Four women have accused Jared Leto of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers, to which the actor and musician responded that he has “never sexually assaulted anyone.” He said in a statement Wednesday that the “claims are absolutely and categorically false.” The documentary "Jared Leto: Hollywood's Dark Secret" includes claims from four women who accuse him of misconduct between 2002 and 2016. The BBC says it corroborated the women's accounts, but they could not be independently verified by The Associated Press. The documentary does not identify the women by their full names. Leto is a 54-year-old Oscar winner and the frontman of the band Thirty Seconds to Mars.

“The Odyssey” continues to captivate audiences in its second weekend, raking in $87 million in North American theaters. This marks a modest 30% drop from its opening weekend, making it filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend ever. Globally, the film has earned an estimated $639.6 million. IMAX screens alone contributed $48 million to the global earnings this weekend. The film faces no significant competition yet, but “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is set to release soon. Meanwhile, Disney's “Moana” and “Toy Story 5" secured second and third place, with “Toy Story 5" surpassing $1 billion globally.

David Jonsson is the new Black Panther — the son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler made the announcement Saturday evening in front of cheering fans at Marvel Studios’ Comic-Con International presentation. Jonsson joined the Oscar-winning director on stage alongside Letitia Wright and Winston Duke, holding his hand to his chest and smiling broadly. “Black Panther III” is set for release in December 2028. Marvel chief Kevin Feige also announced that Ryan Gosling is joining the Marvel cinematic universe as Ghost Rider, re-teaming with his “Star Wars: Starfighter” director Shawn Levy on a film set for release in 2028.

Skydance-owned Paramount has agreed to delay closing its $81 billion buyout of Warner Bros. Discovery well into next year. The move comes as a judge continues to consider a challenge from 12 states seeking to block the deal altogether. In a court filing, Paramount said it wouldn’t close the merger until a court ruling on the merits of the lawsuit or June 1, 2027. Just days ago, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted a temporary restraining order requested by the states to freeze the transaction for several weeks. The states allege the merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers.

The European Union has approved Paramount's $81 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing a major hurdle for the merger. But the greenlight comes with certain conditions. The EU's antitrust enforcer, the European Commission, says enough competition remains in film production and streaming. However, it warns of high concentration in movie distribution to theaters. To address this, Paramount must end its European partnership with Universal within 13 months. Paramount welcomes the approval, calling it a milestone. The merger faces challenges in the U.S., where a federal judge has paused the deal due to a lawsuit from California and other states.

A federal judge has ordered Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to halt their $81 billion merger for at least two weeks, allowing states that are challenging the deal more time to see their case through in court. The judge issued her order Monday. Twelve states, led by California, sued to block Paramount’s pending buyout of Warner last week — alleging that such a combination would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly moviegoers and cable customers across the U.S. Paramount, which was bought out by Skydance just last year, has called the states claims meritless and vows to “vigorously defend” its acquisition.

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” launched with an estimated $124.5 million in domestic ticket sales and another $139.6 million from overseas, even better than the filmmaker's “Oppenheimer” debut. The weekend tally marked Nolan's best opening since “The Dark Knight Rises” in 2012. Few filmmakers alive could pull off such a starry, big-budget adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. But in a Hollywood where intellectual property rights rule most hits, Nolan turned one of the world’s oldest works of literature into an unlikely summer blockbuster. By comparison, The Walt Disney Co.’s “Moana” landed in a distant second place with $19 million in its third box office weekend.

Brenda Fricker, who became the first Irish woman to win an Academy Award for her role as Bridget Fagan Brown in the 1989 film “My Left Foot,’’ has died. She was 81. Her agent, Phil Belfield, says the Irish character actor died Thursday night in Dublin after a period of ill health. Fricker became the first Irish woman to win an Academy Award in 1990 for best supporting actress for her portrayal of the determined mother of Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy and could control only his left foot. Daniel Day-Lewis, who played Christy Brown, won the award for best actor.