Life carries on, though certainly the US-driven pop culture industries have had their foot off the accelerator this week. There’s not much to report on, but you’ll find the standout stories below.
Before that, though, on the notable passings front, this week started with the news that iconic music producer, songwriter, composer and more, Quincy Jones had died aged 91. Among Jones’s innumerable achievements, he produced Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the best-selling album of all time; produced and conducted the charity song We Are the World; wrote film and series scores for the likes of In the Heat of the Night, The Wiz, The Color Purple and Roots; and was responsible for Soul Bossa Nova, which was to become the Austin Powers theme tune.
Series
Probably the biggest entertainment news of the week is the tease for the fifth and final season of Netflix and the Duffer Brothers’ coming of age supernatural horror hit Stranger Things. Comprising of eight apparently film-length episodes, Season 5 will release at some point next year, and be set in the autumn of 1987, one and a half years after the events of Season 4. These are the eight episode titles revealed.
In a few other bits of TV news:
Prime Video, which is responsible for the brilliant Fallout and not-so-great Yakuza game adaptations, has set a writer for its planned Mass Effect series, based on the beloved Bioware sci-fi franchise. It’s the man responsible for Fast & Furious 9.
Also, you have just a few more weeks to enjoy Netflix’s interactive specials. From 1 December, the streamer will be pulling the vast majority of its “choose your own adventure”-style experiences. Most of the archived specials are animated entertainment orientated at kids, while four will remain available (at least for now), including the most famous: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
Film
A festive team-up between Jack Black and the Farrelly brothers? Sign us up for badly behaved comedy Dear Santa, where a young boy with bad spelling sends off a Christmas letter to Santa Claus… and summons the Devil to wreak havoc on the holidays. Also look out for the likes of Keegan-Michael Key and Post Malone in the cast.
Dear Santa will premiere on Paramount+ and hit VOD on 25 November.
In other movie news:
We’re getting another Godzilla movie from the Oscar-winning team behind Godzilla Minus One.
If you were looking forward to Mickey 17, the cloning sci-fi comedy from Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho, starring Robert Pattinson, you have a bit longer to wait. The film has been pushed back from a 31 January 2025 release to 18 April.
And that’s a wrap!