Epic Games, the developer of the popular video game “Fortnite,” is laying off more than 1,000 employees and cutting $500 million in costs.
Chief Executive Tim Sweeney announced the cuts Tuesday morning in a message to employees. He said it has nothing to do with AI and instead pointed to what he said was a lack of “Fortnite” engagement last year.
“Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season,” said Sweeney in a statement.
The company’s flagship game was first released in 2017. Since then, it’s been a key part of internet culture — where character-specific dances became widespread trends and major musicians, like Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, have hosted concerts in the virtual realm.
But Epic has been slow to optimize the computer game for mobile play. A “Fortnite” app was first introduced in 2018, but soon removed due to a legal battle against Apple and Google over app store practices. Sweeney said the company is still in the “early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones.”
Many of Epic’s woes also come from industry-wide challenges, like “slower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics,” Sweeney wrote. And Epic isn’t the only one suffering. In recent years, gaming companies like Electronic Arts and Microsoft’s Xbox division have all cut down their workforces.
Epic Games was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. It has dozens of offices around the world, including in Los Angeles. Beyond “Fortnite,” the company is known as a leader in 3D engine technology and interactive entertainment.
Over the years, Epic Games has steadily built itself into a major Hollywood player. Its 3D creation tool, the Unreal Engine, has been used to produce visual effects and virtual worlds for shows like Walt Disney Co. and Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian” and HBO’s “Westworld.”
In 2024, Disney inked a deal with Epic Games to create a games and entertainment universe with the company’s brands, including Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar. Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games for a minority stake in the company. Newly minted Disney Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro managed the collaboration with Epic Games in his previous role as parks chief to create a Disney world within the popular “Fortnite” game.
Looking ahead, Sweeney plans to focus the company on building “awesome Fortnite experiences” with fresh content and continue to accelerate its developer tools like the Unreal Engine.
In the summer of 2025, Walt Disney Co. executives placed a big bet on a reality TV star prone to high drama: messy personal relationships and allegations of domestic violence.
Now, Disney’s ABC network could lose at least $70 million with a nearly finished season of “The Bachelorette” sitting on the shelf.
Last week, ABC yanked this season of “The Bachelorette,” which features 31-year-old Taylor Frankie Paul, just three days before the premiere episode was set to air Sunday night. Disney pulled the plug after the emergence of a three-year-old video that showed Paul — the protagonist of Hulu’s massive hit series, “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” — physically attacking her ex-partner.
Paul can be seen screaming and throwing metal chairs, one of which apparently struck one of her children who witnessed the altercation. Her onetime partner, Dakota Mortensen, recorded the video of the attack on his cellphone.
Trouble has been brewing around “The Bachelorette” for weeks as Paul was doing publicity for the show.
Draper City, Utah, police have separately confirmed an investigation into a subsequent domestic violence incident in February between Mortensen and Paul. As part of that inquiry, Paul, 31, has temporarily lost custody of the couple’s son, Ever, who turned 2 last week — the day the troubling video came out.
“Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security. After years of silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation, Taylor is finally gaining the strength to face her accuser and taking steps to ensure that she and her children are protected from any further harm,” said a spokesperson.
Representatives of Mortensen could not immediately be reached for comment. In a statement to People magazine, a representative for Mortensen said that “his number one priority here is protecting” his son, Ever.
Last month, Disney requested an investigation to sort out Paul’s and Mortensen’s differing accounts of the February incident, according to people close to the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive situation.
The scandal has become the first big test for Dana Walden, who last week was installed as Disney’s president and chief creative officer — the day before the video showing a violent Paul was leaked to TMZ.
The episode has raised uncomfortable questions about why Disney made Paul the face of one of ABC’s marquee franchises.
It also has shined a light on the decision-making of Walden’s newly anointed ABC team: Debra OConnell, the chair of Disney Entertainment Television; Disney Television Group President Craig Erwich; and Rob Mills, Disney TV’s executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment.
Disney declined to comment.
The network has not said whether it plans to eventually air Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette.”
But the network made a huge investment, paying a license fee of about $5 million an episode for the season to Warner Bros., said sources familiar with the matter. The season includes nine episodes and other programming elements, including a special that ran immediately after ABC’s Oscar telecast this month, which attracted 5.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Dakota Mortensen, left, and Taylor Frankie Paul are stars of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
(Fred Hayes / Disney)
ABC also orchestrated a huge marketing blitz — billboards for the show had sprouted around the country, social media channels were crackling and Paul appeared on ABC’s stalwart “Good Morning America,” where she discussed her role on “The Bachelorette,” where she dated nearly two dozen men in search of her soulmate.
She also acknowledged simultaneously facing domestic abuse allegations, which she called a “heavy time.”
“For me, dating as a mom of three is extremely difficult,” Paul told ABC anchor Lara Spencer. “I was like, I get to go out, get away from my toxic cycle here in Utah, go date, and also have my kids come out and visit me. That to me seemed like, why not?”
Advertisers, including Cinnabon, have also pulled back in light of the controversy.
Viewers have long been fascinated by Paul, who earned notoriety on TikTok and formed a community there called MomTok. Her combative relationships added to the intrigue.
Hulu’s “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” has been a massive hit, developing a loyal following and an alternative to the “Real Housewives” franchise on the rival network, Bravo. A clip from the show was included in a Disney video montage of movies, TV shows and other headlining attractions shown to investors last week.
Mills and other Disney executives who oversee ABC and Hulu programming had been looking for ways to reinvigorate “The Bachelor” franchise, and they had taken notice after fans latched on to a playful video that Paul had posted on TikTok, expressing her desire to join the long-running ABC show, which is produced by Warner Horizon.
Comments posted about Paul’s video were intriguing, particularly for viewers who said that they would return to watch “The Bachelorette,” if it featured her.
“I flew out to Utah and met with her and she was serious [about joining],” Mills told The Times two weeks before the controversy. “Then I sent her roses the next day and said, “Would you be ‘The Bachelorette’ and the rest is history.”
Disney recognized that Paul’s relationship with Mortensen was messy.
Disney executives were aware of the altercation in 2023 and briefly debated internally whether to move forward with Paul in a prominent role in “Mormon Wives,” according to a source close to the situation but not authorized to comment. Paul is an executive producer on that show.
The first episode of the first season of “Mormon Wives,” which debuted in September 2024, featured Utah police bodycam footage from the February 2023 fight that was the subject of the just-released video.
The final moments of the most recent season ended with Paul and Mortensen sleeping together again, the night before she was scheduled to fly to L.A. to begin filming “The Bachelorette.” She missed her initial flight, but took a later flight.
Disney also has paused filming on “Mormon Wives” during production of its fifth season.
Over the show’s four-season run, there have been tensions among the castmates, which accelerated as Paul and the other wives pursued fame in other venues, including on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
When the recent allegations of domestic violence surfaced, castmates expressed concerns about working with her, which contributed to the decision to hire an outside law firm to investigate.
The firm was hired, at Disney’s request, by the show’s production firm, Jeff Jenkins Productions, based in Sherman Oaks.
Times Staff Writer Yvonne Villarreal contributed to this report.
Spring is the season of creation, a time of renewal and new beginnings. In Los Angeles, alas, we were, last spring, a city of cinders. It was a time to mourn.
A hard year followed with floods, ICE, AI, etc., menacing our native optimism. Making matters worse, in December we lost L.A.’s grand visionary vizier, the architect who time and again built us out of civic funk and transformed L.A., inspiring the city he so loved to look good, feel good and do good.
But that is still the case. So many plans Frank Gehry imagined for L.A. still remain. Gehry bequeathed blueprints and models, sketches and concepts, for his large and devoted team of younger architects and next-generation visionaries equipped to fabricate our way out of angst.
Isn’t there supposed to be an Olympics on the way for which the city appears ill-prepared? Spring 2026 is the time to build.
A couple of springs ago, L.A. County dubbed the blocks around Gehry’s masterpiece, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Grand Avenue Cultural District. This includes the rest of the Music Center, Museum of Contemporary Art, the Broad and Colburn School. The Grand, Gehry’s resplendent complex across the street from Disney, had recently opened and ground was about to be broken for the Colburn Center, a 1,000-seat concert hall equipped to also serve dance, opera and whatever yet-to-be-invented genres Gehry designed it to enable.
The Colburn Center is well on its way to completion next year. Bits of the building’s pink skin have started to peek out like spring blossoms on the construction site at 2nd and Olive. The Broad has begun an expansion. But after two years, nothing else has been done to make this the cultural district it must become, one unlike anything else in any city.
Four springs ago I toured Grand Avenue with Gehry to gather what he had in mind for an arts district. When Disney Hall opened in 2003, it instantly became an enduring symbol of L.A., overtaking the Hollywood sign in many cases. The Dodgers want to parade joy in winning their second World Series in row last October, where else but in front of Disney? But not in front of all Gehry had in mind.
We will soon have a pair of futuristic new museum buildings to show off this year: the David Geffen Galleries, the controversial Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Peter Zumthor building (I predict it will prove a sensation), and the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (no predictions on that one) next door to the Coliseum. But the fact that each is a 15-minute ride away from the cultural district’s new Metro station only makes the district even more of a center.
A center, indeed. Gehry’s vision included completing the original plans cost-cut out of Disney a quarter-century ago, along with new modifications and much more throughout the area. Some are more costly than others. Enough could be done on Grand Avenue in time for the Olympics to make a difference if we begin this minute.
Since its opening, Disney has been — shamefully — the most poorly lit building of its stature in the world. Gehry had chosen the specific steel for its capacity to reflect light. His idea was to project on the building whatever concert was taking place that night. No sound, just imagery. Belt-tighteners didn’t want to commit the $2 or $3 million or whatever and go through the trouble.
It was spectacularly tested at the hall’s 10th anniversary, but with tacky prerecorded video and crummy amplification. Facilities are now included in the Grand for projectors. It would have been amazing in 2003 and will be amazing now. The Grand has been disappointingly slow to attract the restaurants, bars, cafes and shops it needs to create a scene. The projections could change all that and even create enough of a ruckus to get a reluctant, car-crazed city to make that Grand Avenue block pedestrian.
There is much more for Disney. Gehry wanted to turn BP Hall, where preconcert talks occur, into a small chamber music hall with a suspended balcony. He had plans for reconfiguring the seldom-used small outdoor Keck Amphitheater into an enclosed jazz club for Herbie Hancock and turning the little-used 1st Street entrance into a glass-enclosed bar that would be named the Ernest, in tribute to Ernest Fleischmann, the L.A. Phil executive director who was responsible for building Disney.
Disney was supposed to have a pit for the orchestra, allowing for staging opera and dance. The plans exist. That could be done in a summer for a couple million. Bottom-liners had also nixed Gehry’s original design for a more gracious lobby with a cafe out front, not the gloomy one installed against his will.
The Colburn Center has the potential for being another game changer for the area, a vibrant new hall where we are promised upward of 200 events a year from all walks of musical life, local and international. But Gehry had in mind even more.
He intended to lower the steep and pedestrian unfriendly 2nd Street hill, so that it would be an easy walk from the new Metro station two blocks away, and add two more pedestrian blocks by diverting traffic to the 2nd Street tunnel. This would connect the cultural district with Grand Central Market on one end and the Broad on the other. Then 2nd could itself become a lively street with the stores and restaurants a “district” needs.
A model of architect Frank Gehry’s design of an addition for Colburn School.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
The extraordinary original plans for the Colburn Center included turning the parking lot across 2nd from the hall into a public plaza with a giant video wall and high-end outdoor sound system, for projecting nightly concerts in the hall. Gehry was a devoted outdoor-indoor architect, and he designed for the hall a balcony on which musicians can perform.
That initiative has thus far been blocked by City Hall officials, fearful of the tunnel’s aging infrastructure. Although if that’s the case, I’m not all that eager to be in the tunnel as it currently is when the Big One comes along. This is where L.A. shows its moxie. Upgrade the tunnel. Now! If this were Beijing, New Delhi or Hanoi, it would be a no-brainer.
Gehry next proposed building low-cost artist housing in Grand Park directly across from the Music Center, which would further create a true arts community. There has been talk of renovating the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for three decades and that’s all it’s been. The corporate-esque recent Music Center plaza could use a little excitement, maybe a Phase II.
Arts make a city. The Edinburgh Festival in Scotland was created after World War II to help bring the city back to life. After its fire-bombing, Tokyo founded a bevy of symphony orchestras as a phenomenal experiment in mass antidepression. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony played no small role in lifting the collective mood, preparing Tokyo to create what now feels like the world’s most arresting capital.
Unlike Scotland, unlike England, unlike Germany, unlike France, unlike Italy, unlike Poland, unlike Russia, unlike Finland, unlike the Czech Republic, unlike China, unlike any number of countries, America has no major international arts festival these days. We had one in L.A. in 1984 with the Olympic Arts Festival. The Cultural Olympiad in 2028 has shown no bones. But if we make the cultural district what it could be, there would be no better place anywhere for a major festival.
We have the goods. L.A. artists helped make the modern Salzburg Festival the meaningful model for all others. In 1992, the summer before Esa-Pekka Salonen became music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he and the orchestra were invited to shake up clinging Austrian tradition. With the help of director Peter Sellars, they staged Messiaen’s epic opera “Saint François d’Assise,” with pyramids of televisions, resulting in music and monitors upending, in Mozart’s hometown, the role of the modern opera and, so to speak, the sound of music.
Over succeeding decades, both Sellars and Salonen have been Salzburg Festival lodestars. Last summer they were back staging two monodramas, Schoenberg’s “Erwartung” and “Abschied” (the last movement of Mahler’s symphonic song cycle “Das Lied von der Erde”). Conductor and director looked with shocking depth into the “Expectation” of death and gave a “Farewell” to the “Song of the Earth” we all await. I saw it twice and can’t imagine how anyone came away from it quite the same person, not more alive, not more fragile. Art on the stage doesn’t get deeper than “One Morning Turns Into an Eternity,” as Sellars named the production. Salonen, who conducted the production with Vienna Philharmonic, is now about to become the L.A. Phil creative director in the fall and will bring the production to Disney with the L.A. Phil next season. It is thus far the most important opera news of next season in America. All the more reason to build that pit in the hall and get started on much bigger plans.
Salzburg, which manages to come up with around $80 million from here and there, also helped with the question I’ve evaded: Who’s going to pay for all this? I’ve evaded it because it’s the wrong question. Money only started pouring into the building of Disney Hall when people got wind of what it was going to become. Five years ago, Crypto.com paid more than $700 million to change the name of Staples Center. That amount, which created nothing but an advertisement for a product of dubious value to society, is the price of two Walt Disney Concert Halls and probably all of Gehry’s projects put together. It is the amount that could fund nearly nine Salzburg-scale festivals.
If we let ourselves believe that L.A. wealth only cares for mega-crypto advertising, mega-mansions and mega-yachts, then L.A. is over. It isn’t. Do we want to show only that to the world? Downtown, and prominently Crypto.com Arena in L.A. Live, have been designated a center for LA28, as we’re calling the Olympics. That makes a graciously glorifying cultural district, which functions as creation being existential not commercial, just up the road from L.A. Live, L.A. live.
When one morning turns into an eternity, you don’t ask for the bill.
A channel spokesperson said: “We have made the decision to not move forward with the new season.”
22:46, 19 Mar 2026Updated 23:31, 19 Mar 2026
Taylor Frankie Paul was due to star in the new series of The Bachelorette(Image: Disney via Getty Images)
The new series of reality TV dating show The Bachelorette has been cancelled following domestic violence allegations against one of its stars. A video of Taylor Frankie Paul appearing to assault her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen had been published by TMZ.
Taylor was announced as the star of the latest series of the show, which is a spin-off from The Bachelor and sees a woman choosing a husband from a large pool of romantic interests. It had been a huge success for US network ABC and Paul was due to be central to its 22nd series.
However, a spokesperson for ABC owner Disney said today it would be pulling the show, which has already been filmed and was due to air on TV in a matter of days.
It said: “In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family.”
TMZ obtained a video of a 2023 incident with Taylor and her ex, Dakota, where she was arrested for and charged with assault, criminal mischief, and domestic violence in the presence of a child. In the video Dakota can be heard saying: “This is called physical abuse.”
Police bodycam footage of Taylor’s arrest in the 2023 incident was played on the first episode of Hulu’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
A spokesperson for Paul issued a statement to People in response to the video. It said: “It’s sad to see the latest installment of his never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child.
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“Releasing an old video, which conveniently omits context, on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior. Thankfully, the public has seen this act before and knows who he is and sadly, many will recognize this pattern of manipulation, both in his actions on the show, and from their own experiences.”
Paul also confirmed that the next series of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which first aired in 2024, has paused production for its fifth season. Her co-star, Mikayla Matthews said: “It was a decision that all of us girls came up with. We didn’t feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening.”
Paul rose to fame on social media as part of a group of young mothers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who made dance videos and parenting content in Utah.
It has been reported that Salt Lake County District Court records show Mortensen today filed for a protective order against Paul via his attorney, but that the filing was sent back for a correction and an amended petition.
“The best way I can describe it is, it’s an addiction,” says Taylor Frankie Paul.
The star of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is seated by a window in an empty Starbucks within a downtown Salt Lake City hotel, reflecting on her relationship troubles in an interview Feb. 19. Followers of Paul’s screen life are all too familiar with the drama. Now, others can’t escape knowing about it too.
Days later, a dispute with her on-again, off-again partner would lead to an investigation by police that surfaced in multiple news reports this week, and on Thursday, the release of a video recording of a separate dispute in 2023 would lead to a pause on “The Bachelorette,” her latest starring role on reality TV, three days before it was set to premiere.
Her brush with fame began with #Momtok, as the self-proclaimed founder of the Utah-based group of Mormon moms that spawned the so-called corner of TikTok where they shared choreographed dance videos and light lifestyle content. But in 2022, she rose to notoriety after revealing in a TikTok Live session details about an arrangement she had with her then-husband Tate Paul to pursue intimate relations with other consenting couples (without having extramarital sex); she confessed to violating their agreement by having an emotional affair. The salacious revelation, which became known as the “soft-swinging” scandal, lit up social media and, eventually, led to the creation of Hulu’s breakout hit “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” Much of Paul’s story across the show’s four seasons has revolved around her rocky relationship with Dakota Mortensen, the man she began dating following her divorce.
Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul in a scene from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” The pair share a 2-year-old son.
(Fred Hayes / Disney)
Even as the show documented the lead-up to Paul becoming the new face of “The Bachelorette,” her biggest screen opportunity yet, the pair’s on-again, off-again dynamic remained as turbulent and confusing as ever, down to the “Mormon Wives” season’s final minutes. A despondent Paul nearly upended the start of production on ABC’S dating series when she missed her flight to Los Angeles after sleeping with Mortensen, who is the father of her youngest son, Ever, the night prior. (She took a later one.)
“I was just still stuck in the cycle,” she says, noting she hasn’t watched the “Mormon Wives” finale. “That’s why I knew I had to leave [to do ‘The Bachelorette’], if that makes sense … I can’t help people understand it because my own brain doesn’t understand it. The only thing I can relate it to is, it is a drug; the toxicity is a drug. It’s always a mind game and I fall for it every time, and I cave and it’s just so dumb. I get exhausted saying it to people because I’m like, ‘I don’t blame you guys. I’m mad at me.’”
The hook of a 31-year-old mother of three trying to find love — who unapologetically wears her troubles on her sleeve — was supposed to be what made her a desirable candidate for the latest crossover experiment to hit Disney’s reality TV universe. But in the week leading up to Sunday’s Season 22 premiere of “The Bachelorette,” reports surfaced detailing allegations of domestic violence involving Paul and Mortensen. Utah’s Draper City Police Department confirmed there is an open investigation involving the pair; a spokesperson for the department declined to share more details amid the ongoing investigation. But according to a person familiar with the situation, allegations were made by both parties involving incidents on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25, less than a week after our interview. No charges have been filed in the case.
Taylor Frankie Paul in a promotional still from ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” now on pause.
(Sami Drasin / Disney)
Paul was previously arrested and charged in 2023 for a separate dispute involving Mortensen, eventually pleading guilty to one count of aggravated assault; other charges were dropped. Part of that incident was documented in the first season of “Mormon Wives.” On Thursday, TMZ published a video of the incident, leading Disney Entertainment Television to hit pause on the planned premiere of “The Bachelorette.” “In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” the statement from Disney read. Whether the season will be released at a later time or be re-edited remains to be seen, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security,” read a portion of a statement provided by a representative for Paul. The statement went on to say Paul suffered “extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation.”
While Season 5 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” began production in January, cameras were not following Paul during the time of the recent incidents; Paul was focused on publicity commitments for “The Bachelorette.” Hulu and ABC declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. Mortensen could not be reached for comment. Production on “Mormon Wives” is currently on pause and a decision on Paul’s status as a cast member has not been made, according to a person briefed on the situation.
Paul’s chaotic reality now casts a shadow on both shows. The programming experiment aimed at expanding and blending the audiences of ABC’s veteran dating series and Hulu’s budding answer to the “Real Housewives” franchise now becomes an example of too much of a good thing — in this case, overextending a breakout hit early in its run — and how it can backfire. And it puts a spotlight on the discourse surrounding vetting failures and oversights in reality TV, as well as the compulsion or limits by viewers to rubberneck, particularly by savvy viewers of a genre that thrives on sordid personal drama.
How the ‘Mormon Wives’ crossover took shape
At a time when the traditional television landscape faces steep challenges, accelerated by a radical shift in viewing habits spurred by streaming and social media, Disney has been blurring the lines between its linear and streaming properties — ABC and Hulu — to maximize the reach of its unscripted assets. “Mormon Wives,” which has released four seasons in less than two years, has become a key player in that effort. Earlier this year, two of its cast members, Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt, competed against each other on “Dancing With the Stars.” And Paul’s casting as “The Bachelorette” makes her the first heroine who was not a contestant on a previous season of “The Bachelor.”
Prior to the reports about Paul, The Times spoke to Robert Mills, who leads Walt Disney Television Alternative, as well as show producers, about collaboration efforts within the company’s broadcasting universe as a way to expand and reward viewer curiosity.
Mills, a veteran ABC unscripted executive, said it was a way the company can distinguish itself from its competitors, particularly as it seeks to build Hulu’s unscripted slate against streaming rivals with deeper benches. And the possibilities on how to apply it to “Mormon Wives” began the summer ahead of its launch. As “Dancing With the Stars” producers were in the final stretch of casting the show’s 33rd season, Mills says there was talk of having one of the women be a contestant on the competition that fall, to coincide with the new show’s arrival.
“I do remember saying, ‘If it’s not this season, I know we’re going to have somebody next season because you can just feel this,” he says, referring to the energy surrounding “Mormon Wives.” “When the show took off, then it became, ‘OK, now we know we’re doing it.’”
And while having a cast member compete on “Dancing With the Stars” may, on its own, create a curiosity factor for audiences of both shows, the added layer of having the journey play out on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” had the potential to heighten the story and viewing experience. And why not have two “Mormon Wives” cast members in the same season to see how their competitiveness plays out? So they did.
Dancer Jan Ravnik with partner Jennifer Affleck on “Dancing With the Stars.” (Eric McCandless/Disney)
Mark Ballas and Whitney Leavitt, who reached the semi-finals on the dancing competition series. (Eric McCandless/Disney)
The casting process for “DWTS” was documented in the third season of “Mormon Wives,” with Affleck and Leavitt pitching themselves to ABC executives. And their journey on the competition, including moving their families to Los Angeles and their eventual falling out, is featured in Season 4.
Corporate synergy within the Disney portfolio is nothing new, particularly on “Dancing With the Stars.” Disney Night is a recurring themed episode on the competition show, with contestants dancing to Disney, Pixar and Marvel tunes. And the series has featured stars from “Bachelor” nation before. But navigating the ins and outs of stories that intertwine without overstepping has required nimbleness.
“We basically carved out times where they [the ‘Mormon Wives’ crew] could film rehearsals and we always had a producer present just in case something happened that was dramatically important for our show,” says Conrad Green, the showrunner of “Dancing With the Stars.” “It’s like a gentleman’s agreement — we’re borrowing talent off another show so we have to work together and it works for everyone’s benefit.”
Stretching out a successful series typically leads to spin-offs — and yes, Mills says, those conversations are happening with “Mormon Wives” — at least at the time of the interview. In the meantime, the crossover strategy has become its key feature. Its third season featured the fallout from an explosive crossover with Hulu’s “Vanderpump Villa,” which follows Lisa Vanderpump, a former Bravo star, and her staff at various luxury European estates. MomTok stars Demi Engemann and Jessi Ngatikaura were guests on that show’s second season and got embroiled in drama with staff member Marciano Brunette, who alleges he had intimate connections with both women. The recent fourth season of “Mormon Wives” revisits the crossover, with some of the women’s spouses partaking in their own “Villa” getaway that fuels more drama.
Layla Taylor, left, Jessie Ngatikaura, Mikayla Matthews and Demi Engemann of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” at the castle in “Vanderpump Villa.”
(Andrea Miconi / Disney)
Paul’s casting in “The Bachelor” universe continues the long-running franchise’s efforts to revamp as it ages, to mixed results. In 2021, the franchise cast its first Black male lead; last year, it entered the senior citizen dating space with spin-off “Golden Bachelor.”
After Paul posted a TikTok in June 2025 jokingly announcing her “bid” as a single mother looking for love, members of the company’s publicity department took notice and, before long, discussions began. When the idea to bring on a star outside the franchise was presented to”The Bachelorette” showrunner Scott Teti, he did some homework.
“Of course, I had heard of her — it’s hard not to hear of that name,” he says. “But I had to familiarize myself with it because I hadn’t watched her show. Instantly, you realize how honest and truthful she is, almost to a fault. Although she’s unrelatable in a lot of ways, with the attention she gets from media and social media … she has a layered story that I think is very relatable to a lot of people — being a single mother and not having success in past relationships and still really wanting to find love.”
He adds that though she was a “fish out of water” the first night, she found her way. “She made herself vulnerable and she finally let her walls down and made herself open to being in a relationship, finding someone,” he says. “At the same time, because she is used to doing things her own way, and not really caring what anybody thinks, that is what made it interesting. That is why this season is so big, and there are so many pivotal points in the season that will leave you on the edge of your seat.”
At least that was the plan.
Dressed in beige lounge pants and an oversize T-shirt adorned with mushrooms when we meet, Paul is affable despite her sluggish demeanor as she navigates the schedule demands in this window between “Mormon Wives” Season 4 and her debut as “The Bachelorette.” She pulls out her phone to share a series of TikTok videos that capture what she says is her current mental state — one features a man sarcastically talking about how he’d rather be petty than regulate his emotions. No stranger to finding a wide audience with viral videos, Paul sees the crossovers as “genius marketing.” But also acknowledged their potential challenges to #MomTok.
“I think it’s really cool to see all the different opportunities you can venture off into,” she says. “I think the con of that, with #MomTok, is that with all the opportunities, it kind of spreads us apart. We’re doing our own thing. It could break friendships. You’re getting envious. You get competitive.”
As the cast’s fame and opportunities grow, whether across Disney or outside of it — Leavitt, for example, is starring as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” on Broadway — the way to keep the series interesting is to incorporate all those moments into the show rather than pretend they live outside of it.
“We have not shied away from breaking the fourth wall,” says “Mormon Wives” showrunner Andrea Metz. “We have not shied away from talking about what is really happening with them. And I think that people like that. The trajectory of their fame and their stars rising has been very quick, but it’s also been really exciting.”
And the highs and lows are in full view, as this week proves.
Was she ready for ‘The Bachelorette’?
How all this might impact #MomTok — the power of their clique to withstand the various in-fighting and drama has become a perennial concern each season — is already playing out in the headlines.
Before recent allegations against Paul threatened the outcome of “The Bachelorette,” Paul’s entanglement with Mortensen had already cast doubt for some viewers of both franchises about whether she went into the dating series with any seriousness. The break between wrapping “Mormon Wives” and starting filming on “The Bachelorette” was one day. Paul admits she isn’t sure she was ready for the experience.
“I might not have been ready, but ready is a decision — just do it,” she says. “It was like a rehab, almost. It’s full detox. I had no contact — in no world does it happen with the co-parent. Whether or not I was ready, it was what was so needed for me, at the very least to just get away from it. And I wanted to find someone and love.”
“‘The Bachelorette’ is one of the hardest things I ever did,” she continues, “but also the most amazing things I ever did. I have my kids back home. I’m not just here looking for me. The emotional exhaustion was a lot. I’m dating 20-something guys. I am putting my all into one conversation after the other, every single day, all day. Your brain is just kind of fried.”
Then she considers a question that didn’t feel as prescient then: Does she feel like it broke the cycle she’s had with Mortensen?
“Yeah, I feel like it helped,” she says. “Obviously things — [we’re] within the process of the show, I can’t speak on it yet. But you’ll see it all unravel.”
DISNEY is launching another cruise ship next year – with some first time princess appearances.
In 2027, Disney Cruise Line will be launching its ninth ship called the Disney Believe.
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Disney Cruise Line is launching a new ship next year called Disney BelieveCredit: Disney Cruise Line
The ship will be the fourth ship in the Wish class, joining Disney Wish, Disney Treasure and Disney Destiny.
It will be themed on “dreamers and doers who dare to pursue their own happily ever after”.
On board, stories that will be featured will be from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.
Each Wish class ship features its own theme, for example Disney Wish is enchantment-themed, Disney Treasure is adventure-themed and the Disney Destiny is heroes and villains-themed.
Disney Believe will be ‘promise and possibilities-themed’.
Disney Cruise Line stated: “Onboard the Disney Believe, powerful tales of characters who believe in themselves and their dreams will come to life in exciting new ways.
“From the mystical worlds of Encanto and Frozen, to the wishing wells of Snow White, to the depths of the sea with Moana and The Little Mermaid, there are endless stories waiting to be discovered and new chapters ready to unfold onboard.”
These characters already feature onboard some of the Wish class ships, with an Arendelle dining experience onboard the Disney Wish.
However, Snow White currently does not feature prominently on any of the current Wish class ships.
The Disney Believe is expected to launch in late 2027.
Disney also announced last month that the Disney Wish ship will be coming to the UK next year.
The ship will sail from Southampton on three to seven-night European sailings.
Entering through the Grand Hall, passengers will meet famous Disney princes and princesses.
Inside each stateroom, passengers will find spacious wardrobes, sprawling beds and a theme specific to a Disney character.
Disney Believe will be promise and possibilities-themedCredit: Disney Cruise
When it comes to food on board the ship, guests won’t be short for choice, with market-style buffet options and immersive dining adventures, such as Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure.
As for other entertainment, passengers can head to West-End style shows including Disney Seas the Adventure, where passengers follow Goofy on a journey sailing the ship.
For a thrilling adventure, head on the Disney AquaMouse ride, which features lighting, special effects and scenes of Mickey and Minnie on different adventures.
And the ultimate night for the whole family is Pirates’ Night, where Captain Jack Sparrow takes a fateful leap from the ship’s funnel.
Parents wanting some time to themselves can check their kids into either the full-service nursery or kids and teens clubs before exploring the ship’s adult-only spaces such as the Senses Spa & Salon.
The cheapest sailing is a three-night Belgium cruise from Southampton, sailing to Zeebrugge (Bruges) in Belgium costing from £1,633 for two people.
In other cruise news, here’s the ultimate family cruise – it has a water roller coaster, a private island and an onboard beach club.
Walt Disney Co. installed Josh D’Amaro as chief executive Wednesday, beginning a new chapter for the storied Burbank entertainment giant.
Bob Iger passed the reins during Disney’s virtual annual meeting of shareholders, completing the company’s high-stakes and tightly choreographed changing of the guard. After spending two decades molding Disney into a media colossus, Iger segued into a senior advisory role, which will run through December when he officially retires.
The leadership shift comes amid an upheaval in Hollywood as traditional companies wage a desperate battle for survival.
D’Amaro, in his first address to shareholders, pointed to Disney’s signature storytelling as its competitive edge.
“While others in our industry are consolidating just to compete, or struggling to be relevant in a fragmented and disrupted world, Disney is in a category of one,” D’Amaro said during a video segment at the meeting. “This next chapter will be driven by staying focused on world-class creativity, enhanced by technology, bringing unforgettable stories to audiences wherever they are.”
D’Amaro, 55, becomes the ninth leader in Disney’s 102-year history. He was selected last month by Disney board members after a two-year internal bake-off among high-ranking division leaders. Board members were impressed with his business acumen, charisma and his deep love for Disney and its fabled history.
D’Amaro inherits a company that is beloved by millions. It generates $94 billion a year in revenue and employs 230,000 people.
He faces enormous challenges as he steers the ship through a turbulent media environment and tense geopolitics. The war in Iran prompted a sharp increase in fuel costs, which could become a drag on Disney’s critically important tourism business. Executives already have signaled “headwinds” in international visitation at its U.S. theme parks this year.
Lingering Middle East tensions also could weigh on Disney’s plans for a new Persian Gulf waterfront theme park and resort near Abu Dhabi.
D’Amaro, who served as parks and experiences chief until Wednesday, got his corporate start at Disneyland 28 years ago.
“Like so many of you, my connection to Disney goes back to my childhood, long before I began my career here,” D’Amaro told shareholders. “I grew up in a Disney family. We watched ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’ on Sunday nights. I was 10 years old when my family visited Disneyland for the first time. … Disney has always been a place of imagination, innovation and infinite potential.”
Disney previously announced a $60-billion, 10-year expansion program, which D’Amaro has led. But executives must strike a balance by keeping attractions true to their nostalgic core. In Anaheim, the expansion could result in at least $1.9 billion of development.
Disney also must continue to grow its animation business and manage revenue declines from its traditional linear television channels, including ESPN and ABC. It needs to turbocharge its streaming services with compelling movies and TV shows to remain competitive with Netflix and other leaders in the field.
Disney teased upcoming fan favorites, including the May release of Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu,” a “Bluey” feature film (the kids show featuring an animated puppy, a blue heeler) and a sequel to a “Lilo & Stitch” film for 2028.
Streaming is key to Disney’s future, D’Amaro said.
“Disney+ will continue to evolve beyond a traditional streaming service to become the digital centerpiece of our company,” D’Amaro said, calling the service “a portal that connects our stories, experiences, games, films, and more in entirely new ways.”
The company plans to unify Disney+ and Hulu later this year.
Disney also must continue to incorporate technology while safeguarding its characters and franchises.
“We will continue to develop and embrace new technologies to empower our storytellers — but never at the expense of our characters and worlds, our creative partners, or the trust people place in us,” D’Amaro said. “Because Disney at its core is a company that celebrates human creativity.”
Wednesday also marked a reorganization of the company, configured by Iger, D’Amaro and Disney’s board.
Board members recognized that D’Amaro, who has spent most of his career in the parks division, lacks deep connections among Hollywood’s writers and producers. They elevated longtime television executive Dana Walden, who had been vying for the top job, to the newly formed role of chief creative officer and the company’s first woman president.
ESPN will continue to be managed by Jimmy Pitaro and Disney Entertainment, Studios chairman Alan Bergman will remain in his influential role overseeing film studios including production, marketing and distribution, and sharing oversight for streaming programming with Walden.
D’Amaro’s total compensation package is valued at about $40 million a year, including a $2-million annual base salary, $26.2 million in annual long-term stock incentives, a cash bonus and a one-time promotion award of $9.7 million.
“Josh is a wonderful choice to lead the Walt Disney Co.,” Iger said in a pre-recorded video. “He has passion for our businesses and brands, respect for our people, and he appreciates what makes this company so unique.”
Iger is wrapping up an unprecedented 52-year career at ABC and Disney.
He first stepped into the CEO role in 2005; his first 15 years were almost magical.
Iger led acquisitions of Pixar Animation, Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm, the studio behind “Star Wars,” that turned Disney into a blockbuster machine. Sports king ESPN spawned staggering profits, and Disney’s theme parks set industry standards.
Disney’s former Chief Executive Bob Iger will stay on through the end of the year as a senior advisor.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
His decision to buy much of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, a $71-billion deal that closed in 2019, boosted Disney’s television production, refreshed its TV executive bench, and provided a controlling stake in general entertainment streaming service Hulu. The acquisition also gave Disney access to fan-favorite franchises, including “Deadpool,” “The Simpsons,” and James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
But the purchase left Disney saddled with debt just as the COVID-19 pandemic prompted production shutdowns and closures at theme parks and sports venues. It would take several years for Disney to recover.
Iger initially passed the CEO baton to Bob Chapek in February 2020. Iger, then chairman, retired the following year but came back in November 2022 to a mess. At the time, the company was losing billions of dollars on its shift to streaming but that unit is now profitable.
Iger spent the next three years focusing on four business pillars, including improving the quality and profitability of its film studios.
During the last two years, Disney has produced five franchise films that racked up more than $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales, including “Inside Out 2,” “Zootopia 2,” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”
The company is banking this year on several other films with blockbuster potential, including Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” “Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu” and Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Doomsday.”
“I would want to be known as someone who was given the keys to this kingdom and brought it to a place that even Walt would be proud of — more storytelling, more innovation, more risk‑taking, and more creation of happiness,” Iger said during a “The Rest is History” podcast last year.
During the meeting, Iger appeared in a prerecorded video that celebrated his numerous career highlights. Shown were clips from his cub years when Iger was a newscaster with bushy black hair. His journey was depicted, including his orchestration of multi-billion-dollar acquisitions that strengthened Disney with more characters and franchises.
Iger, 75 and now gray, ended by thanking shareholders “for the trust you placed in me, for the memories we created together, and for allowing me the honor of serving,” he said. “It has meant more to me than I can say.”
Animated pixie dust twinkled on the screen, courtesy of the fairy, Tinker Bell.
“Bob, on behalf of our employees, cast members, shareholders, and fans around the world, thank you so much for your tremendous leadership, your steadfast support, and your countless contributions to The Walt Disney Co.,” D’Amaro said, as the hand-off was complete.
“You’ve set an incredible example for all of us. … You will be missed,” D’Amaro said.
There was little fanfare during the business portion of the investor meeting.
The company’s slate of board directors were elected with 93% of the vote. Shareholders also approved executive compensation packages with about 85% of votes.
Shareholder-led proposals to compel reports on charities eligible for Disney’s gift-matching program, a review of the company’s accessibility practices in its theme parks for disabled guests, and a push for cumulative voting at future meetings all failed to muster support.
Disney shares closed at $99.41, down roughly 1% on the day.
Disney has a new captain, and his eyes are on the stars.
Taking over the reins from Bob Iger on Wednesday, new chief executive Josh D’Amaro signaled a bold shift for the entertainment giant: a future where emotional storytelling remains the “North Star,” but cutting-edge technology provides the fuel.
From ESPN to the Magic Kingdom, D’Amaro said in his first letter to employees as the top boss that his mission is to turn a century of nostalgia into a more personal, high-tech reality for fans worldwide.
“Used thoughtfully, it can empower our storytellers, strengthen our capabilities, and help us create more immersive, interactive and personal ways for people to experience Disney,” he wrote in the Wednesday morning note.
D’Amaro also said he wants the sprawling company, which includes film and TV studios, a tourism division, streaming services and live sports programming, to operate as “one Disney,” saying the global businesses all play a role in deepening consumers’ relationship with the Mouse House.
That connection people have with Disney’s brand is key to the company’s future. Consumers have more film, TV and experiences to choose from than ever, meaning Disney needs to distinguish itself among competitors.
To do that, D’Amaro plans to focus on the emotions consumers feel when they encounter Disney. As an example, he reminisced about his own first visit to Disneyland more than 40 years ago.
He recalled the joy on his father’s face as the two rode Peter Pan’s Flight together. And when they soared over the miniature version of London on the ride, he remembered his father leaning in and saying, “See, I told you. It feels like we’re flying!”
“That feeling of flying I had on Peter Pan all those years ago is still real to me,” he wrote in the Wednesday morning note. “And today, I am honored to move forward with all of you — with ambition, optimism, and absolute confidence in what we can build together.”
That new era also included a goodbye to Bob Iger, who handed over the reins Wednesday and now moves into a senior advisory role for the rest of the year before his planned retirement.
The company paid tribute to Iger in a video during Disney’s annual shareholders meeting Wednesday morning.
With clips from his earliest public appearances as Disney’s CEO, a highlight reel of the acquisitions the company made under his tenure and even a nod to his previous career behind the anchor desk, the video highlighted Iger’s legacy at the company and the role he played in bulking up Disney’s franchises, global theme parks, sports and streaming platforms.
When asked in the video about where he’ll go from here, Iger laughed and replied, “To Disneyland.”
In a pre-recorded speech, Iger said his time at Disney has spanned much of his life and that he never expected to become CEO of the company — much less twice.
“Over the years, we experienced extraordinary change and faced real challenges that were particularly profound in the last three years,” Iger said. “It was daunting at times, but through it all, what sustained me was the passion I saw every day from great storytellers, innovators, leaders and people around the world.”
In his parting remarks during that speech, he expressed confidence in the new leadership team of D’Amaro and Dana Walden, who is now president and chief creative officer of the company.
“I will be cheering on Josh, Dana and all of you as I sail off into the sunset,” he said. “So thank you for the trust you placed in me, for the memories we created together, and for allowing me the honor of serving. It has meant more to me than I can say.”
Walt Disney Co.’s incoming president and chief creative officer, Dana Walden, has unveiled her leadership team, which includes several familiar faces from the company’s film, television and marketing units.
Walden will become Disney’s first woman president on Wednesday. She will report to Josh D’Amaro,who will succeed Bob Iger as Disney’s chief executive, following the company’s annual meeting with shareholders and its high-profile leadership handoff.
Walden’s senior team includes her longtime creative partner, Alan Bergman. As chairman of Disney Entertainment and Studios, Bergman will continue to oversee Disney’s film studios, including production, marketing and distribution.
Bergman also will retain oversight of Disney’s streaming programming in concert with Walden.
Disney executives Joe Earley and Adam Smith were named co-presidents of Disney’s entertainment direct to consumer offerings — Disney+ and Hulu. Both executives will be responsible for strategy and financial performance and report to Walden and Bergman.
Earley and Walden worked together when they were Fox executives; Earley will also serve as head of content strategy.
Smith continues in his role as Disney Entertainment chief product and technology officer. He also will continue to collaborate with ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro on matters related to ESPN and ESPN+.
Debra OConnell will step into a newly-formed role as chairman of Disney Entertainment Television.
She will have a broad TV portfolio that includes ABC Entertainment, Disney-branded cable channels, Hulu Originals as well as programming from National Geographic, 20th Television and 20th Television Animation.
OConnell will continue to oversee ABC News and the ABC-owned television stations, including KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles.
Disney’s incoming president Dana Walden has established her senior leadership team.
(Richard Shotwell/Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Sean Shoptaw, who serves as executive vice president for games and digital entertainment, and his organization, will shift from Disney Experiences and into Walden’s division.
Shoptaw oversees Disney’s games business and its collaboration with Epic Games to develop a Disney universe connected to Fortnite.
John Landgraf remains chairman of FX and will continue to report directly to Walden.
Asad Ayaz, who is chief marketing and brand officer, has an influential remit across Disney’s various business segments. He will report to D’Amaro and Walden.
“The strength of Disney has always been the emotional connection between our stories and the people who love them,” Walden said in a statement. “As fans engage with Disney across more formats and platforms than ever before, we are bringing together the full power of our creative businesses to build an even more connected experience for audiences.”
If April is the cruelest month, per T.S. Eliot, the Oscars surely must be the cruelest (and longest) season. Other awards shows push their way into the queue for moments of borrowed red carpet glory, but the Academy Awards are what the buildup is all about and the one people remember.
Thankfully, the countdown can now be measured in hours and minutes rather than months, with the 98th Academy Awards slated to start Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. Conan O’Brien is back to host the awards for the second straight year.
The 2026 Oscars will air on ABC, and those with cable subscriptions can also watch the show by logging in to the ABC app or abc.com. The telecast will stream live on Hulu, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. Internationally, the ceremony will be broadcast in more than 200 territories.
Beginning in 2029, the show will stream exclusively on YouTube.
Follow along live as we wait to hear the words “And the Oscar goes to … ”
Actress in a supporting role Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value” Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value” Amy Madigan, “Weapons” Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners” Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”
Actor in a supporting role Benicio del Toro, “One Battle After Another” Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein” Delroy Lindo, “Sinners” Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another” Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value”
Adapted screenplay “Bugonia,” Will Tracy “Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro “Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell “One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson “Train Dreams,” Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
Original screenplay “Blue Moon,” Robert Kaplow “It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi “Marty Supreme,” Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein “Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler
Documentary short “All the Empty Rooms” “Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” “Children No More: ‘Were and Are Gone’” “The Devil Is Busy” “Perfectly a Strangeness”
Animated short “Butterfly” “Forevergreen” “The Girl Who Cried Pearls” “Retirement Plan” “The Three Sisters”
Cinematography “Frankenstein,” Dan Laustsen “Marty Supreme,” Darius Khondji “One Battle After Another,” Michael Bauman “Sinners,” Autumn Durald Arkapaw “Train Dreams,” Adolpho Veloso
Costume design “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Deborah L. Scott “Frankenstein,” Kate Hawley “Hamnet,” Malgosia Turzanska “Marty Supreme,” Miyako Bellizzi “Sinners,” Ruth E. Carter
Film editing “F1,” Stephen Mirrione “Marty Supreme,” Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie “One Battle After Another,” Andy Jurgensen “Sentimental Value,” Olivier Bugge Coutté “Sinners,” Michael P. Shawver
Live-action short “Butcher’s Stain” “A Friend of Dorothy” “Jane Austen’s Period Drama” “The Singers” “Two People Exchanging Saliva”
Makeup and hairstyling “Frankenstein,” Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey “Kokuho,” Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu “Sinners,” Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry “The Smashing Machine,” Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein “The Ugly Stepsister,” Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg
Original score “Bugonia,” Jerskin Fendrix “Frankenstein,” Alexandre Desplat “Hamnet,” Max Richter “One Battle After Another,” Jonny Greenwood “Sinners,” Ludwig Göransson
Original song “Dear Me” from “Diane Warren: Relentless” “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters” “I Lied to You” from “Sinners” “Sweet Dreams of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” “Train Dreams” from “Train Dreams”
Production design “Frankenstein” “Hamnet” “Marty Supreme” “One Battle After Another” “Sinners”
Sound “F1” “Frankenstein” “One Battle After Another” “Sinners” “Sirāt”
There’s a hidden door in Downtown Disney. Only this one isn’t meant to be walked through.
Flanking a stage near the monorail station, you’ll find a glistening white tower, the work of artist and activist Nikkolas Smith, who has adopted the term “artivist.” At first glance, the tower — one of Downtown Disney’s most striking works — appears to be a nod to Disneyland’s Midcentury art, for its curved lines and space-age optimism wouldn’t be out of place in Tomorrowland.
That’s there, says Smith, but there are also a number of more subtle inspirations.
The tower is a nod to five Black architects, trailblazers whose creations sometimes went unnoticed or overlooked. And that’s why at the base of the structure is a looping opening meant to signify a half-open doorway.
Downtown Disney’s Legacy Tower touches on the styles of different Black architects as it rises into the sky.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
Smith shares a distressing anecdote. “They had to learn how to read drawings upside down, because they weren’t allowed to sit next to the white clients,” Smith says, adding they also had to endure unequal pay. “So I was incorporating things like the half doorway to symbolize their struggle.”
Officially designated as the Legacy Tower, Smith himself fixates on that word — “legacy.” The term, he says, represents a thematic constant across his work. A regular collaborator on a number of Walt Disney Co. projects and a former architect with Walt Disney Imagineering, the division of the company focused on theme park experiences, Smith is something of a connector. His canvas art, full of fast-moving brush work, is often rooted in the past while urgently seeking to draw links to the present.
Artist Nikkolas Smith went viral for his portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. in a hoodie, a tribute to slain teenager Trayvon Martin.
(Nikkolas Smith)
His 2025 children’s book, “The History of We,” tells the story of how humanity can trace its roots to Africa. And one of his best-known pieces is of Martin Luther King Jr. in a hoodie, meant to evoke the image of Trayvon Martin, the slain 17-year-old whose death inspired a social justice movement. The work went viral in 2013 while Smith was still working for Imagineering. It altered his career trajectory.
“It was like, ‘I cannot just make art about churros and rides right now,’” Smith says. “There’s a time for that, and there’s also a time to talk about this.” He references his portraits related to the killings of Black men, many at the hands of police officers, such as Philando Castile and Michael Brown.
“At the end of the day, Disney understood that,” Smith adds. “They understood that I needed to make art that was extremely important at the moment, about justice or the lack of justice.”
Smith left Disney in 2019 after 11 years but has maintained a close relationship with the company, so much so that Imagineering called upon Smith to design the tower, which opened in 2023.
Artist Nikkolas Smith, left, chats with guests Ricky Yost and Martina Yost of Aubrey, Texas, who recognized Smith from a recent Disney cruise excursion.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
As the Legacy Tower spirals toward the sky, its patterns and and lattice work nod to the likes of James H. Garrott, Robert A. Kennard, Roy A. Sealey, Ralph A. Vaughn and Paul Revere Williams. All were active in Los Angeles — Williams, for instance, was a pivotal designer on the LAX Theme Building — and Smith interlaces decorative flourishes in varying styles that twist around one another to work up the Legacy Tower’s pointed spheres.
The door of the Legacy Tower symbolizes perseverance, Smith says. “They made it through, despite all of the obstacles they had to go through.”
Smith had studied the architects while a student at Hampton University, and has documented on his Instagram their various stylings, which range from restrained to whimsical to ornate. A section referencing Vaughn is modern minimalism, whereas an area dedicated to Sealey is full of jagged, pointed linework. All of it is held together via a coiling design that feels full of movement.
The patterns of the Legacy Tower are nods to the likes of James H. Garrott, Robert A. Kennard, Roy A. Sealey, Ralph A. Vaughn and Paul Revere Williams.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
“How can I show humanity’s interconnected future? That’s the idea,” Smith says. “There’s this African theme of Sankofa. If we look toward our future, we have to look at the past and value and appreciate the past. I thought it would be great if I could really commemorate some Black designers and architects as the foundation and backstory of the tower. And I was also thinking about these breezeway block patterns that you see in Leimert Park.”
And yet it also feels like something that belongs in the park. Smith says he looked at some Tomorrowland designs.
“A Midcentury Modern vibe was Walt,” Smith says, referring to park patriarch Walt Disney. “That was Walt’s thing. It all connects. I love that people can hopefully now connect both things. You can connect Tomorrowland and Walt with Paul Revere Williams.”
It’s clearly Smith’s favorite design of his for Disney, although it’s not the only space at the resort that features his artistry. During his decade-plus with Imagineering he regularly worked on teams that focused on projects at Disney California Adventure, which this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary. He was heavily involved, he says, in the evolution of Avengers Campus, contributed to a small promenade stage in Pixar Pier and helped envision the facade of Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout!, which transformed the former Tower of Terror into a sci-fi structure.
Nikkolas Smith says elements of Downtown Disney’s Legacy Tower symbolize perseverance.
(Gary Coronado / For The Times)
Smith looks back fondly at his years at Imagineering, specifically calling out his time on the Guardians project. The former fake hotel is now full of glistening bronze pipes, a retro futurist look that former Imagineer Joe Rohde, who led the design, has said takes influence from the high-tech aesthetic of architect Renzo Piano, who worked on France’s Pompidou Centre.
“How much can we add to it? How much can we get away with gluing onto this thing?” Smith says of the Guardians facade. “What is the right amount of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ without being too much? Without scaring people on the freeway?”
Today, Smith continues to focus on social justice work, and has also collaborated with filmmaker Ryan Coogler, such as completing concept designs for his Oscar-nominated film “Sinners.” Smith’s 2023 children’s book “The Artivist” documents the importance of creating art that’s in conversation with the world, believing it’s not only a source for education but for empathy. Smith’s weekly paintings speak out often against the current administration, and Smith has been particularly vocal on the ICE raids.
A selection from “The Artivist,” an illustrated book from Nikkolas Smith.
(Nikkolas Smith)
“Some people say that all art is activism, but I feel that some of the best art that is created is art that has a message,” Smith says. “And hopefully that message has to do with the humanity of all people, and for me, I like to focus on marginalized communities, and how we can value the humanity of everybody. That’s why I make picture books about the origins of humanity and the origins of this country.”
The Leimert Park resident says his wife and young son regularly visit the Disneyland Resort. And when he does, Smith says, he always takes a moment to stop by the Pixar Pier stage that he contributed to, which is often used for character meet and greets.
“They were team projects, and I do go up to them with so much pride,” he says. “I go up to the Pixar Pier promenade stage, and I just go up to it and touch it. … The beautiful thing about Disney is these creations are usually around for a lifetime.”
It turns out you can take the artivist out of Disney, but you can’t fully take the Disney out of the artivist.
It took months of effort, lobbying and mounds of cash for Paramount Skydance to finally clinch its prize of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Now, however, the David Ellison-led company faces a long and challenging road to merge these two media giants and set it up for a successful future.
Key to that will be striking a delicate balancing act between investment and paying down its debt load of $79 billion, which is massive even by Hollywood standards.
Notably, the figure is even greater than Warner’s nearly $55 billion of debt post-merger with Discovery, a burden that hamstrung the company for years and led to successive rounds of layoffs and relentless cost cutting.
Last week, my colleague Meg James wrote about the concerns Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings have about Paramount’s credit, given the mountain of debt the company will now carry. Fitch downgraded its credit to BB+ — “junk” territory — from BBB-, and S&P Global Ratings placed the company’s ratings on “negative watch.”
Carrying that amount of debt comes with significant risks.
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Samantha Masunaga delivers the latest news, analysis and insights on everything from streaming wars to production — and what it all means for the future.
For one, a company with a lot of debt that is “junk”-rated is going to be under pressure to cut costs. “Junk status” means a company’s debt is rated below the level that credit agencies consider investment grade. Such a rating means it can be more expensive to refinance or take out new loans, raising the cost of capital.
Paramount executives have already said they plan to find $6 billion in “synergies” within three years, though they’ve emphasized that the majority of their cost cutting will come from “non-labor sources,” including consolidating their streaming technology and cloud providers, combining IT systems across the company and “optimizing the combined real estate footprint and the broader corporate overhead,” among other ideas.
And as I wrote last week, most Hollywood observers and those familiar with Ellison’s plans predict that Paramount will be forced make steep layoffs to offset the cost of the deal and eliminate overlapping roles and functions between the two historic studios.
At the same time, in order to compete with well-funded rivals, Paramount-Warner Bros. will also need to invest in new programming — something that can be difficult for a heavily leveraged business .
Paramount executives have said their cost-cutting efforts won’t include a reduction in production capacity, and Ellison has reiterated that there will be continued spending on programming. Beyond content, he’ll also likely need to invest in improving the technology along with the look and feel of the streaming platforms.
“Whether or not they have the capital to do all of that and to try to get their leverage down is something I’m curious to hear about,” said Naveen Sarma of S&P Global Ratings.
It’s possible that Paramount may not be able to pursue a good opportunity in the future because it has used up all its debt capacity and can’t raise additional financing, said Kelly Shue, a professor of finance at Yale School of Management.
“It might cause them to underinvest in good projects in the future,” she said.
And the company needs to spend on good projects.
The economics of this deal hinge on the combined heft of Paramount and Warner’s two libraries and valuable intellectual property, which will unite Harry Potter, DC Studios, SpongeBob SquarePants and “Mission Impossible” all under one roof.
And on the theatrical side, Ellison has said the combined company will release 30 films a year — 15 from each studio. That would be a substantial increase from 2025, when the two companies released 18 films — eight at Paramount and 10 from Warner Bros.
“While studios content budgets might not come under immediate focus for cost cutting, we have a hard time seeing no content costs savings considering opportunities to reallocate or pull back from at least the linear networks,” MoffettNathanson’s Robert Fishman wrote in a note to clients last week.
Of course, all of this would come only after the deal’s completion. On the immediate horizon, Paramount needs to secure international regulatory approval as well as at home. Although state attorneys general including Rob Bonta of California have said this is not a “done deal,” most analysts expect that any opposition there is only likely to slow — not stop — the transaction.
A very masculine year in film
A recent study from San Diego State University put a number on something we all suspected: The percentage of female protagonists in the top 100 films last year dropped. A lot.
Female protagonists made up just 29% of the top-grossing films in 2025, down from 42% in 2024, according to the university’s annual study of women’s representation in top films. A selection of film titles from the last year says it all: “The Running Man,” “A Working Man,” “Superman.”
That 29% figure has, unfortunately, been very consistent over the years — it was the same in 2016 and has largely hovered in the range of high 20s to low 30s for the last decade, with a few exceptions (40% in 2019 and 42% in 2024).
Focusing on just the protagonists in the top 100 films means that small fluctuations can change that percentage greatly.
But when the study looked at a broader sample size of the more than 1,900 characters in those films, the results weren’t much better.
The percentage of women in speaking roles was 38%, up just 1% from 2024. And the percentage of major female characters declined to 36% in 2025 from 39% the year before.
The fact that these figures have not moved much, in spite of the countless panels and think pieces about the issue, suggests there isn’t much will in Hollywood to change, said Martha Lauzen, author of the study and founder and executive director of San Diego State’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.
“Representation is social relevancy and social capital,” she told me. “So when you see fewer women than men, that’s a message.”
Stuff We Wrote
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Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Hoppers” came in big at the box office this weekend with a $46-million opening in the U.S. and Canada — the strongest domestic debut for an original animated movie since “Coco” in 2017. Globally, the film made $88 million.
The reception is an encouraging sign for original animated movies, which have largely struggled at the box office since the COVID-19 pandemic while their sequel counterparts have shined.
What I’m watching
Several months ago, some friends and I started a movie club, where we each nominate a film we want to watch and we rotate who gets to make the final selection. Last week, we watched the 1996 comedy “First Wives Club,” which I had never seen but loved for its goofy antics, unexpected song-and-dance number and the focus on the enduring power of female friendships.
Walt Disney Co. and Pixar’s “Hoppers” took the box office crown this weekend in an encouraging sign for the company’s original animated films.
The film generated $46 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, marking the highest domestic opening for an original animated movie since 2017’s “Coco,” according to studio estimates. The global box office total for “Hoppers” was $88 million.
The zany movie features a young environmental advocate who “hops” her consciousness into a robotic beaver and bands together with other woodland creatures to stop a planned freeway expansion through a glade.
The film is directed by Daniel Chong, who created the Cartoon Network animated series “We Bare Bears.”
The muscular debut for “Hoppers,” as well as the strong performance from Sony Pictures Animation’s “Goat” last month, has been a positive sign for audience interest in original animated films.
Since the pandemic, theatrical returns for animated sequels have far surpassed that of original films. Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” for instance, has now grossed more than $1.8 billion in global box office revenue, with more than $426 million domestically. Disney and Pixar’s 2024 hit “Inside Out 2” also crossed more than $1.6 billion globally.
By contrast, Disney and Pixar’s 2025 original film “Elio” brought in about $154 million in worldwide box office revenue.
Original films are vital to Pixar’s future, as the Emeryville-based studio built its reputation on its string of nearly uninterrupted original blockbuster hits, including 1995’s “Toy Story” and 2004’s “The Incredibles.”
Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream 7” came in second at the box office with $17.3 million in its second weekend in theaters. Warner Bros. Pictures’ “The Bride!,” Sony’s “Goat” and Warner Bros.’ “Wuthering Heights” rounded out the top five at the box office, according to data from Comscore.
With several strong releases, as well as popular holdover films from 2025 that continue to bring in revenue, the first few months at the box office have been a notable improvement over last year’s dismal first quarter.
Domestic box office revenue so far is up more than 12% compared to the same time period in 2025, according to Comscore.
New animated sequences of songs from “Encanto,” “Frozen 2” and “Moana 2” are headed to Disney+.
Disney Animation announced Wednesday that “Songs in Sign Language,” comprised of three musical numbers from recent Disney movies newly reimagined in American Sign Language, will debut April 27 in honor of National Deaf History Month.
Directed by veteran Disney animator Hyrum Osmond, “Songs in Sign Language” will feature fresh animation for “Encanto’s” chart-topper “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” “Frozen 2’s” poignant ballad “The Next Right Thing” and “Moana 2’s” anthem “Beyond.” Produced by Heather Blodget and Christina Chen, the new versions of these songs were created in collaboration with L.A.-based theater company Deaf West Theatre.
“In the majority of cases, we created entirely new animation,” Osmond said in a press statement. “There were a lot of adjustments that we had to do within the animation to be true to the original intention.”
Deaf West Theatre artistic director DJ Kurs, sign language reference choreographer Catalene Sacchetti and a group of eight performers from Deaf West worked together to craft and choreograph the ASL version of the musical numbers for “Songs in Sign Language.” The creatives focused on being true to the concepts and emotion of the songs rather than direct translations of the lyrics.
Kurs said his team jumped at the chance to collaborate and integrate ASL into “the fabric of Disney storytelling.”
“Disney stories are the universal language of childhood,” Kurs said in a statement. “The chance to bring our language into that world was a historic opportunity to reach a global audience. Working on this project was very emotional. For so long, we have known and loved the artistic medium of Disney Animation. Here, the art form was adapting to us. I hope this unlocks possibilities in the minds and hearts of Deaf children, and that this all leads to more down the road.”
Osmond, who led a team of more than 20 animators on this project, said animation was the perfect medium to showcase sign language, which he described as “one of the most beautiful ways of communication on Earth.” The director, whose father is deaf, also saw this project as an opportunity to connect with the Deaf community.
“Growing up, I never learned sign language, and that barrier prevented me from really connecting with my dad,” Osmond said. “This reimagining of Disney Animation musical numbers helps bring down barriers and allows us to connect in a special way with our audiences in the Deaf community. I’m grateful that the Studio got behind making something so impactful.”
Four days after the stunning news that Paramount Skydance would acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount executives tried to calm fears that the blockbuster deal would result in massive layoffs.
In a call Monday, Paramount Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer Andy Gordon told Wall Street analysts that $6 billion in merger “synergies” would come from “non-labor sources” and not a “reduction in production capacity.”
Instead, Gordon said, the company would reduce costs by consolidating its streaming technology and cloud providers, finding marketing efficiencies and “optimizing the combined real estate footprint,” likely an allusion to widely anticipated plans that the new owners will consolidate operations around the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank.
Efficiencies aside, most Hollywood observers — including people who are familiar with Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison’s plans — predict that Paramount will be forced to make large-scale layoffs in order to offset the enormous costs of the mega-deal, which is valued at more than $111 billion (counting debt).
It’s a reasonable expectation, at least if history is any guide.
Many at Warner dread the kinds of cuts seen after Walt Disney Co. bought most of 21st Century Fox’s assets, resulting in thousands of layoffs as the two companies combined operations and shed redundant jobs.
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Samantha Masunaga delivers the latest news, analysis and insights on everything from streaming wars to production — and what it all means for the future.
In the case of Warner-Paramount, the new company will have two film and TV studios, as well as two streaming businesses, two legal departments, two marketing departments and so on. It’s doubtful these overlapping functions will survive budget cuts.
Already, consolidation plans are underway.
This week Paramount announced it would combine the two streaming services — Paramount+ and HBO Max — to reach a total of more than 200 million subscribers and better compete against the behemoth Netflix, which boasts 325 million subscribers worldwide.
Ellison was full of praise for the HBO team on Monday’s analyst call, saying the premium service was a “crown jewel” and that it will “continue to have the resources and independence to do what it does best.”
He also reiterated that there is “no intention to pull back on production,” and that the company intends to make 30 films a year — 15 apiece from Paramount and Warner Bros.
“We have all the economic incentives to make sure that we grow this business and are going to invest in content to basically achieve those goals,” Ellison said Monday.
But this deal also includes $79 billion in net debt — a staggering load that overshadows even that of the merger that resulted in Warner Bros. Discovery. That amount became an albatross around that company’s neck and led to waves of layoffs.
“What everybody’s hoping is that the noise that’s being made around prioritizing content will hold true,” said Kevin Klowden, a Milken Institute fellow focused on entertainment and technology. “But until they see that happen, it’s really a question.”
Further job losses would be a blow to an industry that has been reeling from a steady drumbeat of job cuts fueled by media consolidation, dwindling streaming profits and the migration of film and TV jobs to cheaper states and countries.
Paramount executives have said the deal is expected to close in the fiscal third quarter of this year, and Ellison said he was “absolutely confident” they will meet that goal, based on conversations with regulators.
Despite support from the Trump administration, the acquisition is not yet final. Already, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said he was in communication with other states’ attorneys general about challenging the merger on antitrust grounds, saying it wasn’t a “done deal.”
And on Monday, Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-San José), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called on Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to provide details of their conversations about the merger with Ellison and Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos, highlighting the role of politics in the auction.
Paramount plans to keep the two studios separate for now, though company executives have discussed combining operations at the Warner Bros. Burbank lot at some point, according to sources close to Paramount who were not authorized to speak publicly. That could mean a wind down at the historic Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue — and more job losses.
The anxiety over looming cuts is especially deep inside Warner, where staff are still trying to process the news, according to people I spoke with. They noted that when Netflix was the winning bidder, co-Chief Executives Sarandos and Greg Peters came to the Burbank lot and spoke with several hundred of Warner’s senior leaders and outlined their plans, giving staff more clarity about a future under their ownership. No such conversations have occurred with the Paramount team, they said.
“I think genuinely, everyone’s nervous and a little uneasy,” said one Warner Bros. Discovery employee. “With the Netflix option, people had become a little more hopeful. But this outcome is a little more frightening for the staff.”
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After 30 years, the Ghostface killer has still got it. Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream 7” topped the box office this last weekend with $64.1 million in the U.S. and Canada, marking a franchise-best domestic opening. Globally, the film made $97.2 million.
The film centered on original franchise actors Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, and featured numerous callbacks to the previous movies.
But the film’s debut did not come without controversy. Pro-Palestinian groups protested outside the “Scream 7” premiere on the Paramount lot last week and called for a boycott of the film after franchise star Melissa Barrera was fired more than two years ago for her comments on the Israel-Hamas war.
What I’m watching
On Sunday, I watched the UCLA women’s basketball team dominate USC in what I think is one of the best college rivalries out there (though I’m probably biased. Go Bruins!)
WE were all set for a summer beach holiday until a massive passport mishap saw my poor son turned away at the airport check-in desk.
So to make it up to him, I took him to Disneyland Paris — but in the depths of winter, would it be a hit?
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January, February and March are certainly the best time to go for valueCredit: SuppliedRachel Shields and son Rufus took advantage of the small winter queues to enjoy Disneyland ParisCredit: Rachel Shields
As the mercury plunged across Europe, Rufus and I set out to enjoy a “tropical” break at Europe’s most famous theme park.
Tropical? Well, Disneyland Paris has 300,000 plants which create microclimates and as we wander in, the Arctic chill noticeably lessens. It is actually HOTTER in Disney than outside.
But how do the prices compare to sand, sea and sunshine?
January, February and March are certainly the best time to go for value.
In March this year, stays in a Disney hotel cost from £132pp per night including park tickets, which is a darn sight cheaper than the Christmas and summer peak times.
And the post-Christmas drop in park attendance also means shorter queues — great when you’re with youngsters.
The tropical holiday style of much of Adventureland extends beyond the themed music and decor.
Home to the Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Peril roller coaster, it is a medley of the Africa of The Lion King, the Caribbean of Pirates Of The Caribbean and the Agrabah of Aladdin. All are brought to life with tropical bamboo, ferns and palm trees.
Not that I’ve got much time to appreciate the foliage, as Rufus drags me from one big ticket roller coaster to the next.
After tackling the multiple loop-the-loops of Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain and Avengers-themed Flight Force plus the pitch-black twists and turns of Crush’s Coaster, I decide we need a break. Despite Rufus’s insistence that the Mickey the Magician show is going to “babyish”, he loves it.
The 20-minute song medley is like a mini West End show, bringing the classic film hits to life, with can-can girls in gold frilly knickers playing the tableware in Beauty And The Beast and dancers weaving through the crowds operating giant puppets of giraffes, zebras and tropical birds to the Lion King soundtrack.
Winter at Disney is the hottest ticket in town, even with snow visible around the parkCredit: SuppliedRufus’ magical holiday to Disneyland Paris was a hit – and he wants to back next yearCredit: Rachel Shields
Thoroughly thawed out, we tackle the Tower Of Terror — even scarier in the fading light.
As we rattle around on my favourite ride, Thunder Mountain’s runaway mine train, we soak up great views of faux-gothic Phantom Manor and the beautifully lit steamer which pootles up and down the lake.
We scoff chocolate churros while watching the early evening Disney parade.
By the time it hits 6pm it’s time for a stiff drink — not to mention a sit down which doesn’t involve over-the-shoulder straps.
So we head to the Pirates Of The Caribbean restaurant, whose pina colada cocktails, humid air and splashes of the river ride moving past us add to the holiday vibes.
After this brief pit stop, we then make the most of the shorter evening queues, racing around everything from Spider-Man Web Adventure to the gentle joys of Peter Pan’s Flight over a minature London.
By 8pm we’ve done 22,000 steps and it starts to rain, but we dodge it by navigating the Victorian-style gas-lit arcades which connect different areas on Main Street USA.
Mercifully when it gets to 10pm, the rides shut. Sixteen roller coasters down, and I’m barely standing.
I’m not a big fireworks fan — too many years of my dad coming close to danger in the back garden — but the Disney display is incredible.
The clever drones and laser projections diminishing the firework fear factor.
When the show comes to a close, I’m glad we only have to stagger ten minutes back to our hotel in the park, the superhero-themed Hotel New York, The Art Of Marvel.
Not that Rufus’ energy or enthusiasm are at all dampened by either the weather or the marathon we’ve walked. As we fall into our beds, he’s already begging me to bring him back next year.
The summer’s passport disaster is a distant memory. Turns out we didn’t need a beach for a fab holiday.
Winter at Disney is the hottest ticket in town.
GO: Disneyland
GETTING THERE: easyJet flies from Manchester, London, Newcastle and other UK airports to Paris from £25.99 each way. See easyjet.com.
STAYING/PLAYING THERE: A two-night/three-day stay at Disney’s Hotel Cheyenne is from £262.92pp based on two adults and two kids sharing, for arrival between March 22 and 26 this year.
The price includes a ticket package for unlimited access to Disneyland Park & Walt Disney Studios Parks.
IMAGINE if the Eden Project had a Disney makeover – well, one theme park in Europe achieves this and will be getting a new ride for 2026.
Terra Botanica theme park in Angers, France is often compared to the Eden Project in Cornwall due to its focus on plants.
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Terra Botanica in France is described as the “Eden Project on steroids”Credit: instagram/@terrabotanicaAnd this year, it will be gaining a new tractor rideCredit: instagram/@terrabotanicaThe ride we feature 10 tractor cabins in total, which go on a journey to meet Cleamolette, who is a passionate inventorCredit: instagram/@terrabotanica
But it also has rides…
And now the theme park has announced two new experiences for this year – Cleamolette’s tractor cabins and a new Terra Nocta show.
Cleamolette’s tractor cabins will be an immersive experience where visitors climb onboard the tractors and set off to meet Cleamolette, who is a ‘passionate inventor’.
There will be 10 tractor cabins in total, which will be able to host up to 500 people an hour.
During the experience, visitors will get to discover Cleamolette’s botanical experiments.
The park will also have a redesigned discovery trail that sprawls across 1,200sqm.
The trail is entirely dedicated to vegetable plants and over the course of the season, visitors will be able to see more than 10,000 vegetable plants, 4,000 flowering plants, 500 perennials, 200 shrubs and 40 trees.
You might even get a glimpse at some rare species including pistachio trees, Brazilian guava trees, Japanese pickling eggplants and snake gourds.
Then, Terra Nocta – an evening event at the park with light and sound – will return from April 11 but with a new 150metre area that is an immersive water display with mist, waterfalls, sounds and lights to create the ultimate sensory experience.
This new area will allow visitors to discover aquatic biodiversity and learn about the role of water in ecosystems.
The show will also include eight performers from the National Institute of Music Hall Arts in Le Mans.
The theme park will be hosting Terra Spring Festival between March 28 and 29 as well, where attendees can see the theme park’s large plant market and meet lots of local sellers and makers.
The theme park is set to fully reopen for the 2026 season on April 4.
Connexion France previously described the park as “Cornwall’s Eden Project on steroids”, adding that it has “environmental ideas with a Disney twinkle”.
Other rides at the park include giant walnut shells, and a Canopy of Birds experience where you fly virtually through the air and a miniature land train.
The park has lots of other attractions as well, such as a walnut rideCredit: http://www.terrabotanica.frThe park is also home to a boat ride, a high ropes course and a dinosaur reserveCredit: instagram/@terrabotanicaThere’s even a butterfly house at the park tooCredit: http://www.terrabotanica.fr
You might also want to check out the Garden of Legends, where you will be greeted by a vegetable ogre as he takes you into a mysterious universe.
Other ‘lands’ at the park include a dinosaur reserve, where you can watch a 4D film where you can get behind the wheel of a Jeep and drive among dinosaurs – just like in Jurassic Park.
There are even boat trips, a greenhouse with over 100 butterflies from across the planet and a high ropes course with over 3,000sqm of netting to explore as well.
Jonathan Majors is ready to stage his comeback — by teaming up with the Daily Wire.
The actor is reportedly filming his first movie since being found guilty of assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend in 2023. According to Deadline, production on the untitled action movie from the Daily Wire and Bonfire Legend begins this week in South Carolina.
Written and directed by “Run Hide Fight” filmmaker Kyle Rankin, the movie is described as “in the vein of ’80s and ’90s action movies ‘Red Dawn’ and ‘Toy Soldiers,’ ” per the outlet. In addition to starring in the film, Majors will also serve as an executive producer, the entertainment outlet reported.
“You’re not going to BELIEVE what we’re doing,” right-wing pundit and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shaprio said in a Thursday post on X sharing the news. On Facebook he claimed, “This movie is going to be WILD.”
Majors was a Hollywood star on the rise when he was arrested on charges of assault, strangulation and harassment in March 2023. The “Creed III” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” actor was swiftly dropped from projects, his management company and his public relations team. Once poised to be the next central villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was also dropped by Marvel Studios following his conviction.
Majors avoided jail time and has since married fellow actor Meagan Good after a brief engagement.
In addition to Shapiro, who will be producing for the Daily Wire, Dallas Sonnier will be producing for Bonfire Legend. Neither company has shied away from courting disgraced Hollywood talent trying to revive their careers.
Among the Daily Wire and Bonfire Legends’ previous joint projects is “Terror on the Prairie,” the 2022 western starring Gina Carano. The “Mandalorian” actor was fired by Disney in 2021 for “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities” that the company called “abhorrent and unacceptable.” (Carano filed a lawsuit against Disney alleging wrongful termination in 2024. The lawsuit was settled in August.)
