‘Electrifying experience’: stage version of The Hunger Games to open in new London theatre

Conor McPherson’s adaptation of the hit YA sci-fi novels and films – which starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen – will begin in October, having been delayed since last year

Gene Hackman and pianist wife Betsy Arakawa found dead at home alongside one of their dogs

The Oscar-winning star of The French Connection, The Conversation, Superman and The Poseidon Adventure has died, along with his classical musician wife

The Long Wave: How A Thousand Blows recovers the lost history of a lion-taming West Indian boxer

Historian David Olusoga sheds light on Hezekiah Moscow, a mysterious migrant seeking a better life in Victorian London. Plus, my suya obsession

Evan Gershkovich memoir to be adapted for big screen by Conclave director

Edward Berger will direct story of Wall Street Journal reporter who was held in Russia on espionage charges for over a year

Chang’an review – animated Chinese tale of poet-warriors is spectacular work of art

The historic capital of China is rendered in gloriously intricate detail, but this animated feature feels like a state-sponsored history lesson

The Monkey review – fear is the key in a terrifyingly brilliant toy story

Longlegs director Osgood Perkins triumphs again with an eerie, emotionally profound tale of a malevolent wind-up toy

On my radar: Shon Faye’s cultural highlights

The author on an obscene drill track, a writing retreat off the coast of Naples and her love of Almodóvar films

Grosse Pointe Blank and Miami Blues director George Armitage dies aged 82

Armitage was also responsible for the 1972 blaxploitation remake of Get Carter, made during his time working for Roger Corman

Sandalheimer: can Christopher Nolan restore the grandeur of ancient-world epics?

Once a prestige genre with lavish spectacle and global stars, it’s since grown pretty dusty and drear. But Nolan’s Odyssey may yet revive its bronzed vigour

Why Conclave should win the best picture Oscar

Sturdy, classic storytelling and a peerless cast led by Ralph Fiennes’s anxious cardinal make this drama of Vatican intrigue a solid bet

Picnic at Hanging Rock review – Australian fever dream still dazzling 50 years on

Peter Weir’s 1975 parable of imperial anxiety and sexual hysteria, rereleased for its 50th anniversary, is a classic of Australian new wave cinema

The Monkey review – slapdash splatter comedy is a grating misfire

Writer-director Osgood Perkins follows up horror hit Longlegs with a tiresome, juvenile adaptation of a Stephen King short story about an evil toy monkey

September Says review – intense sisterly bond leads to things getting strange in rural Ireland

There’s a lot to grab your attention here, but strong performances struggle to save Ariane Labed’s adaptation of Daisy Johnson’s novel Sisters

A ‘great shock’: Julianne Moore’s children’s book under review by Trump administration

The actor’s book Freckleface Strawberry is on a list of library books suspended for a ‘compliance review’ after a presidential executive order

Last chance to enter! The 2025 Observer/ Anthony Burgess prize for arts journalism closes soon

The annual competition to discover outstanding new critical writing on the arts is open for submissions until 28 February