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      ‘Barbie’ Was Supposed to Change Hollywood. Many See ‘No Effect.’

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      The film was a global phenomenon and seemed to herald a new era of embracing stories by, about and for women. What happened?When “Barbie” was released in 2023, it quickly became a phenomenon. It was the top box office film of the year, earning $1.4 billion worldwide, and it became Warner Bros.’s highest-grossing film ever, outpacing both “Dark Knight” movies, “Wonder Woman” and every chapter in the “Harry Potter” franchise.It was a DayGlo-pink rebuttal to decades of conventional Hollywood thinking, and its success seemed to herald a new paradigm for the film industry. Movies written and directed by women and focused on female protagonists could attract enormous audiences to multiplexes around the world.Yet in the 12 months since the movie’s release, little has changed in Hollywood. Buffeted by dual labor strikes that went on for months and a general retrenchment by entertainment companies trying to navigate the economics of the streaming era, the industry has retreated to its usual ways of doing business.The box office is down 17 percent from last year at this time, and studios spooked by a fickle audience (yes to “Twisters,” no to “Fall Guy”) are again questioning the reliability of the theatrical marketplace. Films released in 2023 featured the same number of girls or women in a leading role as in 2010, according to a report from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Ask around Hollywood and the consensus seems to be that “Barbie” is a singular success, a gargantuan feat helmed by particular talents, the writer-director Greta Gerwig and the star Margot Robbie. Translation: Don’t expect a lot of movies like that in theaters anytime soon.“‘Barbie’ had no effect,” said Stacy L. Smith, the founder of the inclusion initiative, which studies inequality in Hollywood. “It’s perceived cognitively as a one-off. They have individuated the Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig success and haven’t thought about how their own decision-making could be different and inclusive to create a new path forward.“Like most things with this industry, they’re like, ‘Oh, this is neat and shiny,’ and then they go right back to the way they’ve always been.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A New Era for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Begins

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      As a comic book series to honor the Turtles’ 40th anniversary debuts, here’s a look back at their milestones.The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are getting a new comic book series Wednesday, from IDW Publishing, to commemorate their 40th anniversary. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo have come a long way from their early comics days as turtles who, after being exposed to a mysterious green ooze, turned into sewer-dwelling heroes. They made the leap to animation, video games and merchandise. Here’s a look at some significant moments in Turtle history — and a glimpse at what lies ahead.WHERE IT BEGANThe cover of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, from 1984. “We took our favorite things and kind of put it into a blender,” a creator, Kevin Eastman, said.Kevin Eastman/IDW PublishingThe Turtles were created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, two die-hard comic book fans in New Hampshire whose influences included ninjas by Frank Miller, the X-Men and the work of the comic book artist Jack Kirby. In imagining the Turtles, “we took our favorite things and kind of put it into a blender,” Eastman said in a phone interview, adding that they never thought the Turtles would be such a huge success. There is no “To Be Continued” at the end of the first issue, which was published in 1984, because “we never thought there’d be a second,” Eastman said. (They were wrong, of course. They both eventually quit their day jobs to focus on the Turtles.)THE FIRST ANIMATED SERIESThe animated series introduced the Turtles’ love of pizza.ParamountThe “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” animated TV series came out in December 1987, and it aired until 1996. It took a lighter tone than the comic, making it more suitable for younger audiences. In another instance of how far-fetched the success seemed at the time, Eastman recalled proudly telling his mother about the series, which would premiere around Christmas. But, he said in the interview, she didn’t believe him until she read it in TV Guide. The cartoon helped cement Turtles as a cultural and commercial phenomenon — and added pizza to their routine. And “by 1990, if you wanted to have a complete Ninja Turtles day, you could wake up in Turtles bedsheets wearing your Turtles pajamas, have your Turtles toothbrush and eat your cereal out of a Turtles bowl,” said Andrew Farago, the curator of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco and the author of a Turtles visual history.FEMALE TURTLESJennika went from human enemy to turtle ally.Brahm Revel/IDW PublishingWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Leslie Uggams of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Is a Fan of Nat King Cole and Billie Eilish

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      The actress, nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for her performance in “Roots,” is still going strong with appearances in the TV series “Fallout” and the upcoming movie “Deadpool & Wolverine.”The veteran singer and actress Leslie Uggams likes to be busy.“Even when I’m home and I get to relax,” she said in a phone interview from her home in New York, “I have to be doing something — cooking, doing a puzzle — something.”The 81-year-old has kept busy since she made her debut at age 6 as Ethel Waters’s niece in the 1950s sitcom “Beulah.” The career that followed included an adolescence spent singing and dancing at the Apollo Theater; hosting her own televised variety show in 1969 (Sammy Davis Jr. and Dick Van Dyke were among her guests); winning a lead actress Tony in 1968 for the musical “Hallelujah, Baby!”; and earning an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for portraying Kizzy in the 1977 mini-series “Roots.”Keeping ever current, Uggams appeared in the 2023 film “American Fiction,” performed in “Jelly’s Last Jam” at New York City Center last winter, then did a cabaret run at 54 Below.”After seven decades, I am still going strong,” she said.Uggams’s latest role, as the Vault official Betty Pearson on the TV series “Fallout,” has attracted a new wave of sci-fi devotees. (“I’m getting a lot of fan mail about Betty.”) And she’s returning as the feisty, foul-mouthed Blind Al in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” opening July 26.“I am still riding the wave,” Uggams said, while reminiscing about her family, the author of “Roots” and the way the Apollo toughened her up as a performer. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.1Alex Haley, ‘Roots’ AuthorHe changed my life, not just because of being cast in “Roots.” He gave me and the world an understanding of ancestry and the importance of knowing our true history, not just what’s taught (or not taught) in schools.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sundance Institute Announces Six Finalists for Its New Home

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      The organization, and its influential film festival, may stay in Park City, Utah, or move to another location like Atlanta or Cincinnati.The Sundance Institute announced on Friday that its search for a home has been narrowed to six finalists: Atlanta; Cincinnati; Boulder, Colo.; Louisville, Ky.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and its current locale, Park City, Utah, which would team up with the city down the mountain, Salt Lake City.Sundance, whose annual influential film festival has made the organization synonymous with the snowy mountain town of Park City for the past 40 years, announced in April that it was reviewing whether it should move when its current contract with the city ended after the 2026 event, which traditionally takes place in January. (The timing of the festival will remain the same no matter where it is held.)The 10-day event often pushes Park City to its limits, with snarled traffic and exorbitant rental prices.When evaluating the individual locations, Sundance said it focused on logistical concerns, infrastructure issues and a city’s commitment to artistic endeavors and its ability to capitalize on its local film community.“Each of these cities has a vibrant creative ecosystem, either expanding or established, and has enabled creativity to flourish in their cities through their support of the arts,” Eugene Hernandez, Sundance’s festival director and director of public programming, said in a statement.Sundance, which was founded by Robert Redford in 1981 and moved to Park City in 1985, continues to be the dominant festival for independent film. When Steven Soderbergh’s film “Sex, Lies and Videotape” debuted there in 1989, it was seen as a transformational moment for independent moviemakers. For the 2024 edition, the festival received a record number of submissions, over 17,000 from 153 countries. More

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      How Accurate Is the Science in ‘Twisters’?

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      Sean Waugh holds a laptop with green, red and yellow weather radar looping as his driver rumbles down an Oklahoma highway in their government-issued truck. The vehicle holds 50 gallons of fuel, so they can chase storms all day. A rectangular cage with metal mesh covers the truck in an attempt to protect the team from hail. Hanging off the front of the hail cage are weather instruments that look like the horn of a rhinoceros charging into a storm.The truck, called Probe One, points in one direction, and a companion, Probe Two, points in another. Tall grass flows like ocean waves, and the stop sign at a crossroads wobbles. The sky is dark gray with a hint of green. Lightning flashes on all sides.The radio cracks. “Probe One, you want us to go?”“Yes, go now,” says Dr. Waugh, a researcher with the National Severe Storms Laboratory.As they disappear into the mist, another storm chaser emerges: Reed Timmer, who has a large social media following, pulls in front in one of his tank-like trucks, called the Dominator.It’s just the scientist, the YouTube star and a lonely farmhouse.Sean Waugh’s job is to get close to storms. He’s lately become a Hollywood movie consultant in his spare time.Reto Sterchi for The New York TimesReto Sterchi for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Will ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ Propel Debunked Moon Landing Conspiracies?

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      The screenwriters of “Fly Me to the Moon” say they emphasized the facts of the Apollo 11 landing, but experts worry that clips can be misused.The new Scarlett Johansson-Channing Tatum vehicle “Fly Me to the Moon” uses a long-debunked conspiracy theory as the jumping-off point for a space-race romantic comedy. At the end of the 1960s, a wary NASA recognizes the need for better public relations during the Vietnam War. The resulting campaign leads to a faked version of the Apollo 11 mission being shot on a sound stage even as the real mission is unfolding. Shenanigans, and romance, ensue.“Fly Me to the Moon” isn’t the first movie based on the mistaken belief that the moon landing was a hoax, a conspiracy theory that first arose in the 1970s. “Capricorn One” (1978), about a faked mission to Mars, taps into Watergate-era institutional distrust, and more recently, “Moonwalkers” (2015) pairs a C.I.A. agent with a rock band manager to fake the Apollo 11 landing.What sets “Fly Me to the Moon” apart is its insistence on the truth. The movie’s writers say they hope it will reinforce the real story of the moon landing. But is that possible in a post-Covid age when conspiracy theories are amplified on social media?The screenplay, written by Rose Gilroy and based on a story by Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein, plays with the theory, including a joke on some conspiracists’ belief that the director Stanley Kubrick supposedly had a hand in faking the historic event. (He did not.) But ultimately the film emphasizes that the Apollo 11 landing did take place.Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in “Fly Me to the Moon.”Dan McFadden/Sony PicturesFlynn said the initial idea for the movie came in 2016. As the nation wrangled with questions about truth during a presidential campaign in which Donald J. Trump frequently castigated the “lying” media, the moon landing made for a perfect setting.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      How ‘Twisters’ Destroys a Motel

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      The director Lee Isaac Chung narrates a sequence from the film featuring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell, in which a building is leveled by a tornado.Lee Isaac Chung narrates a sequence from his film, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell.Universal PicturesIn “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.A grungy, empty pool becomes a motel’s greatest asset in this harrowing sequence from “Twisters.”The storm chasers Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Tyler (Glen Powell) find themselves in a predicament when a tornado descends on a motel and the two must lead a group to safety. They head to the drained pool to stay out of the tornado’s path, along the way dodging debris that includes a soda machine and a trailer.Much of the sequence gives the impression of a one-take shot, although it was stitched from different takes to best incorporate its visual effects. Those effects are a mix of the practical — one stunt performer was whisked 60 feet in the air — and the digital.“I really wanted to film a night tornado,” Chung said, narrating the scene, “because growing up around Tornado Alley, the night tornadoes were always the most frightening.”He said the intent of the scene and shooting it in this frantic, hand-held manner was to create “that subjective feeling of what it’s like to experience a tornado in real time.”Chung said that while filming his cast inside the swimming pool, crew members were destroying the set outside, so as the scene ends and the characters emerge, they are seeing a damaged version of the set they hadn’t seen going in.Read the “Twisters” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more. More

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      The Stomach-Dropping, Heart-Tugging Appeal of Climbing Documentaries

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      “Skywalkers” and “Mountain Queen” are strong entries in a genre with great appeal to viewers who themselves might prefer to be sitting.Documentaries in which people climb very tall things have a remarkable track record. “Man on Wire,” James Marsh’s 2008 recounting of Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974, is one of the most acclaimed and successful documentaries of all time. Jimmy Chin and Chai Vasarhelyi have made two celebrated films about the sport, “Meru” in 2015 and “Free Solo” in 2018. Just do a quick search for “climbing documentaries” and you’ll find dozens — it’s clearly a genre people love.That’s undoubtedly due in part to the fact that most of us (myself included) will never, ever attempt to scale a 3,000-foot cliff without ropes. These movies show us what we can’t otherwise see. Plus, in contrast to the manufactured safety of a fiction film, a documentary is heart-pounding. Your head knows they probably will get out alive — but your stomach sure doesn’t.There’s another reason these movies are so popular, though, and it’s more psychological. As a nonclimber with an aversion to physical risk, I find it hard to fathom what drives those who choose, of their own free will, to put themselves into extreme physical situations that could easily kill them. It must mean something more to them than oxygen-deprived thrills — but what? Two gripping documentaries on Netflix this week come at that question from different directions, but offer similar answers.Lucy Walker’s “Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa” is a biographical documentary about Lhakpa Sherpa, a Nepalese mountain climber who holds the women’s world record for the most summits of Mount Everest, 10 in all. (And not many men have summited more.) I expected a portrait of an incredibly strong woman, and that’s an apt description for “Mountain Queen.” But Lhakpa’s story is much more complicated than that. Through interviews and footage shot on Everest, Lhakpa — who lives in Connecticut with her teenage daughters — reveals the many obstacles she’s had to overcome, including patriarchal ideas about climbing in her home culture and an abusive marriage to a fellow climber once she moved to the United States.Most important, she shows what drives someone like her toward this kind of extreme sport, and it mainly boils down to wanting to live a life of significance. But Lhakpa’s aim is less about being famous and more about paving the way to a better future for herself and her children. “I want to be somebody. I want to do something good,” she says. “I want to show my two girls how to be brave.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More