Entertainment

(SPOILER ALERT) Stranger Things fans have been given a chance to return to the Upside Down a few weeks early.

Netflix has released the first five minutes of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, and they may leave audiences surprised with where and when the season starts.

Season 5 begins with a scene that canonically takes place in season 1. It opens with Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp, on Nov. 12, 1983 — six days after he originally went missing.

A de-aged Schnapp acting as 12-year-old Will is confused and shaking with fear inside of the Upside Down's version of Castle Byers. He sings the song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash to himself in an attempt to calm himself down. His older brother, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), introduced that song to him in the series' pilot episode.

A demogorgon then crashes inside of Castle Byers. Will makes his escape after shooting the creature with a hunting rifle. The young boy climbs a tree to try to outwit the demogorgon, but it scales up after him, causing Will to plummet to the ground, unconscious.

The creature pulls Will to the Upside Down's version of Hawkins Library, straight to the villainous Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).

“You and I, we are going to do such beautiful things together, William," Vecna says to the boy.

Netflix is releasing season 5 in three different drops. The first four episodes arrive on Nov. 26, just ahead of Thanksgiving, while the following three episodes will debut on Dec. 25. The series finale of Stranger Things premieres on Dec. 31.

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Ready, set, binge! Here's a look at some of the new movies and TV shows coming to theaters and streaming services this weekend:

Hulu
All's Fair: Kim Kardashian stars in Ryan Murphy's newest series about a group of female divorce lawyers.

Peacock
All Her Fault: Succession Emmy winner Sarah Snook stars in this new thriller series. 

Netflix
Frankenstein: Jacob Elordi is The Creature to Oscar Isaac's Dr. Frankenstein in this new adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic novel. 

Apple TV
Pluribus: Check out the new drama series from the creator of Better Call Saul starring Rhea Seehorn. 

Movie theaters
Christy: Sydney Sweeney transformed into boxer Christy Martin in this biopic about the athlete's life.

Predator: Badlands: Elle Fanning stars in this new film from the director of Prey. 

That’s all for this week’s Weekend Watchlist – happy streaming!

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After teetering between the streets and a better life, Diamond Sampson returns to season 3 of Power Book IV: Force with his mind fully focused on the streets and his CBI drug organization. Isaac Keys, who returns as Diamond for the show's final season, says his character's goal is to create "peace in a violent society."

In previous seasons of Force, Diamond spent 15 years in jail, leaving his CBI drug organization to his brother Jenard, who kept the org afloat in his absence. Upon his release, he encountered Tommy Egan, a drug dealer from New York who was trying to take over the Chicago drug game.

"[Diamond]'s in that tug-of-war of trying to bring the people together. All he wants ... is people to come and just act right," Keys tells ABC Audio. "He wants to bring Tommy over here and act right, bring his brother and act right. But because they don't get along, he's always caught into that [quandary] of trying figure out what the heck is going on." 

Diamond eventually teams up with Tommy, causing Jenard to feel overlooked for his hard work. The move causes Jenard to grow jealous of Tommy and plan ways to take him out of the game.

Season 3 of Force returns to Starz Friday; it's the final season of the Power Book IV series. Kris D. Lofton stars as Jenard, while Joseph Sikora reprises his role as Tommy.

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A star-studded cast has come together for the upcoming film My Darling California. Deadline reports that Jessica Chastain, Josh Brolin, Chris Pine, Mikey Madison, Don Cheadle and Charles Melton are set to star in the darkly comedic crime thriller from writer-director Elijah Bynum. The film follows how a single crime weaves together the lives of a TV host, his wife, a country music idol, two crooks and an ex-con ...

The trailer for The Testament of Ann Lee has arrived. Amanda Seyfried stars as the titular devotional sect founder in the historical drama film from director Mona Fastvold. She co-wrote the script with her husband, The Brutalist director Brady Corbet. Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Tim Blake Nelson and Christopher Abbott star in the film, which arrives in theaters on Dec. 25 ...

It looks like Sarah Paulson is about to team with Ryan Murphy once again. Variety reports the actress is in talks to star as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in season 4 of the anthology series Monster. Season 4 will follow Lizzie Borden and the axe murder of her dad and stepmother ...

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Sydney Sweeney is sharing what she considered to be the hardest part of playing professional boxer Christy Martin in the new biopic Christy.

Much has been reported on the physical transformation Sweeney underwent to become Martin. She gained over 30 pounds and trained to be able to accurately portray Martin's fiery persona while boxing in the ring. But even amidst all of that, Sweeney said the most difficult part of preparing for this role had nothing to do with the physical transformation.

"I think that it was honestly the responsibility," Sweeney said. "I knew how important Christy's story was and how much this movie is going to mean to people. And I think the weight of that responsibility was the hardest part," Sweeney told ABC Audio.

In fact, Sweeney said that the physical transformation for the role was the most fun part of her preparation.

"I enjoyed that. I had a blast doing that. It was a lot of hard work," Sweeney said. "It was 2 1/2 months of training every single day. I put on 35 pounds. And then when you're filming, you're still having to keep up that transformation and that workout regime."

Sweeney said she continued that same training regimen throughout the entirety of the film's shoot — going from "working out to filming to fight training."

"It was exhausting and a lot hard work," the actress said, although she maintained it wasn't the most difficult part: "But I think the responsibility was the most pressing for me."

Christy arrives in theaters everywhere on Friday.

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An animated Stranger Things TV series is coming next year.

Netflix has announced that it will release the animated series Stranger Things: Tales From '85 in 2026. A featurette, first look and the voice cast for the series have also been announced.

This new series will welcome audiences back to Hawkins, Indiana, during the winter of 1985.

"The original characters must fight new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery terrorizing their town," the show's official synopsis reads.

Brooklyn Davey Norstedt voices Eleven, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport takes on the voice of Max, Luca Diaz voices Mike, Elisha “EJ” Williams plays the voice of Lucas, Braxton Quinney is Dustin, Ben Plessala is the voice of Will and Brett Gipson voices Hopper.

Additional voice cast members include Odessa A’zion, Janeane Garofalo and Lou Diamond Phillips.

Stranger Things creators Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer serve as executive producers on the show, as do Hilary Leavitt, Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen.

The streamer made the announcement of the new animated show as part of its Stranger Things Day celebration. In the first season of the live-action series, Will Byers went missing on Nov. 6, 1983. In the years after Stranger Things first premiered in 2016, fans have used that date as a special day to celebrate the show.

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The official trailer for Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 is here.

Disney+ released the new trailer for the upcoming season of the series based on Rick Riordan's beloved bestselling books on Thursday.

This season follows the events of the series' second book in the Percy Jackson series, The Sea of Monsters. It promises to have higher stakes, even more action and thrilling new monsters.

"After Camp Half-Blood’s protective border is breached, Percy Jackson embarks on an epic odyssey into the Sea of Monsters in search of his best friend Grover and the one thing that may save the camp — the legendary Golden Fleece," according to its official synopsis. "With help from Annabeth, Clarisse and his newfound cyclops half-brother Tyson, Percy’s survival becomes essential to stopping Luke, the Titan Kronos, and their impending plan to bring down Camp Half-Blood — and ultimately, Olympus."

Walker Scobell once again stars as the titular son of Poseidon. Leah Sava Jeffries and Aryan Simhadri also star as Annabeth Chase and Grover.

Charlie Bushnell, Dior Goodjohn and Daniel Diemer make up the rest of the main cast, while a star-studded cast of recurring and guest stars includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jason Mantzoukas, Timothy Simons, Courtney B. Vance, Andra Day, Margaret Cho and Kristen Schaal.

"You guys get nightmares, right?" Scobell's Percy asks in the trailer. "I usually get ones that tell me the future. Or, try to kill me."

Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 premieres with two episodes on Dec. 10. New episodes will debut every Wednesday.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Another Gremlins film is on the way.

Warner Bros. has announced plans for a third installment in the Gremlins franchise heading to theaters on Nov. 19, 2027.

The reveal was made by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO and President David Zaslav during the company's third-quarter 2025 earnings call on Thursday.

Steven Spielberg will executive produce Gremlins 3 through his company Amblin Entertainment. Chris Columbus, who wrote the original film, is returning to direct and produce this new sequel.

Final Destination Bloodlines directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein are writing the film's screenplay with Columbus.

When Gremlins 3 is released, it will mark the first film in the franchise in 37 years. The first Gremlins movie came out in 1984. It was directed by Joe Dante. Its sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, was also directed by Dante but not written by Columbus. That film was released in 1990. 

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The first glimpse of the big-screen Michael Jackson biopic Michael has been released, starring his nephew Jaafar Jackson, the son of his brother Jermaine Jackson.

The trailer captures Jafaar as the King of Pop, complete with MJ's iconic looks. He's seen executing choreography onstage, shooting music videos for "Thriller" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," and recording in the studio with Quincy Jones, played by Kendrick Sampson.

Set to arrive in theaters April 24, 2026, "[Michael] gives audiences a front-row seat to Michael Jackson as never before," according to the synopsis. The film follows his journey from the lead of the Jackson 5 "to the visionary artist whose creative ambition fueled a relentless pursuit to become the biggest entertainer in the world," the synopsis reads. Highlights from his solo onstage performances will be featured, as well as moments from MJ's life beyond music.

Also starring in the film, directed by Antoine Fuqua, are Juliano Krue Valdi as young Michael, Colman Domingo as MJ's father, Joe Jackson, and Nia Long as his mother, Katherine Jackson. Kat Graham and Miles Teller play Diana Ross and lawyer John Branca, with Laura Harrier portraying music exec Suzanne de Passe.

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Kris D. Lofton is coming with a different energy on season 3 of Power Book IV: Force. After feuding with his brother Diamond Sampson, played by Isaac Keys, over the leadership of the CBI drug organization, he says his character, Jenard Sampson, is just looking to restore their relationship.

"This season, I think, it's more about trying to, like, rekindle that brotherly bond and flame that he knows is buried deep down in there, in him and his brother," Kris tells ABC Audio.

Getting in his way, however, are several factors, including his power-hungry girlfriend, Shanti "Showstopper" Page, played by Adrienne Walker; his addiction to heroin; and his distaste for drug dealer Tommy Egan, played by Joseph Sikora.

"[Jenard is] being pulled in two, three, four different directions," Kris shares, adding "he's essentially trying to make everybody happy."

"He's a people pleaser, but he's also kind of manipulative in a way. And he kind of all over the place," Kris continues. "[Jenard] has got a lot going on." 

Force returns Friday, marking the third and final season of the show. Jenard was first introduced to fans as the younger brother of Diamond, who kept the CBI drug organization afloat when Diamond was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The tension began when Diamond quickly took the reins back upon his release and started working with drug dealer and Chicago implant Tommy Egan. The move made Jenard feel overlooked, leading to his desire to oust Tommy and reclaim his position with CBI. 

Jenard's story continues Friday with the season 3 premiere of Force. It will be available to watch on the Starz app and all Starz streaming and on-demand platforms.

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