Akiva Schaffer, known for his work with The Lonely Island comedy trio, is set to direct the film. Schaffer recently helmed the "The Naked Gun" reboot and previously directed Disney's Emmy-winning hybrid film "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers". He will rework the original script by Michael Montemayor alongside writing duo Gregor & Mand. This creative team brings a comedic bent to the project, potentially reimagining the stepsisters' dynamic in a fresh, live-action context.

The news arrives amid Disney's aggressive push into live-action spin-offs and sequels from its animated catalog. Just one week prior, the studio revealed plans for a live-action "Lilo & Stitch" sequel slated for theaters in 2028. Developments around "Moana" and "Tangled" live-action projects have also surfaced recently, signaling Disney's intent to create new franchises from established IPs. "Stepsisters" is expected to follow a similar timeline, though no release date has been confirmed.

While primary details stem from Deadline's reporting, coverage has quickly spread across entertainment outlets, confirming the core elements of the announcement. MovieWeb highlighted the unusual premise of centering the "abusive" stepsisters, noting Disney's move to give these peripheral characters their own narrative arc. The DisInsider emphasized Schaffer's involvement as a reassuring factor for fans skeptical of the concept.

No official comments from Disney executives or the creative team were available in initial reports, but the project's alignment with recent announcements underscores a pattern in the studio's strategy. Regarding LGBTQ+ perspectives, searches across major outlets and LGBTQ+ media such as GLAAD, PinkNews, and The Advocate yielded no specific community responses or analyses tied to this announcement as of March 26, 2026. Disney's track record includes inclusive storytelling in recent live-action projects, such as diverse casting in "The Little Mermaid" and "Mufasa: The Lion King", but "Stepsisters" details remain too preliminary for confirmed implications.

The original 1950 animated "Cinderella" film, directed by Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi, introduced Anastasia and Drizella as comic foils to the protagonist, with their mother Lady Tremaine as the primary villain. A live-action spin-off could delve into their backstories, motivations, or redemption arcs, though plot specifics are undisclosed. Schaffer's comedy expertise suggests a humorous tone, potentially subverting traditional fairy tale tropes.

Industry observers note Disney's live-action remakes have grossed billions globally, with "The Lion King" alone earning over $1.6 billion. This spinoff could tap into that proven formula while testing audience appetite for villain-centric stories. Casting rumors and further production updates are anticipated soon, given the rapid pace of Disney's announcement cycle.

As Disney continues to mine its vault for content, "Stepsisters" represents an innovative pivot, potentially broadening the "Cinderella" universe for modern audiences. Cross-referenced reports affirm the project's legitimacy, with no conflicting details emerging.

Draper recounted learning about the divorce filing through TMZ while in Los Angeles, expressing shock that Ngatikaura acted unilaterally. "So I actually found out that he filed through TMZ... We had made an agreement to do it together and he blindsided me and filed because he wanted the headline first," she said. She emphasized their prior agreement to inform their children together first, including Ngatikaura's 13-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, before any public announcement.

Among her most serious claims, Draper alleged that Ngatikaura used escorts while in Texas for summer sales work, prior to filming Mormon Wives. She stated that a woman from an escort service contacted her with proof, including screenshots linked to Ngatikaura's phone number: "She sent me so much proof… And she sent the screenshots and it's his phone number. She wouldn't have known his phone number."

Draper further accused Ngatikaura of funding sex parties and orgies, possibly with her money, based on rumors confirmed through her sister and other reports. "I have to believe they are orgies, like sex parties. I dunno what other kind parties you would pay for," she remarked, noting she had not confronted him directly. These revelations come amid the couple's high-profile split, which has drawn attention within the MomTok online community of influencer mothers.

The Mormon Wives cast, including Draper and Ngatikaura, gained prominence through their portrayal of life within and navigating away from strict religious expectations, often touching on themes of personal autonomy and relationships. While the allegations do not directly involve LGBTQ+ identities, they highlight broader discussions on marital infidelity and non-monogamous activities in public-facing relationships, which can intersect with conversations in LGBTQ+ communities about consensual non-monogamy and relationship transparency. No specific LGBTQ+ community responses to this event were documented in available coverage at the time of reporting.

Draper also addressed ongoing MomTok dynamics, responding to recent headlines involving Taylor and Dakota, and shared her vision for the group's future. The 80-minute episode has since amassed significant views, fueling online discussions about reality TV stars' personal lives. Ngatikaura has not publicly responded to the claims as of March 26, 2026.

This story underscores the intense scrutiny faced by reality television personalities, particularly those from conservative backgrounds transitioning to more open narratives. Draper's appearance on Call Her Daddy, a podcast known for candid discussions on relationships and sexuality, amplifies these personal disclosures to a wide audience.

Jamie Lee Curtis, the 67-year-old Oscar winner for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' and star of the 'Halloween' franchise, will portray Jessica Fletcher, the sharp-witted mystery novelist and amateur detective originally played by the late Angela Lansbury.

The original 'Murder, She Wrote' series aired for 12 seasons on CBS from 1984 to 1996, following Fletcher's adventures solving crimes in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine, and spawned several TV movies.

Jason Moore, whose directing credits include the 'Pitch Perfect' musical comedies and 'Shotgun Wedding,' is attached to direct the feature.

Curtis confirmed her involvement in the project during a summer 2025 interview with Entertainment Tonight, though details on the plot or additional cast remain undisclosed across reports.

The announcement comes amid a wave of reboots and adaptations in Hollywood, with the film set to compete during the 2027 holiday season against Sony's animated feature 'Buds' on the same date and other tentpoles like 'Avengers: Secret Wars' and 'The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum' earlier in December.

While the project has generated buzz for blending Curtis's action-horror pedigree with the cozy mystery genre of the original series, no specific LGBTQ+ perspectives or community responses have been documented in initial coverage from major outlets.

Angela Lansbury, who earned multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her role as Fletcher, passed away in 2022, leaving fans nostalgic for the character's return.

Curtis, a vocal ally to LGBTQ+ causes through her public support for transgender rights and participation in pride events, brings her established advocacy to the role, though no on-the-record statements tie her involvement directly to community impacts at this stage.

The cozy mystery format of 'Murder, She Wrote' has long appealed to diverse audiences, including LGBTQ+ viewers who appreciate its clever plotting and strong female lead, but reboot details do not yet specify inclusive casting or story elements.

Industry observers note the project's potential to draw multigenerational crowds, given Curtis's broad appeal and the series' enduring popularity in syndication.

As development continues, further announcements on scriptwriters, co-stars, and production timeline are anticipated, with Universal positioning the film as a festive whodunit.

The reunion took place in London, where John described the gathering as a "brilliant birthday surprise" in a social media post shared on Instagram. John, who turned 79, posted a photo of the two smiling together at the lunch table, captioning it to express his joy at seeing his "Rocketman" once again.

Egerton, known for his Oscar-nominated performance as the openly gay singer-songwriter in Rocketman, responded warmly to the post, underscoring their close relationship forged during the film's production. The biopic, directed by Dexter Fletcher, offered an unflinching portrayal of John's life, including his struggles with addiction, his coming out as a gay man in 1976, and his marriage to David Furnish in 2005 after civil partnership in 2005. This authentic depiction earned praise from LGBTQ+ advocates for humanizing the experiences of gay men in the public eye.

John, a longstanding ally and icon for transgender people and the broader LGBTQ+ community, has used his platform to support initiatives like the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which has raised billions for HIV prevention and treatment globally. The surprise lunch, arranged discreetly for the birthday, reflects the personal bonds that extend beyond the screen, with John noting in his post how meaningful it was to reunite with Egerton amid his ongoing farewell tour and recent biographical projects.

Within LGBTQ+ circles, the event sparked positive reactions on social media, with fans celebrating the duo's friendship as a symbol of acceptance and artistic collaboration. Rocketman's success, grossing over $195 million worldwide, helped normalize queer narratives in mainstream cinema, contributing to greater visibility for gay and bisexual men. Egerton, who is straight but immersed himself in John's story, has spoken in interviews about the role's impact on his understanding of LGBTQ+ histories.

The birthday milestone comes as John, married to film producer David Furnish since 2014, continues to influence music and philanthropy. Their shared photo, showing relaxed camaraderie over lunch, went viral quickly, amassing thousands of likes and comments from fans worldwide. Community responses highlighted the reunion's heartwarming nature, with many noting how such moments affirm the lasting alliances formed through storytelling about LGBTQ+ lives.

This event, occurring just one day prior to reports on March 26, underscores John's enduring cultural presence at 79, blending personal celebration with his legacy as a gay trailblazer in music. No further details on the lunch's menu or additional attendees were disclosed, maintaining the intimate tone of the surprise. The story, confirmed across entertainment outlets, celebrates a friendship rooted in one of cinema's most pivotal queer biopics.

That original case settled last year, incorporating an NDA that twigs' attorney Mathew Rosengart now claims violates California's STAND Act, a law prohibiting NDAs that restrict survivors from disclosing sexual abuse, assault, or battery. Months after the settlement, LaBeouf's legal team issued an arbitration demand against twigs, alleging she breached the NDA by stating in an interview that she did not feel safe with him; the arbitration was later dismissed. The new complaint argues the NDA unlawfully bars twigs from discussing her experiences of sexual abuse, assault, and battery by LaBeouf.

Rosengart stated in the filing: "twigs files this action to right a wrong, and also on behalf of other women who are the victims of sexual and domestic violence who do not have the resources to speak out and defend themselves from predators." He added: "In so doing, she seeks to ensure that survivors of sexual misconduct are not bullied or silenced like she was." The lawsuit emphasizes that it seeks no monetary damages, focusing instead on "justice and law, not money," and requests a judicial declaration that the NDA provisions are illegal and unenforceable.

LaBeouf's representatives responded by arguing the NDA is lawful because the STAND Act's protections apply only to "sexual assault," not "sexual battery," a distinction the complaint calls "preposterous" and legally erroneous, noting that "assault is a precondition of battery." The filing further contends that LaBeouf has discussed twigs' trauma publicly without restriction, while attempting to prohibit her from doing the same, creating an ongoing controversy.

This development revives details from the 2020 lawsuit, where twigs described a "living nightmare" marked by isolation, verbal abuse, jealousy, and physical violence, including a Valentine's Day 2019 incident where LaBeouf allegedly choked her and threatened to crash his car. A housekeeper witnessed LaBeouf lifting twigs off the ground as she tried to leave, and former partner Karolyn Pho corroborated a pattern of abuse in a supporting declaration. LaBeouf previously told The New York Times he accepted accountability for some actions but disputed others.

While FKA twigs identifies as part of the queer community and has been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ artists in music, no specific LGBTQ+ organizations have issued on-the-record statements about this filing as of February 26, 2026. The case highlights broader implications for survivors, particularly in entertainment where NDAs have historically silenced victims of abuse, potentially affecting transgender people and others in LGBTQ+ communities facing similar barriers to speaking out. Advocacy groups like RAINN emphasize resources for sexual abuse survivors, noting the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.

The lawsuit arrives amid twigs' ongoing career, including recent efforts to address cease-and-desist letters from another act over her name, underscoring her determination to control her narrative. Legal experts view the STAND Act challenge as a test case for how California courts interpret NDA restrictions in abuse settlements, with potential ripple effects for high-profile survivors. Neither party has commented further publicly since the filing.

He never got the chance.

After giving up five runs and getting only two outs Thursday in an 11-7 loss at the New York Mets, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner got the hook from manager Don Kelly after throwing just 37 pitches. It was by far the shortest of his 56 major league starts.

“I’m not as upset about this for me, personally, as people would probably think,” Skenes said. "Because they did a really good job. It was an abnormal outing.”

The 23-year-old allowed four hits and issued two walks, including one to leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor. Skenes also hit a batter with a pitch, and Kelly wondered if the right-hander's fastball command wasn't up to his usual standards.

The five runs Skenes allowed matched his career high. The two-time All-Star also gave up five in six innings on April 8, 2025, against St. Louis.

Skenes said Kelly told him something along the lines of it's too early in the season to push it.

“He wants to stay out there and pitch,” Kelly said. "It’s a really tough thing going to get him in the first inning right there. The bottom of it is Paul’s health. You’re getting close to 40 pitches, yeah 37 pitches and Lindor had a seven-pitch at-bat that first at-bat. If he runs another 7-10, you’re into dangerous territory with the starting pitcher in one inning, so we had to make the move.”

It was not all on Skenes, who was hurt by shoddy defense from Oneil Cruz in center field.

Handed a 2-0 lead on Brandon Lowe's two-run homer, Skenes walked Lindor in the bottom of the first. Juan Soto followed with a soft single, and Bo Bichette lofted a sacrifice fly.

Jorge Polanco nubbed an infield single, and Skenes walked Luis Robert Jr. on 10 pitches. After pitching coach Bill Murphy visited the mound, Cruz misplayed Brett Baty's line drive into a bases-loaded triple, coming in a couple of steps before letting the ball sail over his head.

“(It) was one of those low line drives that it takes a little bit more time for me to read it, and they’re really tough balls to read because you don’t know if you’re going to have to come in or go back,” Cruz said through an interpreter. "It got in the sun a little bit at the end, but those are the ones that I will get better at, for sure.”

Marcus Semien then popped up to shallow center, but Cruz lost the ball in the sun and it dropped beside him for an RBI double that gave New York a 5-2 lead. Cruz is a converted shortstop who began playing center field in 2024 before becoming a full-time outfielder last year.

“That ball straight at him, he came in, got a bad read,” Kelly said. "He’s been working hard out there. He just needs to continue to get better. Then the one in the sun. He just lost it in the sun.”

Carson Benge struck out on three fastballs clocked 96-98 mph in his first big league plate appearance, but Skenes grazed No. 9 batter Francisco Alvarez with an 0-1 sinker and that was the end of his afternoon.

Mets fans roared as Skenes walked slowly off the mound toward the dugout.

“I felt good, but (we were) being precautionary,” Skenes said. "The pitch count wasn’t going to be super, super high today anyway.”

Skenes was coming off two starts for the U.S. at the World Baseball Classic. Kelly brushed off Skenes participating in that event as anything contributing to this outing.

Yohan Ramírez relieved and prevented further damage by retiring Lindor on a flyball with runners at second and third. Ramírez was the first of six Pirates relievers.

“Obviously not ideal to have a bullpen game on opening day," Skenes said.

Skenes made his second opening-day start as he begins his third major league season. He became the eighth starting pitcher since at least 1906 to allow five or more runs in less than an inning in a season opener.

“It’s nice to get it out of the way,” Skenes said. “Just flush it."

Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, was asked in a recent interview with CNBC if he's looked into the rules regarding a minority owner returning to NFL play.

“I actually have inquired, and they (the NFL) don’t like that idea very much, so I’m going to leave it at that,” Brady said. “We explored a lot of different things, and I’m very happily retired. Let me say that, too.”

It wouldn't have been Brady's first time coming out of retirement. The three-time league MVP briefly retired during the 2022 offseason after two seasons with the Buccaneers. He had a change of heart 40 days later and went on to play for one more year before retiring “for good” in February 2023.

Brady recently turned heads in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic, where he played alongside Jalen Hurts, Devonta Smith, Stefon Diggs and Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty. He also reunited on the field with his teammate of 11 seasons and four-time time Super Bowl champion Rob Gronkowski.

In 2029, the year the telecast moves from ABC to YouTube, the ceremony itself will move from its longtime home at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to downtown Los Angeles and the Peacock Theater, 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) away. The Academy announced Thursday that it has reached a 10-year agreement with AEG, which operates the L.A. Live complex where the Peacock Theater sits.

It's a surprising move, given that the Dolby was developed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences itself, expressly as a home for the Oscars. The ceremony has been held there since 2002 (with the exception of the COVID-driven downsized show at Union Station in 2021) and has provided an especially steady home for the Oscars, which have never stayed in a single venue for such a long stretch. The awards bounced between various LA hotels in its early years, before moving up to theaters in the mid-1940s.

The downtown Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, a fine arts facility that is home to the LA Opera, became heavily identified with the Oscars when it hosted the ceremony from 1968 to 1986. The ceremony then alternated between the Chandler and the Shrine Auditorium, next to the University of Southern California, until the long-term move to Hollywood.

The Dolby will continue to host the show as it airs in its final years on ABC, concluding with the 100th Academy Awards in 2028.

The Peacock Theater is next to the Crypto.com Arena, home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings. The theater has hosted the Emmy Awards nearly every year since 2008 and, in recent years, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.

The academy says in its announcement that, under its agreement, AEG will make major upgrades to the theater and its tech setup, and will “collaborate closely with the Academy to incorporate bespoke design elements needed to accommodate the Oscars ceremony.”

The Peacock Theater, previously known as the Nokia Theatre and Microsoft Theater, opened in 2007, as the then-Staples Center site expanded to become the L.A. Live entertainment complex. It hosted concerts from the Eagles and the Chicks to celebrate its opening.

The theater's capacity of about 7,000 is about twice that of the Dolby. And its plaza is bigger and more open-air than the Dolby's Ovation Hollywood complex, which has more of an enclosed shopping mall feeling. Like Hollywood, L.A. Live also has multiple hotels, essential to the logistics of the Oscars.

And there is a cinema at the site, though its Regal theaters multiplex lacks the historic patina of the TCL (formerly Grauman's) Chinese Theatre next to the Dolby on Hollywood Boulevard.

“For the 101st Oscars and beyond, the Academy looks forward to closely collaborating with AEG to make L.A. LIVE the perfect backdrop for our global celebration of cinema,” the academy's CEO Bill Kramer and its president, Lynette Howell Taylor, said in a joint statement.

Alexander Kornyev (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) is a fresh-faced prosecutor who arrives at the Soviet prison in Bryansk in 1937. This is not, you might be thinking, where anyone new to the job should be in a rush to get to. Yet before even the news of his appointment has reached this penal outpost, Alexander turns up with a note, written in blood, from a prisoner he wishes to speak with.

That this note has reached Alexander is nearly as surprising to the prison warden as Alexander’s unexpected presence in his office. The first scenes of “Two Prosecutors,” where a pile of prisoner letters all attesting to brutality and injustice are burned, only hint at how the note has made its unlikely way to the prosecutor.

This is the height of Josef Stalin’s Great Purge, when suspected dissenters and Bolsheviks were rounded up by the NKVD, the secret police, and sent to prison, to the gulag or to death. It was not exactly an opportune time for a young lawyer hardly out of college to stroll into the belly of Stalin’s bureaucratic beast and start asking questions.

Where could such an intriguing idea for a story come from? A prisoner, himself. “Two Prosecutors” is based on a novella by Georgy Demidov, a physician imprisoned for 14 years in Soviet labor camps. He wrote the book in 1969, but it wasn’t published until 2009, posthumously.

Loznitsa, a leading Ukrainian filmmaker, is also not unfamiliar with Russian state violence. The director, who has lived in Berlin since 2001, is best known for stark documentaries about his native country (including 2024’s “The Invasion” and 2014’s “Maiden”) as well as films about Stalinist Russia (2021’s “State Funeral” and 2019’s “The Trial”). The cast also includes several Russian actors, including Kuznetsov, who left their country after speaking out against Vladimir Putin’s war with Ukraine.

“Two Prosecutors,” which debuted last year in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, is Loznitsa’s first fiction film in seven years. But the sober eye he brings to nonfiction is very much at work in “Two Prosecutors,” a starkly drawn period drama of bleak absurdism.

Beyond any direct lines of connection between past and present, “Two Prosecutors” has the neatness and timelessness of a parable, one that Gogol might have written, and one that could resonate in any era where the naively courageous challenge fascism.

It’s cunningly, even sinisterly structured. In the first half of the film, we follow Alexander’s prolonged entry into the prison. It takes countless series of doors and locks to get through, and each step is watched suspiciously by stone-faced guards. He’s made to wait for hours and urged to reconsider. “Do you know where your predecessor is now?” he’s asked. Every step forward for Alexander into the totalitarian maw is potentially one step further from his own freedom.

When he does finally, stubbornly reach the prisoner, the encounter is equally foreboding. I.S. Stepniak (a tremendous Aleksandr Filippenko) is himself a former prosecutor, a Bolshevik who vividly relates his story and details Stalin’s crackdown. He isn’t seeking personal justice; he wants the truth out. His bruised body is evidence.

Alexander, knowing local officials can’t be trusted, immediately sets out to Moscow to make a report to the chief prosecutor. In the capital, he encounters just as many hallways and barriers to entry as he did in the prison; “Two Prisoners” is composed like a sinister palindrome.

Alexander’s second passage through the layers of totalitarian bureaucracy goes similarly. He manages to get a meeting with the prosecutor, Andrey Vyshinsky (Anatoliy Beliy), but we long ago knew that Alexander’s whistle blow is sure to fall on deaf ears, and he is unwittingly sealing his own fate. The walls are closing in on him.

“Two Prosecutors,” a Janus Films release in theaters, is not rated by the Motion Picture Association. In Russian and Ukrainian, with subtitles. Running time: 118 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.