A country album from Post Malone and Awkwafina playing a struggling actor whose winning lottery ticket has her on the run for her life in “Jackpot!” are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: fan favorites from around the world compete on “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars,” the Sydney Sweeney nun thriller “Immaculate” makes its Hulu debut and the fourth season of Lily Collins' “Emily in Paris” drops.
NEW MOVIES TO STREAM
— It’s always worth paying attention when Paul Feig (“Spy,” “The Heat,” “Bridesmaids”) makes a comedy. In “Jackpot!,”coming to Prime Video on Thursday, Awkwafina plays a struggling actor whose winning lottery ticket has her on the run for her life. In this near-future California, residents compete to kill the winner before sundown in order to claim the winnings for themselves. One person who is on her side, and willing to help, is John Cena. Feig told Entertainment Weekly that it’s the “Jackie Chan movie I always wished I could make.”
— The tear-jerker documentary “Daughters,” streaming on Netflix on Wednesday, follows four young girls as they prepare to reunite with their incarcerated fathers for a dance in a Washington, D.C., jail. Co-directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, the film took over eight years to make as the directors earned the trust of the mothers, the daughters and the incarcerated men. “We really want to show the impact on families and daughters from this system and incarcerated fathers and bring more awareness around the importance around touch visits and family connection,” Rae told AP earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won several awards.
— Also coming to Netflix on Thursday is the Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg movie “The Union,” an action comedy about a construction worker who gets entangled in the world of espionage by an old girlfriend from high school. The synopsis teases: “Knowing he’s the right man for the job, she recruits Mike on a dangerous intelligence mission in Europe that thrusts them back together into a world of spies and high-speed car chases, with sparks flying along the way.”
— Finally, the Sydney Sweeney nun thriller “Immaculate” makes its Hulu debut on Friday, Aug. 16. Sweeney produced and also stars as a young American nun, Cecilia, who’s decided to join an Italian convent where she’s to help tend to older, dying nuns. The prettiness of the new surroundings is just a front, of course, and she starts to discover some sinister happenings within the ancient walls. In my review, I wrote that it’s “a great showcase for Sweeney’s range (she gets to go from somewhat meek to primal scream) and is full of interesting visuals, beautiful costumes and accomplished makeup work showing all manner of bloody, mangled faces and limbs. But it’s also a movie that does not seem as sure of itself or the point it’s trying to make.”
— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr
NEW MUSIC TO STREAM
— Was Post Malone’s journey into country music inevitable? On Friday, Aug. 16, Malone will release “F-1 Trillion,” a country album. While more and more pop acts venture into country music, Malone’s approach is different: He’s participating in the Nashville music industry, working with acts like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Blake Shelton, instead of operating inside the genre and outside of its politics. It’s working: His forthcoming album is one of the year’s most anticipated in and out of the country music machine, and with good reason. “I Had Some Help” is already one of the year’s biggest songs, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
— It is the lyric heard ’round the world, or at least, the internet: “Is anyone going to match my freak?” R&B-pop experimentalist Tinashe is back; her sexy single “Nasty” acquiring a new level of virality for the performer. It can be found on her forthcoming album, “Quantum Baby,” which promises to deliver similarly addictive hooks — so ready the dances, TikTok.
— The twice Grammy-nominated Lupita Infante, known for her mariachi, norteño, and ranchera music, will release a new five-track covers EP, “Puras De Mi Abuelo Vol 1,” on Friday, Aug. 16 — the first of a two-part series. It is a celebration and ode to her grandfather, the beloved Mexican ranchera singer Pedro Infante. Prepare the tissues.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
NEW SHOWS TO STREAM
— Hulu is out with a new original Korean drama called “The Tyrant.” Rogue government scientists create a deadly virus to put South Korea on the same power level as the U.S. and other countries with nuclear arms. The four-part series premieres Wednesday.
— MTV’s long-running competition show “The Challenge” began as a spinoff of the “Real World” and “Road Rules,” and is still charging full steam ahead with season 40. Debuting Wednesday, “The Challenge 40: Battle of the Eras,” has 40 contestants from the show’s history, including mainstays Johnny Bananas and Chris “CT” Tamburello. Episodes air on MTV and will also stream on Paramount+.
— Guess what? Emily is still in Paris! Part 1 of the Lily Collins- led romance, workplace comedy’s fourth season drops Thursday on Netflix. And rumor has it in the new season of “Emily in Paris,” the star also visits Rome.
— The Fresh Prince is on summer break in season three of “Bel-Air,” Peacock’s updated, more dramatic version of the series that once starred Will Smith. Jabari Banks now plays the teen from West Philly. “Bel-Air” returns to Peacock on Thursday, Aug. 15. The parallels between Smith and Banks seem tailor-made for Hollywood. Like Smith, Banks is from West Philadelphia. He’s also a musician working on his own EP.
— Twelve fan favorite “Drag Race” contestants from around the world compete on “RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars” debuting Friday, Aug. 16 on Paramount+. The prize: $200,000 and a spot in the coveted Drag Race Hall of Fame.
— Eric Goode, the director of Netflix’s “Tiger King,” has a new docuseries about the private ownership of chimps. At the center is an exotic animal broker named Tonia Haddix who calls herself “The Dolly Parton of Chimps,” and raises chimpanzees as her children. “Chimp Crazy” debuts Sunday, Aug. 18 on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
— James Cameron dives back into the ocean with his new six-part National Geographic series called “OceanXplorers.” Cameron teamed with BBC Studios and the nonprofit research organization OceanX to explore remote parts of the ocean. They used a 285-foot research vessel called OceanXplorer to get there. The docuseries premieres Sunday, Aug. 18 on National Geographic and streams next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
— Alicia Rancilio
NEW VIDEO GAMES TO PLAY
— San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is on the cover of Madden NFL 25 — so, appropriately enough, EA Sports is promising a renewed focus on the rushing game, giving ball carriers new ways to squeeze past the defense. They may need every trick in the book thanks to an overhauled tackling system called Boom Tech (ouch). For the bigger picture, EA is also beefing up its Superstar and Franchise modes, adding more storylines for individual players or teams. And if you’ve already won the Heisman Trophy in EA’s College Football 25, you can draft that player into the pros. The season kicks off Friday, Aug. 16, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
— Lou Kesten
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