(CNN) — Actress Shannen Doherty is letting her social media followers in on the spread of her breast cancer.

The “Beverly Hills, 90210” star on Tuesday posted a video on her verified Instagram account of her receiving treatment as tears filled her eyes. The caption on the video began, “January 12, 2023.”

“On January 5th, my ct scan showed Mets in my brain. Yesterdays video was showing the process of getting fitted for the mask which you wear during radiation to your brain,” the caption reads. “January 12, the first round of radiation took place.”

“My fear is obvious. I am extremely claustrophobic and there was a lot going on in my life,” Doherty, 52, wrote. “I am fortunate as I have great doctors like Dr Amin (Mirhadi) and the amazing techs at cedar sinai. But that fear…. The turmoil….. the timing of it all…. This is what cancer can look like.”

The “Charmed” star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 that went into remission two years later. In 2020, Doherty announced the cancer had returned, spread and was stage 4.

NEW YORK (AP) — The chief executive CNN pushed out of a job on Wednesday faced mounting problems in his first year leading the struggling network: viewership and profits were declining, programming blunders were growing and the network’s journalists were losing confidence by the day.

Chris Licht’s very bad year culminated in a damning magazine profile last week, and just a few days later his tumultuous 13-month tenure was over.

Licht, 51, was informed of his ouster Wednesday morning, and it was announced to the staff at the daily editorial meeting — the same place where Licht had said two days earlier that he would “fight like hell” to earn the trust of those around him.

The executive who hired and fired Licht — David Zaslav, the CEO of CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery — accepted some of the blame for the network’s turmoil over the past year, and he appointed a four-person interim leadership team. Zaslav promised CNN staff a thorough search for Licht’s replacement.

“This really caps a tumultuous year for CNN that has seen shrinking profits, programming mistakes and really low employee morale,” CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy said on his own network Wednesday.

Licht had a mandate to focus on news and try to and make CNN more palatable to both sides of the country’s political divide; Republicans had become increasingly suspicious of the network following repeated attacks by former President Donald Trump.

But some at the network saw the way that change was communicated as a repudiation of their past work. A live town hall interview with Trump last month drew widespread criticism, with the former president overwhelming moderator Kaitlan Collins with several misstatements, as a pro-Trump live audience cheered him on.

Earlier in the year, Licht revamped the network’s morning show, but that proved unsuccessful and led to the firing of longtime personality Don Lemon. Efforts to build a new prime-time lineup moved slowly, with Collins only recently appointed to fill at 9 p.m. hour that had been without a permanent host since Chris Cuomo was fired in December 2021.

Licht oversaw layoffs last year following Zaslav’s decision to shutter the CNN+ streaming service only weeks after it had started. There were other cutbacks: shows hosted by Lisa Ling and Stanley Tucci were axed, along with the “Reliable Sources” media program and its host, Brian Stelter.

Licht, who had produced MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” CBS’ morning news show and Stephen Colbert’s late-night show, was appointed by Zaslav just over a year ago to replace an internally popular predecessor, Jeff Zucker. Zucker was fired for not revealing a consensual relationship with a fellow CNN executive.

Ultimately, the promotion from a show producer to leading an international news organization proved too steep a challenge.

Zaslav said in a memo to CNN staff members that the job “was never going to be easy, especially at a time of great disruption and transformation.

“Chris poured his heart and soul into it,” he said. “He has a deep love for journalism and this business and that has been evident throughout his tenure. Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we had hoped — and ultimately that’s on me.”

Licht did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

A lengthy profile of Licht in Atlantic magazine that came out on Friday, titled “Inside the Meltdown at CNN,” proved embarrassing and likely sealed his fate. Author Tim Alberta discussed how Licht’s effort to reach viewers turned off by CNN’s hostility to Trump had failed and damaged his standing with CNN journalists.

“Licht’s theory of CNN — what had gone wrong, how to fix it, and why doing so could lift the entire industry — made a lot of sense,” Alberta wrote. “The execution of that theory? Another story. Every move he made, big programming decisions and small tactical maneuvers alike, seemed to backfire.”

In the piece, Licht talked about how some of CNN’s COVID coverage had been high-strung and lost touch with the country, a criticism that angered many in the newsroom.

Ultimately, Alberta could not get Zaslav to agree to an on-the-record assessment of Licht’s tenure, an ominous sign.

Some of CNN’s chief anchors — Jake Tapper, Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett — had privately expressed their reservations about Licht’s leadership, according to a Wall Street Journal article that was posted Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, viewers were disappearing, a decline exacerbated by the quickening trend of consumers cutting the cord from traditional cable. CNN’s prime-time viewership of 494,000 in May was down 16% from April and was less than half of its closest news rival, MSNBC. It was down 25% from the average of 660,000 in May 2022.

CNN’s profits have also been sinking. The network generated $892,000 in profit in 2022, down from $1.08 billion in 2020, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Zaslav appointed four current CNN executives — Amy Entelis, Virginia Moseley, Eric Sherling and David Leavy — to run the network while a search for a replacement is conducted. Leavy, a top Zaslav aide from Warner Bros. Discovery, was appointed chief operating officer last week to help shore up CNN’s management.

“We are in good hands, allowing us to take the time we need to run a thoughtful and thorough search for a new leader,” Zaslav said in the memo.

CNN also let go of two public relations executives on Wednesday — Kris Coratti Kelly and Matt Dornic.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana State Fair has revealed five of the performers set to hit the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage this summer.

The 2023 free stage lineup includes:

• Clint Black | July 28 (opening day)
• Peppa Pig Live! Peppa Pig’s Adventure | July 30
• Keith Sweat | August 2
• TobyMac | August 6
• THE TAYLOR PARTY | August 12
• Buddy Guy: Damn Right Farewell | August 18

All shows at the free stage are free with fair admission and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. A limited amount of reserved viewing area tickets will be available later this summer.

Additional free stage performers will be announced soon.

The Indiana State Fair runs July 29 – August 21 and will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Visit the state fair’s website for more information.

About the Artists

Clint Black burst on the country music scene with his groundbreaking album, “Killin’ Time,” in 1989. Black has sold more than 20 million records and collected 22 #1 singles and numerous awards. His 12th studio album, “Out of Sane,” drops June 19.

Peppa Pig Live! Peppa Pig’s Adventure invites families on an exciting camping trip in the woods with George and her school friends, including Pedro Pony, Suzy Sheep, and Gerald Giraffe. With lunchboxes packed and Daddy Pig driving the bus, a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Keith Sweat is a Harlem-born R&B singer/songwriter who released his debut album, “Make It Last Forever,” in 1987. The album spawned the hit songs “I Want Her,” “Something Just Ain’t Right” and “Make it Last Forever.” His latest album, “Can’t Nobody,” came out in 2021.

TobyMac is a chart-topping Christian artist with 16 million units in career sales and a whopping seven GRAMMY Awards. His most recent singles, including “21 Years,” and “Promised Land,” are available for streaming, along with his seventh studio project, “LIFE AFTER DEATH.”

THE TAYLOR PARTY: TAYLOR SWIFT NIGHT promises to be a party “Taylor-made” for ultimate fans. Surrounded by Swifties, you’ll sing and dance through all her iconic eras, so grab your crown and your crew, come early, and come party, forevermore!

BUDDY GUY, one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, is embarking on his farewell tour. The 86-year-old icon has influenced artists like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him No. 23 in its “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

Enter to win a Hoosier Lottery Prize Package

As the title sponsor of the free stage, The Hoosier Lottery is inviting fairgoers 18 or older to enter the free myLOTTERY All-Inclusive Indiana State Fair Prize Package promotion.

Six people will win State Fair tickets, parking, Free Stage premium seating, a Hoosier Lottery Prize Pack, an autographed Indiana Pacers jersey, and Indiana Fever tickets.

Enter by signing up to become a myLOTTERY member or confirming your existing account at HoosierLottery.com/StateFair by July 9, 2023. Odds of winning are dependent upon the number of entries received.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Valentine’s Day date alert!

On Feb. 14, comedian Matt Rife will visit Bloomington, Indiana’s Indiana University Auditorium. He’s perhaps best known for his two self-produced specials on YouTube and his TikTok posts.

If fans would rather see Rife sooner and on another day, he will visit Indianapolis’ Murat Theatre at Old National Centre on Oct. 15. That’s also known as National Grouch Day.

Rife recently has sold out comedy shows across the nation, from Hawaii to New York.

Actor Ashton Kutcher helped Rife announce his “ProbleMATTic World Tour” during a YouTube post. Kutcher, playing a genie, agreed to grant Rife a wish.

Rife’s first wish was to go on a date Kutcher’s wife, Mila Kunis.

Kutcher, who starred in the movie “Dude, Where’s My Car” and TV’s “That ’70s Show” and more, replied, “She’s very happily married and I’m pretty sure she’s not into problematic **** boys.”

Without giving away the video’s entire storyline, Kutcher grants Rife’s wish for a dream world tour.

It’ll start July 20 at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend, Oregon, and end March 28-29 with two shows at the del Lago Resort and Casino in Waterloo, New York. The tour also goes into Australia, Canada and Europe.

Ticket are available at Rife’s website, and beginning at 10 a.m. Friday at IUauditorium.com and Ticketmaster.com.

NEW YORK (AP) — Françoise Gilot, a prolific and acclaimed painter who produced art for well more than a half-century but was nonetheless more famous for her turbulent relationship with Pablo Picasso — and for leaving him — died Tuesday in New York City, where she had lived for decades. She was 101.

Gilot’s daughter, Aurelia Engel, told The Associated Press her mother had died at Mount Sinai West hospital after suffering both lung and heart problems. “She was an extremely talented artist, and we will be working on her legacy and the incredible paintings and works she is leaving us with,” Engel said.

The French-born Gilot had long made her frustration clear that despite acclaim for her art, which she produced from her teenage years until five years ago, she would still be best known for her relationship with the older and more famous Picasso, whom she met in 1943 at age 21, his junior by four decades. The union produced two children — Claude and Paloma Picasso. But unlike the other key women in Picasso’s life — wives or paramours — Gilot eventually walked out.

“He never saw it coming,” Engel said of her mother’s departure. “She was there because she loved him and because she really believed in that incredible passion of art which they both shared. (But) she came as a free, though very, very young, but very independent person.”

Gilot herself told The Guardian newspaper in 2016 that “I was not a prisoner” in the relationship.

“I’d been there of my own will, and I left of my own will,” she said, then 94. “That’s what I told him once, before I left. I said: ‘Watch out, because I came when I wanted to, but I will leave when I want.’ He said, ‘Nobody leaves a man like me.’ I said, ‘We’ll see.’ ”

Gilot wrote several books, the most famous of which was “Life with Picasso,” written in 1964 with Carlton Lake. An angry Picasso sought unsuccessfully to ban its publication. “He attacked her in court, and he lost three times,” said Engel, 66, an architect by training who now manages her mother’s archives. But, she said, “after the third loss he called her and said congratulations. He fought it, but at the same time, I think he was proud to have been with a woman who had such guts like he had.”

Born on Nov. 26, 1921, in leafy Neuilly-sur-Seine in suburban Paris, Gilot was an only child. “She knew at the age of five that she wanted to be a painter,” Engel said. In accordance with her parents’ wishes, she studied law, however, while maintaining art as her true passion. She first exhibited her paintings in 1943.

That was the year she met Picasso, by chance, when she and a friend visited a restaurant on the Left Bank, amid a gathering that included his then-companion, Dora Maar.

“I was 21 and I felt that painting was already my whole life,” she writes in “Life With Picasso.” When Picasso asked Gilot and her friend what they did, the friend responded that they were painters, to which Picasso responded, Gilot writes: “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Girls who look like that can’t be painters.” The two were invited to visit Picasso in his studio, and the relationship soon began.

Not long after leaving Picasso in 1953, Gilot reunited with a former friend, artist Luc Simon, and married him in 1955. They had a daughter — Engel — and divorced in 1962. In 1970, Gilot married Jonas Salk, the American virologist and researcher famed for his work with the polio vaccine, and began living between California and Paris, and later New York. When he died in 1995, Gilot moved full-time to New York and spent her last years on the Upper West Side.

Her art only increased in value over the years. In 2021 her “Paloma à la Guitare” (1965) sold for $1.3 million at a Sotheby’s auction. Her work has shown in many prominent museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Her life with Picasso was illustrated in the 1996 movie “Surviving Picasso,” directed by James Ivory.

Engel noted that although the relationship with Picasso was clearly a difficult one, it gave her mother a certain freedom from her parents and the constraints of a bourgeois life — and perhaps enabled her to pursue her true dream of being a professional painter, a passion she shared with Picasso above all else.

“They both believed that art was the only thing in life worth doing,” she said. “And she was able to be her true self, even though it was not an easy life with him. But still she was able to be her true self.”

And for Engel, her mother’s key legacy was not only her creativity but her courage, which was reflected in her art, which was always changing, never staying safe.

“She was not without fear. But she would always confront her fears and jump in the void and take risks, no matter what,” Engel said.

NEW YORK (AP) — Just as a trial was to begin, it was revealed Tuesday that Cuba Gooding Jr. has settled accusations that he raped a woman in a New York City hotel a decade ago, according to court records. The actor had insisted through lawyers that his encounter with the woman was consensual after the two met at a nearby restaurant.

The trial was to start with jury selection in New York federal court as the Oscar-winning “Jerry Maguire” star faced allegations that he met the woman in Manhattan, persuaded her to join him at a hotel, and convinced her to stop at his room so he could change clothing.

Minutes after jurors were to begin assembling in a courtroom, a calendar entry in the official court record said: “TRIAL OFF.” It added: “Reason for cancellation (on consent): the parties have resolved the matter.”

The woman had proceeded anonymously until last week, when Judge Paul A. Crotty ruled that she would have to reveal her name at trial. She said in her lawsuit that Gooding raped her in his room. His lawyers, though, insisted that it was consensual sex and that she bragged afterward to others that she had sex with a celebrity.

The lawsuit sought $6 million in damages. Attorney Gloria Allred, one of several representing the woman, declined comment. Other lawyers, including those representing Gooding, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit was filed against a man who authorities say has been accused of committing sexual misconduct against more than 30 other women, including groping, unwanted kissing and other inappropriate behavior.

Late last week, the judge seemed to strengthen the woman’s hand at trial and in settlement negotiations by ruling that he would let three women testify that they also were subjected to sudden sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults after meeting Gooding in social settings such as festivals, bars, nightclubs and restaurants.

One of the women who had planned to testify at the trial was Kelsey Harbert, who told police Gooding fondled her without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square in 2019.

Harbert said last year after Gooding pleaded guilty in New York state court to a charge that spared him from jail or a criminal history that never getting her day in court was “more disappointing than words can say.”

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they grant permission, as Harbert has done.

Gooding, a star in films including “Boyz n the Hood” and “Radio,” was permitted to plead guilty in April 2022 to a misdemeanor, admitting that he forcibly kissed a worker at a New York nightclub in 2018.

By staying out of trouble and completing six months of alcohol and behavioral counseling, Gooding was permitted to withdraw his guilty plea and plead guilty to a non-criminal harassment violation, eliminating his criminal record and preventing further penalties.

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry stepped into courtroom witness box Tuesday to hold Britain’s tabloid press accountable for its “destructive” role throughout his life. But he soon found himself being held to account by a newspaper’s lawyer for how he could blame his anguish on articles he couldn’t remember reading.

The Duke of Sussex became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in over a century as he held a Bible in his right hand and, in a soft voice, swore to tell the “whole truth and nothing but the truth” in the High Court in London.

Harry accuses the publisher of the Daily Mirror of using unlawful techniques on an “industrial scale” to score front-page scoops on his life.

Sitting in the witness box, dressed in a dark suit and tie, Harry told Mirror Group Newspapers attorney Andrew Green that he had “experienced hostility from the press since I was born.” The prince accused the tabloids of playing “a destructive role in my growing-up.”

Harry was forced almost immediately to acknowledge that he wasn’t sure he could recall the 33 specific articles he was complaining about from the thousands he said had been written about him.

“Is it realistic, when you have been the subject of so much press intrusion by so many press, both domestic and international, to attribute specific distress to a particular article from 20 years ago, which you may not have seen at the time?” Green asked.

“It isn’t a specific article, it is all of the articles,” Harry said. “Every single article has caused me distress.”

The case dates from 1996 to 2011 — a period when phone hacking by tabloid journalists was later discovered to be widespread. It led to later revelations of more intrusive means such as phone tapping, home bugging and obtaining bank and medical records by deception.

Harry said the articles caused him to become depressed and paranoid, distrustful of friends, who he feared were feeding information to the media. His circle of friends shrank, relationships fell apart and he felt constantly in the glare of the journalists who were shaping the narrative of his life.

“I genuinely feel that in every relationship that I’ve ever had – be that with friends, girlfriends, with family or with the army, there’s always been a third party involved, namely the tabloid press,” Harry said in a written witness statement released Tuesday.

Green asked Harry to identify what evidence he had of phone hacking in specific articles, and Harry repeatedly said he’d have to ask that question of the journalist who wrote it. He continually insisted that the manner in which information had been obtained was highly or incredibly suspicious.

He said some of the journalists had been known for hacking or that there were invoices to third parties, including private investigators known for snooping, around the time of the articles.

When asked how reporters could have hacked his phone for an article about his 12th birthday — a time when he admitted he didn’t have a mobile phone — he suggested they may have hacked the phone of his mother, the late Princess Diana.

“That’s just speculation you’ve come up with now,” Green suggested.

The attorney then pointed out that a reference in the same article to him taking his parents’ divorce badly was obvious.

“Like most children, I think, yes,” Harry said.

But the prince said it was not legitimate to report such information and “the methods in which it was obtained seem incredibly suspicious.”

Green then pointed out that his mother previously made public comments to reporters about the difficulties her children faced after the divorce.

The 38-year-old son of King Charles III is the first senior British royal since the 19th century to face questioning in a court. An ancestor, the future King Edward VII, appeared as a witness in a trial over a gambling scandal in 1891.

Harry has made a mission of holding the U.K. media to account for what he sees as their hounding of him and his family.

Setting out the prince’s case in court Monday, his lawyer, David Sherborne, said that from Harry’s childhood, British newspapers used hacking and subterfuge to mine snippets of information that could be turned into front-page scoops.

He said that stories about Harry were big sellers for the newspapers, and around 2,500 articles had covered all facets of his life during the time period of the case — 1996 to 2011 — from injuries at school to experimenting with marijuana and cocaine, to ups and downs with girlfriends.

“Nothing was sacrosanct or out of bounds” for the tabloids, the lawyer said.

Hacking — the practice of guessing or using default security codes to listen to celebrities’ cellphone voice messages — was widespread at British tabloids in the early years of this century. It became an existential crisis for the industry after the revelation in 2011 that the News of the World had hacked the phone of a slain 13-year-old girl. Owner Rupert Murdoch shut down the paper and several of his executives faced criminal trials.

Mirror Group has paid more than 100 million pounds ($125 million) to settle hundreds of unlawful information-gathering claims, and printed an apology to phone hacking victims in 2015.

But the newspaper denies or hasn’t admitted any of Harry’s claims.

Green said Monday there was “simply no evidence capable of supporting the finding that the Duke of Sussex was hacked, let alone on a habitual basis.”

Harry’s fury at the U.K. press — and sometimes at his own royal relatives for what he sees as their collusion with the media — runs through his memoir, “Spare,” and interviews conducted by Oprah Winfrey and others.

He has blamed paparazzi for causing the car crash that killed his mother, and said harassment and intrusion by the U.K. press, including allegedly racist articles, led him and his wife, Meghan, to flee to the U.S. in 2020 and leave royal life behind.

NEW YORK (CNN) — Members of the union representing television and film actors have voted to authorize a strike against major studios if a new contract isn’t reached by the time their current deal ends on June 30.

Members of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists “voted 97.91% in favor of a strike authorization ahead of negotiations of the TV/Theatrical Contracts, with nearly 65,000 members casting ballots for a voting percentage of 47.69% of eligible voters,” according to a news release.

“The strike authorization votes have been tabulated and the membership joined their elected leadership and negotiating committee in favor of strength and solidarity,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. “I’m proud of all of you who voted as well as those who were vocally supportive, even if unable to vote. Everyone played a part in this achievement.”

The vote does not mean a strike is certain. Negotiations for a new deal are set to start Wednesday. But the two sides are widely seen as far apart as the talks get underway. If the actors do walk out, they would join members of the Writers Guild of America already on picket lines.

More than 11,000 members of the WGA have been on strike for five weeks without any new negotiations being held in that time with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). That management group negotiates on behalf of both traditional television and movie studios as well as streaming services. Companies include Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), CBS (VIAC), Disney (DIS), NBC Universal, Netflix (NFLX), Paramount Global, Sony (SNE), and CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.

If the two unions find themselves on the picket lines together in July, they will be without a third major guild, the Directors Guild of America, which reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with AMPTP this past Saturday, about four weeks before its contract was due to expire.

Exact details of that deal have yet to be released, but the DGA said it represented “advances on wages, streaming residuals, safety, creative rights and diversity, as well as securing essential protections for our members on new key issues like artificial intelligence – ensuring DGA members will not be replaced by technological advances.” Some of those are the same issues the WGA has said it is striking for, and that SAG-AFTRA said it will be seeking in its own negotiations scheduled to start Wednesday.

But SAG-AFTRA and WGA both said their positions will not be weakened by the DGA reaching a tentative labor deal before they have reached their own agreements and that it won’t force them to accept the deal that DGA has reached.

“Our bargaining strategy has never relied upon nor been dependent on the outcome or status of any other union’s negotiations, nor do we subscribe to the philosophy that the terms of deals made with other unions bind us,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, in a message to members.

“The AMPTP divide and conquer strategy won’t work this time,” said a message to WGA members for the union’s bargaining committee. “The AMPTP will not be able to negotiate a deal for writers with anyone but us.”

Several industry experts said Monday that they were not surprised that DGA had reached a deal before the two other unions.

“Historically the directors have always reached quick conclusions with studios,” said Tom Nunan, a lecturer at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, as well as a film producer and writer. The DGA tentative deal “doesn’t hurt the leverage or the pursuit of better working conditions for the writers and possibly the actors. But it doesn’t necessarily help.”

Both Nunan and other experts say they think that it is likely that actors will join the writers on the picket lines next month.

“I think there’s a significant difference [between studios and actors] on wage increase, residuals, artificial intelligence and auditions,” said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney and author of the book, “Hollywood on Strike!: An Industry at War in the Internet Age.” He puts the chance of an actors’ strike at about two to one.

Some television shows, particularly late-night shows that are written daily in order to be timely, have had their production halted by the writers’ strike. Some shows and films that have had scripts already completed have continued to film since the writers went on strike. However, a strike by the actors would bring production to a halt in most cases, threatening the start of the traditional fall television season as well as major films that are planned for late this year or in 2024.

But studios might be willing to take a prolonged strike, especially with many of them in cost-cutting modes with greater emphasis on proving their profitability to investors. Many major media and tech companies have already announced deep layoffs and other cost-cutting measures in recent months.

“The studios have shown no inclination to engage the writers,” said Nunan “The studios and streamers are already in a huge cost-cutting mode. The strike is working for the studios and streamers.”

It’s no secret that Christopher Nolan made “Oppenheimer” to be seen on the big screen. But not all big screens are created equal.

That’s part of the reason why Universal Pictures has made “Oppenheimer” tickets available early for over a thousand “premium large format” (or PLF) screens, with options including IMAX 70mm, 70mm, IMAX digital, 35mm, Dolby Cinema and more.

Knowing that even those words can get overwhelming and technical, Nolan went a step further: In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, he offered a guide to his favorite formats, explaining why it matters and even where he likes to sit so that audiences don’t feel like they need a film school degree (or one in theoretical physics) before settling on a theater.

“You rarely get the chance to really talk to moviegoers directly about why you love a particular format and why if they can find an IMAX screen to see the film on that’s great,” Nolan said. “We put a lot of effort into shooting the film in a way that we can get it out on these large format screens. It really is just a great way of giving people an experience that they can’t possibly get in the home.”

In a film about about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who oversaw the development of first atomic bomb during World War II, this will be especially pivotal in viewing the Trinity Test, the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. Nolan and his effects teams recreated the blast, with all its blinding brilliance.

“We knew that this had to be the showstopper,” Nolan said. “We’re able to do things with picture now that before we were really only able to do with sound in terms of an oversize impact for the audience—an almost physical sense of response to the film.”

“Oppenheimer,” starring Cillian Murphy, opens in theaters on July 21.

THE BIG PICTURE

“Oppenheimer” was shot using some of the highest resolution film cameras that exist. Like “ Dunkirk ” and “ Tenet,” “Oppenheimer” was filmed entirely on large format film stock, meaning a combination of IMAX 65mm and Panavision 65mm (think David Lean/”Lawrence of Arabia”), that’s then projected in 70mm.

“The sharpness and the clarity and the depth of the image is unparalleled,” Nolan said. “The headline, for me, is by shooting on IMAX 70mm film, you’re really letting the screen disappear. You’re getting a feeling of 3D without the glasses. You’ve got a huge screen and you’re filling the peripheral vision of the audience. You’re immersing them in the world of the film.”

Nolan has been shooting with IMAX cameras since “The Dark Knight.” Audiences would regularly gasp at seeing its first shot projected in IMAX 70mm. Though it’s “just a helicopter shot” of some buildings in Chicago, it helps explain the ineffable power of the format.

On a technical level, the IMAX film resolution is almost 10 times more than a 35mm projector and each frame has some 18,000 pixels of resolution versus a home HD screen that has 1,920 pixels.

WHY IS IT SHOT ON 65MM AND PROJECTED IN 70MM?

The 5mm difference goes back to when that extra space on the film had to be reserved for the soundtrack. With digital sound, that’s unnecessary and it is “purely a visual enhancement,” Nolan explained.

DO THE DIFFERENT FORMATS IMPACT HOW THE FILM IS SHOT?

“We have to plan very carefully because by shooting an IMAX film, you capture a lot of information,” he said. “Your movie is going to translate very well to all the formats because you’re getting the ultimate amount of visual information. But there are different shapes to the screen — what we call aspect ratios. What you have to plan is how you then frame your imagery so that it can be presented in different theaters with equal success.”

Starting with “The Dark Knight,” they developed a system that they call “center punching the action” so that nothing is lost.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema is also always aware of the “frame lines for the different theaters” when looking through the camera.

On the biggest presentations, IMAX 1.43:1 (the massive square screen) the screen essentially disappears for the audience. For other formats like 35mm, the top and the bottom get cropped.

But, Nolan said, “from a creative point of view, what we’ve found over the years is that there’s no compromise to composition.”

WHY NOT MAKE AN ENTIRE MOVIE IN IMAX?

The IMAX cameras are just too loud for dialogue heavy scenes, but Nolan is optimistic about the new cameras being developed.

WHAT’S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BLACK AND WHITE SEQUENCES?

Some of “Oppenheimer” is presented in black and white for a very specific story reason.

“I knew that I had two timelines that we were running in the film,” Nolan said. “One is in color, and that’s Oppenheimer’s subjective experience. That’s the bulk of the film. Then the other is a black and white timeline. It’s a more objective view of his story from a different character’s point of view.”

Nolan’s desire for the black and white portions to be of equal image quality to the rest of the film led to the development of the first ever black and white IMAX film stock, which Kodak made and Fotokem developed.

“We shot a lot of our hair and makeup tests using black and white. And then we would go to the IMAX film projector at CityWalk and project it there,” he said. “I’ve just never seen anything like it. To see such a massive black and white film image? It’s just a wonderful thing.”

NOLAN’S FAVORITE THEATRICAL FORMATS

For Nolan, the “best possible experience” to view “Oppenheimer” in theaters is the IMAX 70mm film presentations. These are also among the rarest, currently set for 25 locations in North America including the AMC Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, the AMC Lincoln Square in New York, the Cinemark Dallas, the Regal King of Prussia near Philadelphia and the AutoNation IMAX in Fort Lauderdale.

The prints span over 11 miles of film stock, weigh some 600 pounds and run through film projectors horizontally.

There will also be over one hundred 70mm prints (“a fabulous presentation,” Nolan said) sent to theaters around the world, with over 77 (and more to come) on sale in North America at major chains and many independent locations like the Music Box in Chicago and the AFI Silver in Washington D.C.

“The two formats are sort of different and I love them both,” he said.

The sequences projected in IMAX 70mm really “come to life” on those screens, and vice versa for the 70mm sequences on those specific projectors. In IMAX theaters, for example, things shot with IMAX film cameras will expand vertically to fill the entire screen.

IMAX DIGITAL, LASER AND EXHIBITOR PLF OPTIONS

The vast majority of moviegoers in North America will have easier access to digital presentations. These include IMAX digital, which can sometimes mean a laser projected image and other times involves a retro formatted screen, and what’s called “exhibitor PLF,” meaning large format screen and projection systems developed by individual theater chains (like Regal RPX, Cinemark XD and Cineplex UltraAVX). When in doubt, look for an “X” in the name.

But don’t dismay: It’ll still look great, according to Nolan, whose team has worked for six months to digitize the original film for other formats to ensure the best experience on every screen.

“This is the exciting thing about shooting an IMAX film: When you scan it for the digital format, you’re working with the absolute best possible image that you could acquire, and that translates wonderfully to the new projector formats like the laser projectors,” he said.

Nolan said the “IMAX impact” over the last 20 to 30 years has resulted in more theaters paying more attention to presentation, from projection to sound, which has been “great for filmmakers.”

WHERE ARE THE BEST SEATS?

Well, that comes down to personal preference but here’s where Nolan likes to sit.

“When I’m in a theater that’s Cinemascope ratio, I like to be right near the front, middle of the third row,” he said. “When I’m in a stadium, IMAX 1.43:1, then I actually like to be a little behind the center line right up at the middle. So, a little further back.”

NEW YORK (AP) — “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” opened in U.S. and Canadian theaters with a massive $120.5 million, more than tripling the debut of the 2018 animated original and showing the kind of movie-to-movie box-office growth that would be the envy of even the mightiest of Hollywood franchises.

Sony Pictures’ “Across the Spider-Verse,” the multi-verse spinning animated Spider-Man spinoff, sailed way past expectations, according to studio estimates Sunday, riding terrific reviews (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and strong buzz for the hotly anticipated follow-up to the Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

In the sometimes formulaic realm of superhero movies, 2018’s “Into the Spider-Verse” offered a blast of originality, introducing a teenage webslinger from Brooklyn, Miles Morales ( Shameik Moore ), a punk-rock Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and a host of other Spider-People. It launched with $35.4 million on its way to $384.3 million worldwide.

“Across the Spider-Verse,” which exponentially expands the film’s universe-skipping worlds, cost $100 million to make, about half the cost of the average live-action comic-book movie. So at even the forecast $80 million that “Spider-Verse” had been expected to open, “Across the Spider-Verse” would have been a hit.

Instead, it has turned out to be a box-office sensation, and the second largest domestic opening of 2023, trailing only “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” “Across the Spider-Verse,” directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, even topped “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which debuted with $118 million, for best opening weekend of the summer so far.

The film, shepherded by writer-producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is part two in a trilogy that will conclude with a third chapter to be released next year. “Across the Spider-Verse” over-performed abroad, too, with $88.1 million overseas.

After few family offerings for much of the first half of 2023, theaters are suddenly flush with kid-friendly entertainment. Last week’s top film, the Walt Disney Co.’s live action remake “The Little Mermaid,” slid to second with $40.6 million in it second weekend.

After launching with $95.5 million and $117.5 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, “The Little Mermaid” dipped 57%, partly due to the formidable competition from “Across the Spider-Verse.”

Having cost a reported $250 million to make, “The Little Mermaid” was met with mixed reviews but more enthusiasm from audiences, which gave it an “A” CinemaScore. But overseas, where previous Disney live-action remakes have thrived, is proving harder territory this time. The film added $42.4 million internationally over the weekend.

Disney also supplied the weekend’s top counter-programming option in “The Boogeyman,” a mostly well-received horror adaptation of a Stephen King short story. Director Rob Savage’s $35 million film, starring Sophie Thatcher and Chris Messina, had originally been intended to debut on Hulu before the studio pivoted. It opened with $12.3 million in ticket sales.

In limited release, the Sundance breakout film “Past Lives” launched with an impressive $58,067 per-screen average on four screens. Celine Song’s directorial debut stars Greta Lee as a woman torn between a childhood friend from Korea (Teo Yoo) and her American husband (John Magaro).

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” $120.5 million.

2. “The Little Mermaid,” $40.6 million.

3. “The Boogeyman,” $12.3 million.

4. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” $10.2 million.

5. “Fast X,” $9.2 million.

6. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” $3.4 million.

7. “About My Father,” $2.1 million.

8. “The Machine,” $1.8 million.

9. “Suga: Agust D Tour Live in Japan,” $1.2 million.

10. “You Hurt My Feelings,” $770,000.