Summer box office 2025: what were the big hits and misses?

The season saw Marvel and DC attempting a superhero comeback, a rush of millennial nostalgia plays and surprise theatrical hits from streamers

KPop Demon Hunters sequel talks under way between Netflix and Sony

The animated film about girl group Huntr/x has become Netflix’s most watched film of all time with 236m views and topped the North American box office at the weekend

Does James Bond have to be played by a man? Helen Mirren seems to think so

The actor says she is ‘such a feminist’ but that it doesn’t work to have a woman as the next 007. She may find that Amazon, which has taken creative control of the franchise, agrees, writes Zoe Williams

Sinéad O’Connor biopic in the works produced by company behind Slow Horses

The film about the Irish singer who died in 2023 will be directed by Josephine Decker, with involvement from Slow Horses producers See-Saw

‘I don’t touch my phone. At home, I’d be scrolling’: why young people are flocking to independent cinemas

Young people are drawn in by the promise of a ‘no-distractions’ zone, rereleases of old classics and music documentaries by global artists

‘Our director is a madman’: a century on, Gloria Swanson’s disastrous film Queen Kelly is finished

The Hollywood icon played a convent girl falling for a prince in this bizarre film directed by Erich von Stroheim. Decades after it was abandoned, Queen Kelly will now be shown at the Venice film festival

Yellowstone, Top Gun, Chalamet: what will the Paramount-Skydance merger mean for film and TV?

Controversial $8bn deal finalized this week and the future is set to look different for one of the biggest Hollywood studios

‘I couldn’t get rid of Finchy’: Ralph Ineson on The Office – and becoming a Hollywood superstar at 55

He played one of the most horrible characters in TV history, found his feet as an actor in his 40s and is now a Marvel supervillain. He discusses shame, typecasting and how he appeared in three Harry Potter films without ever saying a line

Aamir Khan: India’s movie legend on a cut-price mission to save Bollywood

The superstar actor will release his latest film on YouTube so families who cannot afford cinema trips can watch

Benedict Cumberbatch says Hollywood is a ‘grossly wasteful industry’

Speaking to Ruth Rogers, the actor took aim at the film industry’s lack of sustainability, noting he ‘could feed a family with the amount I’m eating’ when bulking up for film roles

Australian production companies may have to pay millions in alleged unpaid super after ATO ruling

Film and TV screenwriters prepare challenge after 2024 ruling they work for an employer rather than sell a product and so are due superannuation

Watch the Skies review – see the lips move in alien abduction sci-fi with pioneering AI

This nicely put together Swedish UFO throwback is notable for its early use of ‘vubbing’ – using tech to match lip movements to new English dialogue. What’s coming next?

Jurassic World Rebirth smashes predictions at box office

Encouraging figures for latest reboot starring Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali and Jonathan Bailey, albeit below previous films in the series

‘It was an earth-shattering reality right away’: director Catherine Hardwicke on life after Twilight

From her groundbreaking debut Thirteen to forthcoming teen drama Street Smart – ‘a homeless Breakfast Club’ – the film-maker explains how she’s made her way in a job still largely made for men

‘You’re stealing my identity!’: the movie voiceover artists going to war with AI

As new tech imperils the £3bn dubbing artists industry, professionals including India’s Ryan Reynolds and India’s Jon Snow explain why audiences should listen to their fears