It's "the first time in seven years that a new Star Wars film has launched on the big screen," writes CNBC . And Variety notes it's expected to earn $102 million through Monday. ox office analysts are mixed on the results. On one hand, it's significant for any film to debut above $100 million in post-pandemic times. On the other, "Star Wars" is one of Hollywood's preeminent film properties, so there's an expectation of a certain level of box office. And this start is the worst for "Star Wars" since Disney bought the franchise in 2012. CNBC cites reports 41% of tickets were sold for more expensive large-format screenings like IMAX and DolbyCinema. So how's the movie? Rotten Tomatoes shows an 89% positive rating from moviegoers on its "popcornmeter" and a 62% average score from professional movie critics. And Ars Technica writes that "The plot is predictable, the fight scenes are meh, but you can't beat the charm of that little green Grogu." So while there's "a paint-by-numbers plot," they add that "the little green puppet pretty much carries the entire film." The new film is ... fine. It's an average Star Wars outing, and it will give families a solid Memorial Day Weekend entertainment option. It's just not the spectacular home run that might have helped launch the flagging franchise into an exciting new era, and diehard Star Wars fans hoping for more are probably going to be disappointed. Of course, not everyone agrees. "How many nails can we realistically drive into Star Wars's coffin before it's time to give up hope of resuscitation?" writes Clarisse Loughrey for The Independent, calling it "the dullest and most inconsequential 'Star Wars' ever made." (She argues the movie "stitches together what is clearly three episodes of the previously planned fourth season of The Mandalorian and calls it a day. There's not a whiff of effort here.") And a reviewer at RogerEbert.com gave it one-and-a-half stars, complaining that "There's no reason for anything in this movie except the wish to make even more money...." I'm on record as despising the word "content," which was pushed by early tech moguls to devalue art as interchangeable goo in a virtual pipeline, but this washed-out, video-game-looking movie, with its murky night scenes and lack of visual depth, deserves the word. You've seen everything in it before, from the equipment, spacecraft, armor, and tactical maneuvers to the species and various types of terrain (earthlike, but cartoony)... Even Grogu taxes our patience. Some of his cute bits could've ended with him facing the camera and doing jazz hands. Read more of this story at Slashdot. View the full article

This is part three of a series examining the challenges confronting the NATO alliance. LVIV, Ukraine — Four years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials across NATO’s eastern flank increasingly believe the alliance’s future is already being rewritten on Ukraine’s battlefield. From drone warfare and cyber defense to civilian resilience and large-scale military mobilization, Eastern European officials say Ukraine has become one of the world’s most battle-tested militaries, forcing NATO to rethink how future wars will be fought. This week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been invited to attend the alliance’s annual summit in Ankara in July, underscoring how central Ukraine has become to NATO’s future despite not being a member of the alliance. 'A NEW KIND OF WAR': INSIDE UKRAINE'S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES "I think today the Ukrainian army is the number one army in Europe," Mayor of Lviv Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital during an interview in the western Ukrainian city. "I think NATO needs the Ukrainian army," he added. The debate over NATO’s future intensified this week as alliance foreign ministers gathered in Sweden ahead of a major NATO summit in July, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling the upcoming meeting "one of the more important leaders’ summits in the history of NATO." Rubio warned NATO allies this week that the alliance lacks sufficient munitions production for future conflicts, a concern echoed by Ret. Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, who said the Pentagon is studying Ukraine’s rapid wartime industrial adaptation. "A number of nations are taking a page out of Ukraine’s transformation of its defense industrial base, in terms of quality as well as the tremendous increase in quantity of arms to the frontlines as well," Newton said, adding, "The Pentagon is taking note and working to encourage the transformation of our own industrial base so we can drastically improve and more rapidly provide capabilities to our forces in the field, not in a matter of years but in months and perhaps even in weeks." Rubio also referenced President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would maintain troop deployments in Poland after concerns earlier this week about possible reductions on NATO’s eastern flank. AS TRUMP FORCES NATO TO PAY UP, ALLIANCE RACES TO CLOSE MILITARY GAP WITH US Speaking before the NATO meeting, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski welcomed Trump’s announcement. "I want to thank President Trump for his announcement that the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels," Sikorski said. "I think this makes Putin very uncomfortable." Some note that the debate over NATO’s future comes with deep irony for Moscow. One of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s central grievances before the invasion was NATO’s eastward expansion and Ukraine’s growing ambitions to move closer to the alliance. Moscow repeatedly demanded NATO roll back its military footprint to pre-1997 levels and opposed any future Ukrainian membership. Instead, the invasion accelerated NATO’s expansion. Finland formally joined NATO in 2023, ending decades of military nonalignment, while Sweden joined in 2024 after Russia’s invasion dramatically reshaped security calculations across northern Europe. Finland alone added more than 800 miles of direct NATO border with Russia. Now officials in Poland and Ukraine say the war is not only expanding NATO geographically, but fundamentally transforming the alliance itself. "For decades, NATO focused largely on expeditionary wars and counterterrorism," said Polish Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski during an interview in Warsaw. "Modern warfare is mostly done by drones." "There is not a military in the world which is better than Ukraine" in understanding today’s battlefield realities, he added. US SCRAMBLES AS DRONES SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE OF WAR: 'THE FUTURE IS HERE' Ret. Gen. Philip Breedlove, who served as NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said the war has fundamentally transformed how militaries around the world understand modern warfare. "The war in Ukraine has changed far more than just NATO’s understanding of modern warfare — it has changed the whole world’s understanding," Breedlove told Fox News Digital. Breedlove added that Ukraine’s military has evolved into "one of Europe’s most capable and formidable" forces after years of fighting Russia, despite having surrendered its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. UKRAINE MAKES FASTEST GAINS IN YEARS AS RUSSIA TALKS STALL, EXPLOITING CRACKS IN KREMLIN COMMAND "Today, most agree that Ukraine is not only fighting, but winning back land against one of the world’s most formidable forces," he said. That transformation is visible throughout Ukraine. Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine had one of Eastern Europe’s largest IT sectors. Sadovyi said the war forced much of that technological ecosystem to pivot toward defense production. "Before the invasion, we had in Kyiv a huge IT cluster, 40,000 workers," Lviv’s mayor said. "During the war, we rebuilt the IT cluster to defend cluster." NATO ALLY POLAND WARNS RUSSIA, BELARUS PUSHING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS TOWARD ALLIANCE — AND THE US Ukraine now operates a rapidly expanding wartime innovation ecosystem focused on drones, anti-drone systems, battlefield communications and decentralized weapons production. NATO officials and European militaries are increasingly studying those lessons closely. Breedlove says the conflict exposed the limits of traditional air power and accelerated the rise of drone warfare. "It’s critical to remember that the war in Ukraine is being fundamentally fought without the support of modern air warfare because of the failures of the Russian Air Force," he said. "It’s why drone warfare has grown so exponentially, because neither side was able to marshal true modern air capabilities." The changes are also reshaping NATO strategy. The Polish defense official Zalewski told Fox News Digital the Pentagon is now promoting what Polish officials describe as "NATO 3.0," a model in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for conventional defense as the United States shifts more attention toward China and the Indo-Pacific. "The main assumption of this concept is that conventionally it would be Europe defending itself," he said. EUROPE STEPS UP TO FUND ITS OWN DEFENSE, PROVIDE SECURITY FOR UKRAINE AFTER TRUMP THREATS That shift comes as Poland dramatically increases military spending and positions itself as one of NATO’s leading military powers on the alliance’s eastern flank. Warsaw spent nearly 5% of GDP on defense this year, the highest level in NATO. Polish officials argue the war proved Eastern Europe was right to take Russia’s threat seriously long before many Western European countries did. "The eastern flank is much more powerful than even five years ago," Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Bosacki told Fox News Digital during reporting in Warsaw. "We were right about the nature of Putin’s regime and Russia’s aggressive strategy." Ukraine is not currently a NATO member, and the alliance has avoided offering Kyiv a concrete timeline for accession during the war out of concern it could trigger direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. But across Eastern Europe, officials increasingly argue the alliance’s future may depend on Ukraine regardless of formal membership. View the full article

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said Sunday that Democrats have failed to connect with working-class voters because the party too often backed "status quo establishment candidates" unwilling to challenge what he described as a rigged economic system. Speaking on "Meet the Press," Khanna weighed in on a newly released Democratic National Committee autopsy report examining the party’s 2024 election loss and broader struggles with voters. "We do need to recognize that the status quo has failed," Khanna said. "This is a system that has created massive inequality. That the economy is lopsided and unfair, and it’s not working for many working-class and middle-class Americans. And too often we’ve run status quo establishment candidates who have been unwilling to call out an economic and political system that has failed." DEMOCRATS IN RETREAT, WITH VOTERS SAYING THAT THE PARTY IS NO LONGER A ‘FRIEND OF THE WORKING CLASS’: REPORT Khanna made the remarks after NBC's Kristen Welker cited a passage from the DNC report arguing Democrats have focused too heavily on "winning arguments" while Republicans focused on "winning elections." The California Democrat rejected the idea that Democrats should abandon reasoned debate but acknowledged the party needs a stronger economic message aimed at voters struggling financially. "I don’t think we need to give up reason," Khanna said. "I think more Americans probably want reason debate in this country." DEM PARTY BLAME GAME: ACCUSATIONS FLY AS TO WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HARRIS' MASSIVE LOSS TO TRUMP Khanna also reflected on former Vice President Kamala Harris and the report's conclusion that the White House did not do enough over several years to improve her standing before Democrats switched nominees. "In retrospect, had she been in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio talking about the economy and been the lead for the president’s economic policies — the Inflation Reduction Act, the American Rescue Plan, the CHIPS Act — perhaps we would have done better," Khanna said. Still, Khanna argued Democrats must now focus on rebuilding support among working-class voters heading into future elections. "We need to have an economic message that actually is talking to the working-class folks who have been shafted," he said, "and that’s taking on a system that has been rigged." DEMOCRATS' 'COMEBACK RETREAT' SUGGESTS PARTY TO 'EMBRACE PATRIOTISM' TO WIN BACK WORKING-CLASS VOTERS Khanna also defended the DNC Chair Ken Martin as some Democrats call for his resignation following backlash over the handling of the autopsy report. "No," Khanna said when asked whether Martin should step down. Khanna pointed to Martin’s opposition to super PAC involvement in Democratic primaries and his criticism of superdelegates selecting party nominees as positions he supports. "Ken Martin is a Paul Wellstone Democrat," Khanna said. "There are two things he’s done that I actually agree with." CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE Khanna added that Martin could have handled the autopsy process better and should work more closely with state parties ahead of the 2026 and 2028 election cycles. "Could he have handled this autopsy better? Absolutely," Khanna said. "Should he be working more with state parties to make sure they’re funded into ’26 and ’28? Absolutely. But I don’t believe he should resign." The DNC report was commissioned after Democrats’ losses in the 2024 election cycle and was reportedly delayed before its public release amid internal disagreements over its findings and political fallout. View the full article

More than 25 years after it debuted as one of Universal Orlando’s most iconic themed lands, the Lost Continent is beginning a phased closure at Islands of Adventure. Demolition work has started inside the aging land. Footage from a local station’s news helicopter showed an excavator positioned next to a pile of rubble, according to multiple reports. "In the coming months, venues and experiences within Lost Continent will permanently close in phases to make way for a new themed area," a Universal Orlando spokesperson told Fox News Digital. SIX FLAGS GUESTS STRANDED 245 FEET IN AIR AFTER POWER OUTAGE FORCES COASTER EVACUATION "This will include the closure of Mythos Restaurant in 2027," a statement also noted. The Lost Continent opened with Islands of Adventure in 1999, helping to define the park’s early identity with mythology-inspired architecture, towering stone facades and elaborate storytelling rooted in ancient legends. For years, it served as one of the resort’s most atmospheric lands, blending fantasy adventure, cutting-edge effects and live entertainment, according to Universal Orlando. The area was also home to several fan-favorite attractions. ICONIC SECTIONS OF DISNEY WORLD CLOSING DOWN AND DISAPPEARING BEFORE VISITORS' EYES The Dueling Dragons roller coasters — later re-themed as Dragon Challenge after the arrival of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — were among the resort’s most iconic thrill rides. They were famous for their intertwined layouts, synchronized dispatches and near-miss elements, per Universal Orlando and Wizarding World history pages. Poseidon’s Fury was another signature attraction, drawing crowds with dramatic water tunnel effects, bursts of fire and live actors. But over the last 15 years, Universal has steadily chipped away at the land. CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES In 2010, the Dueling Dragons coasters were re-themed as Dragon Challenge as part of the neighboring Wizarding World of Harry Potter expansion, according to Universal Orlando. That attraction ultimately closed in 2017 to make way for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, now one of the resort’s most popular rides. The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad, a stunt-heavy live show, said goodbye in 2018. Poseidon’s Fury closed in 2023, according to Universal Orlando’s retired attractions page. Mythos Restaurant is expected to remain open through 2027 as part of Universal’s phased closure plan, according to the company press release. "Universal Orlando Resort is continuing its unprecedented momentum as it prepares for a slate of compelling new guest offerings across the destination, ranging from new themed areas to delicious eateries," the resort said in a release shared with Fox News Digital. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER Universal announced the resort’s Horror Make-Up Show at Universal Studios Florida is temporarily closed to prepare for what the company calls a "reimagined experience." The updated production "will showcase a mix of classic and modern horror properties along with shockingly fun surprises." Hogwarts Castle at Islands of Adventure has seen ongoing maintenance and refurbishment work in recent years, according to Orlando Informer. Universal Orlando will debut Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift in 2027, a high-speed roller coaster based on the blockbuster movies, the press release noted. The demolition drew mixed reactions from Universal visitors. "Glad it's finally happening because it's needed it. I mean, the two attractions have been closed for 8 years and 3 years," one Reddit user said. But many fans were sad to see Lost Continent go. "Goodbye, Lost Continent, you will always be my favorite show," said one TikTok user. TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ "RIP, Lost Continent. Thank you for everything," another said. A third TikTok user chimed in with these words: "The end of an era." View the full article

Gordon Ramsay may be one of the most feared chefs on television, but inside his home, there is one non-negotiable rule that has nothing to do with food. The "MasterChef" star, who shares six children with his wife, Tana Ramsay, revealed on the FOX Upfront 2026 red carpet that the biggest lesson he is determined to pass down is not about perfecting a steak or mastering a soufflé — it’s about basic respect. "The one thing I’ve taught them all, brilliantly, are manners," Ramsay told Fox News Digital. "The most important thing in life, but they cost zero." 'BAYWATCH' STAR BROOKS NADER'S CONSERVATIVE PARENTS BANNED BIKINIS GROWING UP AS SHE SLIPS INTO RED SWIMSUIT For Ramsay, the rule applies across the board — whether his kids are serving in the military, studying at university or growing up in the spotlight of their father’s global fame. The celebrity chef and Tana are parents to Megan, who was born in 1998; twins Jack and Holly, (1999); Matilda, who goes by "Tilly," (2001); Oscar, (2019); and Jesse, who was born in (2023). WATCH: GORDON RAMSAY LAYS DOWN THE ONE NON-NEGOTIABLE RULE THAT RUNS HIS HOME And while Ramsay’s empire spans restaurants, television and social media, he has made it clear he does not want entitlement anywhere near his household. GORDON RAMSAY UNDERGOES SURGERY FOR SKIN CANCER "Jack’s a Royal Marine commando, off defending the country in some of the most extreme conditions," Ramsay previously told People. "Megan’s an incredible police officer. Holly’s gone into fashion. Tilly’s studying at university for her degree. Tana and I came from a family with no degrees." Tana has also credited their big-family upbringing for helping the couple navigate life with six children. WATCH: ‘BAYWATCH’ STAR DITCHES THIS ONE FOOD GROUP TO MAINTAIN BEACH-READY PHYSIQUE "I’m one of four, Gordon’s one of four, so it’s sort of second nature to me," she added. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER But if there is one place Ramsay still loses patience, it is in the kitchen. When Fox News Digital asked what mistake continues to make him crazy after years of judging aspiring cooks, Ramsay didn’t hesitate. LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS "The one mistake I see over and over that drives me insane, they think seasoning food should be done at the end," he said. "When you season food, beginning small, middle small and correct the seasoning at the end. Don’t wait until it’s cooked before you start seasoning. Food needs to be cooked with seasoning, not ignored for 90% of the journey." Ramsay also opened up about what keeps him hooked on competition television after decades in the business — the chaos. "I get so excited when that mixture becomes real with social media stars, amateurs and then professionals, because they rub each other up the wrong way and, so, that creates friction even before I get into the mix," he said. "Then the intensity with a grab from that platform. Cooking is hard enough, but pivoting with ingredients you’ve never cooked before is bloody hard and that excites me." FOX has renewed Ramsay’s shows for additional seasons, including "Kitchen Nightmares," "Hell’s Kitchen," "Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service," "Next Level Baker" and "Next Level Chef." View the full article