For KING + COUNTRY’s Joel Smallbone to co-direct, star in ‘Drummer Boy’ movie musical
Joel Smallbone attends Lionsgate’s ‘The Unbreakable Boy’ New York premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on Feb. 19, 2025, in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
A version of “The Little Drummer Boy” by the Australian duo for KING + COUNTRY has been returning to the charts every holiday season for the past few years. Now it seems the song has inspired a movie.
Joel Smallbone will co-direct and star in the film, Drummer Boy, set to hit theaters Nov. 6. A press release describes it as a “Christmas musical about two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of the American Revolutionary War.”
Joel’s co-director is his brother Ben Smallbone; there are seven Smallbone siblings in all, including Joel’s bandmate Luke Smallbone. Joel and Ben say in a statement that the “fabric of the film” is “a nation built on 250 years of independence” and “a Christmas story that began over 2,000 years ago.”
They go on to say that Drummer Boy is a movie “created by brothers, about brothers,” adding, “We’re humbled beyond words to bring it to life.”
Joel also has a role in Young Washington, a film about George Washington’s early years. It stars Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammer, Mary-Louise Parker and Andy Serkis, and will hit theaters on Independence Day weekend.
Eric Dane appears in a scene from season three of ‘Euphoria.’ (HBO)
Euphoria creator Sam Levinson is dedicating the new season of his hit show to Eric Dane, Angus Cloud and producer Kevin Turen.
At the season 3 premiere of Euphoria in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, Levinson addressed the audience ahead of the screening and paid tribute to the late actors and producer, who died in the years after season 2 aired on HBO.
“Some people ask why it took so long between seasons 2 and 3,” Levinson said, addressing the four-year gap. “There were obvious factors — the [writers and actors] strikes, how to make a schedule work with our very in-demand cast. But the real time was trying to figure out how to find a way to pay respect to those who we lost.”
Cloud, who starred as Fezco in Euphoria seasons 1 and 2, died in July 2023 from an accidental drug overdose. He was 25.
“When Angus died, it was tough. I loved him deeply. And I fought hard to keep him clean,” Levinson said at the premiere.
He also pointed to the opioid epidemic and discussed how it has affected many people across the U.S.
In 2023, approximately 105,000 people died from drug overdose, with 76% involving either an illegal or prescription opioid and 69% involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, “primarily illegally made fentanyl and fentanyl analogs,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Approximately 73,000 people died from fentanyl overdoses in 2023, according to the CDC, representing “nearly 92% of opioid overdose deaths.”
“I learned a whole lot that year, but what I realized more than anything is that death is what gives life meaning,” Levinson said at Tuesday’s premiere, referring to Cloud’s death. “You can’t be arrogant about existence. You’re forced to reckon with the fact that life itself is a wonder, a gift, a profound blessing.”
Four months after Cloud’s death, Turen died from multiple heart issues, according to a medical examiner’s report.
Dane, who starred as Cal Jacobs in Euphoria, died in February this year, following a battle with ALS.
Prior to Dane’s death, he returned to his role for the show’s third season. Fans got a preview of his final performance in the season 3 trailer, which was released March 30.
“I’d like to dedicate this season to those who we lost: Angus, Kevin and Eric,” he said. “The Rebbe says, ‘The only way to see great light is to pass through great darkness.’ Well, it feels good to be on the other side.”
Euphoria season 3, starring Zendaya, Jacob Elordi and Sydney Sweeney, will debut on HBO and stream on HBO Max on Sunday.
A24 has shared the trailer for its upcoming romantic comedy film from director Olivia Wilde.
The Invite is Wilde’s third directorial effort after her films Booksmart and Don’t Worry Darling. It is based on director Cesc Gay’s Spanish-language film Sentimental. Will McCormack and Rashida Jones wrote its screenplay.
In addition to directing, Wilde stars alongside Seth Rogen, Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz.
The movie follows married couple Joe (Rogen) and Angela (Wilde), who invite their upstairs neighbors Hawk (Norton) and Pina (Cruz) over for dinner, “where everything that could go wrong goes wrong,” according to an official description from the studio.
“Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?” the film’s official synopsis reads.
The trailer finds Joe and Angela preparing to host Hawk and Pina for dinner before the other couple arrives.
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you about,” Joe says, to which Pina responds, “We also have something we wanted to talk to you about.”
“We feel a very strong connection with you guys,” Pina continues, as a rendition of Anita Ward’s song “Ring My Bell” plays.
The Invite arrives in select theaters on June 26 and everywhere in July.
Sarah J. Maas attends Tory Burch Fall/Winter 2024 New York Fashion Week at New York Public Library on Feb. 12, 2024, in New York City. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tory Burch)
Babe, wake up. Sarah J. Maas just revealed that two new ACOTAR books are on the way.
In a highly anticipated interview for romantasy book lovers, the bestselling author of the A Court of Thorns and Roses book series revealed that the story will continue with books six and seven.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Maas told Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper in a new episode released Wednesday.
The author said that ACOTAR book six will arrive on Oct. 27, while ACOTAR book seven will arrive on Jan. 12, 2027.
Maas didn’t share many details about what to expect, but she did speak about the writing process, saying, “The story that was finally ready to come out of me was big. Really, really big. And as I started writing this in like this Montana energy vortex, it came out of me in a way that surprised me.”
“By the time I got to the end of the part one, it was, like, 400 pages long,” she added. “But what I was writing felt right. That was the story that needed to be told.”
She added, “I’ve never told a story this way. This is how it wants to come out. Why do I have to be held back by the realities of the glue that we need to hold the pages or just like placement on a shelf?”
Maas said releasing the next parts of the series in this unique way is “exciting to me,” and “gives me space that the story demanded and the characters demanded.”
The first ACOTAR book was released in 2015. It follows 19-year-old Feyre, who is taken to a magical land by a beast-like creature, who she comes to learn is Tamlin, described as a lethal, immortal faerie, according to a synopsis for the book.
