming.
Now South Africa isn’t among the select markets where the Steam Deck, and upcoming Steam Machine, enjoy first party distribution, so getting hold of one (with official support) is likely to be a challenge locally. Out of interest, though, the new products will become available starting early 2026. No pricing has been announced.
Checkout this interesting and comprehensive breakdown of the pros and cons of the Steam Machine.
It’s that time of year! The Game Awards are on the horizon, with the nominee announcements happening today, 17 November at 9AM PT – 7PM in South Africa.
The Geoff Keighley-hosted Game Awards 2025 will air live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on 11 December from 5-8PM PT, which translates as 3-6AM the next day in South African time.
This year, for the first time the show will be live streamed on Amazon’s Prime Video, in addition to its usual online broadcasts on YouTube and Twitch.
Open world crime actioner Grand Theft Auto VI has been delayed again. Publisher Take-Two Interactive announced that the long-awaited sequel is now set for release on 19 November 2026. Previously the game was set for a late 2025 debut, after which it was pushed out to May 2026.
That’s not the only GTA drama, though. Right now, the game’s developer Rockstar Games is in hot water after apparently firing 31 workers in the UK for trying to unionise. Rockstar claims the dismissals were due to grievous misconduct relating to information leaks.