Anna Sawai says Sam Mendes’ Beatles films will include Yoko Ono’s ‘side of the story’
Anna Sawai attends the world premiere of Apple TV’s “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters” Season 2 at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 19, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Brianna Bryson/WireImage)
Shōgun star Anna Sawai is set to play Yoko Ono in Sam Mendes’ Beatles films, The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event. She tells Variety she hopes fans will come away with a better understanding of Ono, who married John Lennon in 1969 and has often been accused of breaking up The Beatles.
“It was my dream to tell her story and I didn’t think it would come this quick,” Sawai told the magazine. “There’s a version of her I feel people still don’t understand. And in this film, I think we’re going to be able to tell that side of the story.”
The actress notes that she’s been doing a lot of research for the role, including “so much reading.”
“So many books, so many videos, so many articles,” she explained. “She has so much artwork that also shows her personality.”
Sawai also offered up some insider info on how her co-stars Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan are handling performing as The Beatles for the film.
“They’re not even looking at the sheet music anymore,” she says. “They can just play it off and sing it, and it really sounds like the Beatles to me. It feels surreal.”
The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event will consist of four films, each told from the perspective of one of the band members. It is set expected to open in theaters in April 2028.
Kirsten Dunst attends the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Chicken jockey, as they say.
Kirsten Dunst has joined the cast of the currently untitled sequel to A Minecraft Movie, ABC Audio has confirmed.
Dunst will play Alex, one of the primary avatars in the Minecraft video game, in the upcoming sequel. She joins a cast that also includes Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Danielle Brooks, Matt Berry and Jennifer Coolidge.
Warner Bros. Pictures announced its plans to make A Minecraft Movie sequel in October 2025. The film will arrive in theaters on July 23, 2027.
At the time it was announced, Warner Bros. shared a post to its Instagram with two pickaxes and the scheduled release date underneath.
“Building terrain. See you in theaters July 23 2027. #Minecraft,” the post’s caption reads.
Jared Hess directed the first film. He’s set to return to helm the sequel from a screenplay he wrote with Chris Galletta. Its plot is being kept under wraps.
A Minecraft Movie was released on April 4, 2025. The film grossed $424 million in the U.S. and almost $1 billion worldwide.
: Actor Chuck Norris arrives at Lionsgate Films’ ‘The Expendables 2’ premiere on August 15, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Actor Chuck Norris, the martial artist known for a string of hit action movies and the series Walker, Texas Ranger, has died, according to his family. He was 86.
“It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning,” Norris’ family said Friday in a statement shared on his Instagram page. “While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace.”
The family said Norris was “a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family.”
“While our hearts are broken, we are deeply grateful for the life he lived and for the unforgettable moments we were blessed to share with him,” the family statement continued. “The love and support he received from fans around the world meant so much to him, and our family is truly thankful for it. To him, you were not just fans, you were his friends.”
Norris’ family said the actor had been recently hospitalized but did not share further details on his condition.
The actor turned 86 on March 10, just days before his death. He shared a video of himself boxing on his birthday, saying in the video, “I don’t age. I level up.”
Norris, born Carlos Ray Norris, was born in Oklahoma but spent much of his childhood in California. He learned karate while serving in the U.S. Air Force in South Korea, with the hopes of becoming a police officer after his service, he told The New York Times in a 1985 interview.
When he returned to Southern California after his military service, he instead opened a chain of karate schools.
It was through teaching karate that Norris was introduced to acting when he instructed the late Steve McQueen and McQueen’s son, he told the Times.
“He told me that I should think about projecting a presence, and never do a part that had a lot of dialogue,” Norris said of McQueen’s advice. “He told me, ‘Movies are visual, and when you try to verbalize something, you’re going to lose the audience.’ He said to let the character actors lay out the plot, and that when there were important things to say, you say it, and people will remember.”
From that fateful meeting with McQueen, Norris went on to have an acting career that spanned several decades and featured starring roles in blockbuster action movies including The Way of the Dragon, Lone Wolf McQuade, Missing in Action, The Delta Force and Invasion U.S.A.
In the 1990s, Norris became a television star with the series Walker, Texas Ranger, which he both starred in and executive produced.
In addition to acting, Norris was an author, including of his 2004 autobiography, Against All Odds: My Story.
Offscreen, Norris also entered the political arena, endorsing and campaigning for several conservative candidates over the years.
In his later years, Norris reached unexpected online fame when jokes known as “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online, touting Norris’ seeming invincibility with lines like, “Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep. He waits.”
Norris revealed his personal favorite in 2008, telling Extra, “My favorite is that they wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”
Norris capitalized on his online fame, growing a social media following of nearly 3 million followers on Instagram, where he continued to post everything from his workouts to life advice until the time of his death.
Norris is survived by his wife of nearly 30 years, Gena O’Kelly, with whom he shared two children, twins Dakota Norris and Danilee Norris.
Norris is also survived by three other adult children, two sons, Eric Norris and Mike Norris, and a daughter, Dina Norris.
