Hale and Harding have known each other for almost 20 years, and they are once again reunited for The 12 Dates of Christmas, a holiday romcom that premiered today on Hulu. To mark the release of the film, Nerd Reactor had the duo draw the ultimate Christmas date.

The two talk about holiday mishaps, spending time in a family’s cabin, and their characters’ love language. They discuss the date while trying to draw in just 5 minutes. No pressure!

You can now stream The 12 Dates of Christmas on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

About The 12 Dates of Christmas

Synopsis: Christina Walker, a successful shop owner who has devoted her energy to her career at the expense of her dating life, goes on 12 dates in the 12 weeks leading up to Christmas hoping to find Mr. Right.

The film is directed by David Lipper and written by Seth Howard and David Lipper.

It stars Lucy Hale, Ian Harding, Greer Grammer, Paul Ben Victor, with Kahyun Kim, and Penelope Ann Miller.

The post Lucy Hale and Ian Harding Draw the Ultimate Christmas Date for The 12 Dates of Christmas appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The One Piece Mugiwara Store in LA also features mini posters, plushies, artworks, figures, and other merchandise.

Check out the video below to see the store’s interactivity and the Straw Hat crew come to life via the digital screens on the sides.

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The One Piece Mugiwara Store is now open at the Westfield Century City mall. You can sign up for reserve priority entry here.

It’s another big month for One Piece with the Fortnite x One Piece “Treasure Hunters” mini-season. It features One Piece skins, a battle pass, and maps, and players get to eat Devil Fruits and gain powers.

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The film stars Teo Yoo (Past Lives) as a mysterious outsider navigating a near-future Manhattan where corporate loyalty and cultural tradition collide. An employee’s death leads the protagonist to reveal the brutal nature of the company’s secrets. 

Today, the trailer for Karōshi has arrived, teasing the setting and the characters. You can check out the trailer below.

Karōshi slashes into theaters on February 5, 2027.

About Karōshi

Synopsis: Produced by Chad Stahelski (John Wick franchise) and written and directed by Takashi Doscher, KARŌSHI is an action-thriller set in a near-future Manhattan, where corporate loyalty and cultural tradition have reshaped everyday life. When a mysterious outsider infiltrates a powerful company after a worker’s death, he exposes the violent system hidden beneath its polished surface.

The film stars Teo Yoo (Past Lives), Isabel May (Scream 7), Takehiro Hira (“Shōgun”), Bill Camp (“Presumed Innocent”), Show Kasamatsu (“Tokyo Vice”), with Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”), and Cynthia Erivo (Wicked).

The film’s runtime is 88 minutes.

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Owen Wilson is known for playing smooth talkers, which includes his characters in Stick, Shanghai Noon, and Wedding Crashers. The actor talks about why these characters are fun to play.

“There’s sort of a fine line between charm and delusion,” Wilson explains to Nerd Reactor. “I do think that the best con men, they say, are incredibly susceptible to other con men. Because it’s really about selling hope, and just like a good actor, who’s going to be able to convince you? Someone who you get the feeling doesn’t really believe it, or someone who really does believe what they’re saying to you. That’s probably why it’s fun to play those kinds of characters.”

Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus, Better Call Saul) is known for playing characters who take no crap from anyone. In the second season of Stick, she definitely isn’t taking any crap from Pryce. The actress talks about how these characters usually have a vulnerable side but hide it with a tough exterior.

“That’s also a bit of an armor,” Seehorn says. “The person is hiding a vulnerability by acting so strong. Amanda is smart enough, and you see that they have a complicated dating history and knew each other as teenagers, and in my mind she would have to be somebody that was as quick-witted and could call him on his crap. Like those are usually the people we do get drawn to.”

In the second episode of the second season, John Higgins’ character gives Santi a pep talk about not being “summer mayonnaise.” This puts a thought in Santi’s head to go big or go home, resulting in him wanting to go pro. Dager explains what “summer mayonnaise” means to him.

“Mayonnaise to me is living with regret,” Dager says. “You don’t want to live with regret. And especially when you’re young. I mean, it’s the time you have to really fall on your face and make a fool of yourself. And with kids and a wife or a partner, it’s a little bit more difficult to fail because the repercussions won’t only fall on you, but on your family. So I think he knows exactly what he’s saying when he tells Santi that because it lights a fire under Santi’s,, and it makes him want to really pursue his greatest ambitions and his big dreams.”

Golf is the backdrop of the story of people getting their lives back on track, as audiences see with Pryce helping Santi, and Santi finally doing something with his skills. In the second season, Pryce is looking to enter the world of professional golf once again. Showrunner Jason Keller explains why the story is told through the world of golf.

“This is a story about these characters and people trying to stumble their way through life and connect with one another and be understood,” Keller says. “It’s a world in which certainly Pryce and Santi are forced to look at themselves in a very singular way. Golf doesn’t let you hide from the things that are bothering you or the things that are haunting you, or the things that you’re having difficulty with. So in that way, it’s just a perfect barometer for where you are psychologically, and that’s good for storytelling. It’s good for characters.”

Stick returns for its second season on Apple TV on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, with two episodes, followed by one episode weekly until December 30, 2026.

About Stick Season 2

Synopsis: Stick is a heartfelt, feel-good comedy about a found family and their relationships set within the world of golf as it has never been shown before. In season one, Wilson stars as Pryce Cahill, an over-the-hill, ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. After the collapse of his marriage and getting fired from his job at an Indiana sporting goods store, Pryce hedges his bets, and future, entirely on a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom named Santi (Dager).

In season two, Santi takes the next step in his pursuit of professional golf, only to discover how quickly the game changes when talent becomes expectation. As Santi chases his dream, Pryce Cahill finds himself wondering what might still be possible for him. Urged on by his former rival Clark Ross (Olyphant), Pryce does something nobody expects: he bets on himself, launching an improbable comeback in hopes of becoming the oldest golfer ever to win a major. But the road back proves far harder than he imagined. And the closer Pryce gets to the golfer he once was, the more he is forced to confront why he never fulfilled the promise everyone once saw in him. With brilliant new coach Amanda (Seehorn) and trusted caddie Mitts (Maron) in his corner, Pryce sets out to prove — to the golf world and, more importantly, to himself — that maybe he really was as good as everyone always said he was.

The series also stars Marc Maron, Mariana Treviño, Lilli Kay, Judy Greer and Timothy Olyphant. Joining the cast are John Higgins, Billy Zane, Rex Linn, Sasha Alexander and Missi Pyle.

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Grier has been performing for decades, and he has come to a point of being at ease with any material given to him.

“I’ve been doing it almost 50 years, you know, almost 50 years,” Grier tells Nerd Reactor about his acting career. “So what I mean is it’s allowed me to streamline my acting and creative process because a lot of things I worried about or stressed about as a young actor, I’m at peace with now. I can’t remember the last time I saw a scene or a scenario in a script where I went, ‘Oh, I don’t know how I’m going to get to this emotionally, or I have nothing to pull on. Yeah, I haven’t been through everything, but I’ve lived a long and wonderful life, and my instrument is good. It’s a well-dwelled machine, man.”

Grier enjoys being a rival on the screen of St. Denis Medical, and when Wayans and Grier are off the screen, the two are having a laugh.

“It’s more fun to be at each other,” Grier says. “That’s always more fun to play a villain, you know, to have an enemy. Then we can kiki at dinner later, you know, past the Poupon. It was really fun reconnecting with Damon, and I wish we could have chopped it up more through our characters and more evil doings. But it was fun. It was fun on and off. And I’m glad and I was humbled and happy that as soon as the offer went out, before I could even text Damon, he texted me and said, ‘Of course I’ll do it. I can’t wait to see you. We should hang out.’ And that was always really fun.”

St. Denis Medical Season 3 premieres today, November 2, 2026, at 8/7 c on NBC.

About St. Denis Medical

Synopsis: St Denis Medical is a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity. In season three, romantic entanglements and personal struggles complicate relationships in the Emergency Department, pushing some St. Denis employees to the brink.

Showrunner / Executive Producer: Eric Ledgin

Executive Producers: Justin Spitzer, Simon Heuer, Bridget Kyle, Vicky Luu

Series Regulars: Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman, Josh Lawson, Kahyun Kim, Mekki Leeper and Kaliko Kauahi

Produced By: Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, More Bees, Inc. and Spitzer Holding Company

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Schreiber, known for playing Sabretooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, enjoyed the duality of the show.

“One of the things that I liked a lot about the writing in this and the development of the characters is there’s so much duality,” Schreiber tells Nerd Reactor. “The three central characters have some element of the other at play, and that was a fun thematic thing to work on.”

With Jonah and Saga being important to each other, there are reservations about seeing the other pursue the case and deal with Jurek.

“In a way, it’s me wanting to prove myself,” Beetz says of her character. “We each have our own motivation coming from a similar pain. I also don’t want him to get hurt, and he doesn’t want me to get hurt. So we’re trying to both hold each other back while being insistent that we should be the ones to pursue this case. And yeah, it’s like tension coming from love.”

Nocturne premieres on Apple TV on October 30, 2026, with two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through December 25, 2026.

About Nocturne

Synopsis: Nocturne tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who, tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, moves to a small town in Western Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Graham), Jonah must protect all that he holds dear. When the desperate search for Jurek’s last missing victim forces Jonah to send his surrogate daughter, FBI Agent Saga Bauer (Beetz), up against Jurek, how far will Jonah go?

The ensemble cast starring alongside Schreiber, Beetz, and Graham includes Bill Camp, Rory Culkin, Chrissy Metz, Poorna Jagannathan, and Gary Carr.

The post Liev Schreiber and Zazie Beetz on the Family Ties Behind Apple TV’s ‘Nocturne’ appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Littermates is directed by Scott Tinkham and Michael Woloson, and it releases exclusively in Alamo Drafthouse theaters starting on November 6, 2026.

Check out the full interview below with the directors, along with executive producer Haley Nicole Johnson.

With a crew of just 12, the production was very lean, but the team made the most of it, filming in an English countryside house over two weeks.

“And it’s a very low-budget movie, so finding the money was fairly simple,” Tinkham tells Nerd Reactor. “So we went out there, we did it, we assembled an English crew, and it was like a crew of 12 people, and we all stayed at this house for two weeks straight and made a feature film together. It’s awesome.”

Tinkham and Woloson have been working together for nearly a decade, and this marks the duo’s first foray into feature films as directors.

“Well, Scott and I have worked together for almost 10 years now,” Woloson says. “We met in school in 2017. So we’ve become a hive mind in a lot of ways, and we just understand the same methodology when it comes to directing and making stuff. So we speak the same language, and then where we differ, we complement each other. So it just enhances the entire process when you have somebody to bounce off of, but also understands you on that level.”

At the core of the film are two survivors, learning to live with one another and the choices they make that separates themselves.

“Siblinghood and growing up with an older brother and having this weird back and forth sibling rivalry happening between me and my brother, and the essence of that feeling,” Tinkham says about the film’s inspiration. “Like Michael, the co-director, is also a product of siblinghood. He has a younger sister and a few other sisters. He always has felt the sibling rivalry in his life as well. As we were writing it, it formed around this theme of siblinghood.”

Joining as the executive producer of Littermates is Haley Nicole Johnson, who is a producer on the wildly popular indie movie, Obsession.

“I think I’m just so grateful to be a part of independent cinema in any way that I can,” Johnson explains. “I think the thing that is most important to me is just supporting people telling the stories that are in their hearts. And I think Michael and Scott are two of my absolute favorite directors. I’ve been working with them for about nine years now, and getting to see what they did with truly no resources is a testament to how brilliant both of them are.”

The post Littermates Directors and Obsession Producer Haley Nicole Johnson on Siblinghood and Making a Feature With No Resources appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Director Jordan Downey embraces practical effects, and audiences can see a lot of it with the creatures featured in The Cycle.

“There’s been a shift, rightfully, to CG and VFX for certain things,” Downey told Nerd Reactor. “That has a place, and there are certain things you just can’t do without it. I always wondered, and I don’t know if other audiences do, ‘Well, how did we lose sight of practical effects because they don’t look good on modern cameras anymore?’

“That’s not true. I even had some doubts coming into The Cycle of whether or not 4K cameras in 2025, with modern lenses and color correction and editing and all of the modern tech wizardry that we have, is that going to make this stuff look fake. And it makes it look better, I think. So it’s really cool to honor the craft and the old traditions, but with modern technology and contemporary trickery.”

One of the themes in The Cycle is redemption. This is true for Meg’s relationship with her father.

“I think for me, it’s never too late,” Woll said. “You can open your heart to people, ideas, stories at any point and learn from them. I do think for Meg, if [her father] had come to her alive, if he’d come to her any earlier, she might not have been at a place where she could handle it or wanted to. Whereas coming to her dead at this point in her life was kind of the only way they were going to have a relationship after what happened. Even after death, it is not too late to reconnect with your family.”

Donovan said that his character, Marks, is someone who recognizes Meg’s expertise, and it shows his willingness to be a team player.

“When Meg first comes in, with all of his experience, he can immediately ascertain that she is the smartest person in the room, and I should just shut up,” Donovan said. “That’s where we started. But then as the movie unfolds, especially in the rainy parking lot scene in the cruiser where they bond, they really are going through a similar emotional landscape of ‘How am I dealing with this grief?’ Hers is old, but that’s been brought to the surface fresh, and his is brand new.”

About The Cycle

Synopsis: When the body of a man missing for thirty-six years is discovered at the scene of a horrific crime, it’s up to his estranged daughter to unravel his dark past.

Director: Jordan Downey

Written By: Jordan Downey, Kevin Stewart

Cast: Deborah Ann Woll, Jeffrey Donovan, Will Hochman, Jack Doolan, Carl W. Crudup, Jeb Berrier, Gretchen Corbett, David Myers Gregory

The Cycle was released on Shudder on October 23, 2026.

The post The Cycle Interview: Deborah Ann Woll and Jeffrey Donovan on Grief and a Father Who Returns Dead appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Peyton Elizabeth Lee on Voicing Prue McKeel

Lee is known for portraying the titular character in Andi Mack. In Wildwood, she is an impulsive kid who disobeyed her parents by taking her little baby brother, Mac, out on a trip. As a result, a murder of crows kidnaps him. Now it’s up to Prue and Curtis to venture into the Impassable Wilderness and bring back her baby brother.

“I think it’s really exciting getting to play characters that have a big moment in their lives that kind of throws everything around and mixes everything up and turns their lives upside down,” Lee tells Nerd Reactor. “Because I think you learn the most about a person in those moments of uncertainty, in exploring something new. I think that’s where one’s humanity is really tested and one really has the ability to grow. And so getting to portray a character sort of at that landmark moment, and how they come out of that and the person they become because of that, I think is such a beautiful thing to see that change and that transformation.”

Jacob Tremblay on Voice Acting

Jacob Tremblay voices Curtis, a boy who loves to geek out and is excited to hang out with Prue. In Wildwood, he had to rely on his imagination and director Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings) to bring Curtis to life.

“It requires a lot more imagination because with live action, you’re able to be there on set with other actors,” Tremblay explained. “You’re there in your wardrobe, so there’s a lot of different things that you can draw on to work towards your performance. And with animation, every time you’re on your own, usually the director’s on Zoom, and you’re in this booth, so it’s a very unnatural kind of environment.”

Wildwood Creators on Portland and Forest Park

The book’s creators, Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis, worked together on the Wildwood book, and one of the most pivotal things they wanted to showcase was Portland’s Forest Park.

“It’s a 5,000 acre wooded park,” Meloy said. “It’s like right up against the city. And walking into it, you will have been on like a neighborhood street, and then suddenly you’re just in the middle of the woods, it has this sort of transportative effect. And it always feels sort of magical stepping into Forest Park, and that was really the conceit of the whole thing.”

Illustrator Carson Ellis, Meloy’s wife, was the artist for the book, and she admits that it was tough trying to bring to life Portland in her art.

“So I didn’t have the best time because I love the place so much,” Ellis said. “It was always really hard for me to feel like I had captured it. And so I kind of stylized it so that it was something that I could draw and paint. I think Laika did a better job. I think that they really recognize Forest Park in the movie in a way that I think is very cool.”

Writing and reading is usually a solo experience, and Meloy enjoyed the communal experience when he saw the film at a London screening.

“We saw it in a big theater in London last week, and that’s the first time I’d seen the finished thing,” Meloy explained. “It was really extraordinary and I didn’t expect to see it in a room with 2,000 plus people. All communally sharing the story was kind of an extraordinary experience when you think about novel writing and novel reading as being very solitary singular activity. So that was kind of wild to me to think about this story. But now we’re all sharing it together, which is one of the profound things about cinema and that’s why watching movies in theaters I think is so important.”

About Wildwood

Synopsis: After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) launches a desperate rescue mission into the Impassable Wilderness—an enchanted forest hidden just beyond Portland, Oregon. Joined by her hapless but loyal classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), Prue navigates a world of talking animals, bandits, and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition. As the pair is drawn into a conflict threatening the balance of the forest itself, Prue must discover the strength and belief she never knew she possessed. If she hopes to save her brother and protect Wildwood’s fragile future, she will have to risk everything.

The film is directed by Travis Knight and written by Chris Butler.

The voice cast includes Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Maya Erskine, Jake Johnson, Charlie Day, Tom Waits, Richard E. Grant, Amandla Stenberg, Tantoo Cardinal, Len Cariou, and Marc Evan Jackson.

Wildwood released in theaters on Friday, October 23, 2026.

The post Wildwood: Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Colin Meloy & Carson Ellis on Bringing Book to Life appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Clayface is directed by James Watkins (Speak No Evil) and stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen, an actor rising to the top. His life turns upside down when the local Gotham mob boss leaves his face disfigured. Desperate to get his future back, he participates in an experience that will transform his body forever.

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With Harries as Matt Hagen, the aim is to have audiences feel for his tragic story. The director knew Harries was the one during auditions.

“I thought, ‘Oh this guy’s got something,'” Watkins tells nerd Reactor during the film’s red carpet premiere. “I remember when we’re on set, it was great.”

The body horror film has plenty of gruesome scenes as we see Matt shocked by the experiment gone wrong. Even with these scenes, Watkins still has limits in place.

“There’s always a limit, but you want to kind of be just on the right side of it,” Watkins said.

The practical effects on Matt’s body and face help to instill a sense of uneasiness.

“I like to do things practically,” Watkins explained. “I like to see it for real on the actors’ faces. I like them to have something to respond to. So yeah, that was probably my starting point always.”

DC Studios’ Peter Safran and James Gunn and the team were really supportive of the director, which made his job easier.

“Peter and James and Matt Reeves, they’ve been fantastic,” Watkins said. “They’ve been really real allies, really supportive. Gave me a lot of freedom and support to just push the envelope.”

About Clayface

Synopsis: Matt Hagen’s meteoric rise from Gotham street kid to Hollywood leading man is tragically cut short when a local crime boss’s actions leave him horribly disfigured. Abandoned by his team and with nothing left, Matt seeks out a cutting edge treatment that miraculously returns him to his former self… but also unexpectedly affects his grip on reality, spiraling him down a destructive path of all-consuming revenge.

The film also stars Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan, as well as Nancy Carroll and Joshua James.

James Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, story by Flanagan, based on characters from DC. The film is produced by Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Michael E. Uslan, Chantal Nong Vo, Lars P. Winther, Rafi Crohn and Paul Ritchie executive producing.

Watkins’ creative team includes director of photography Rob Hardy, production designer James Price, editor Jon Harris and costume designer Keith Madden. Music is by Volker Bertelmann.

Clayface releases in North America on October 23, 2026, and internationally beginning 21 October 2026.

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