“Scream 8” moving forward with writers behind canceled “Buffy” revival

TheScreamfranchise is bringing in new blood for its eighth installment.

Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman will write the screenplay forScream 8,Entertainment Weeklyhas learned. Deadline firstreportedthe news.Kevin Williamson, who directedScream 7and wrote four of the series' installments including the 1996 original, will not return to penScream 8.

The Zuckerman sisters recently served as the showrunners for Peacock'sPoker Face. They previously worked on shows likeAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,Prodigal Son,Suits,Haven,Human Target, andFringe.Scream 8will mark their first theatrical film project, though Nora wrote the 2008 TV movieNightmare at the End of the Hall.

The Zuckermans' names also should sound familiar toBuffy the Vampire Slayerfans, as they were heavily involved with the show's now-shelved revival,New Sunnydale. The siblings penned and executive produced the pilot for the proposedHuluseries, which broughtSarah Michelle Gellarback to play the title role and featuredNomadlandOscar winnerChloé Zhaoin the director's chair. However, Hulu ultimately pulled the plug on the project after production on the pilot was completed.

The Zuckermans will be the first women to write for theScreamfilm series, which has primarily revolved around female protagonists like Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera).

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Scream 7was originally set to star Barrera andJenna Ortega, who were both introduced in 2022'sScream(the fifth installment). However, Barrera wasfired after expressing her views about the Israel-Hamas war, and Ortegaexited the filmbecause "it was all kind of falling apart." DirectorChristopher Landonthen departed the project after the cast shake-up.

After all of those developments, Campbell — who sat outScream VIdue to a pay dispute —announcedthat she and Williamson were returning to the franchise withScream 7.

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Despite garnering the worst reviews of the series by a significant margin (it currently holds a 31% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 35/100 score on MetaCritic),Scream 7is now the highest-grossing entry in the franchise with over $200 million at the global box office to date.

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April 01, 2026

“Scream 8” moving forward with writers behind canceled “Buffy” revival

TheScreamfranchise is bringing in new blood for its eighth installment. Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman wil...

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Eddie Cibrian Makes Appearance in Surprise Role on ‘High Potential’ Before Season Finale

Eddie Cibrianmade a surprise appearance in the newest episode ofHigh Potential— but did everyone catch his scenes?

During the Tuesday, March 31, episode of the hit ABC series, Cibrianhad a cameo as the mayorof Los Angeles. He originally resisted having Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) on the case but eventually shared evidence with her to help with the investigation.

According to the synopsis, "Wagner joins Morgan and the team on a hunt for the crew behind a series of heists ripping through elite private vaults." They then "uncover a far more dangerous endgame a looming cyberattack that could cripple Los Angeles' core infrastructure."

The police procedural, which premiered in September 2024,follows a high-potential intellectual— Morgan — who teams up with the LAPD to help solve murders. She gets paired up with a police officer, who is initially skeptical about Morgan's involvement with the Major Crimes unit but ultimately starts to rely on her.

Which 'High Potential' Stars Are — And Aren't — Returning for Season 2 After Several Plot Twists

Season 2 picked up with the confirmation that Morgan's ex Roman was still alive after going missing for more than a decade. The only information Morgan — and all ofUs— have is that her ex worked as an FBI informant and doesn't trust the LAPD.

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"It's a pretty bumpy ride. We're going to start unpacking some pretty intense things with Morgan, as it relates to all things Roman. There are all kinds of trials and tribulations that are going to happen with the kids at home," showrunner Todd Harthan teased to Us Weekly at the time. "It's just going to get messy and complicated — hopefully in all the best ways so that the audience stays on the edge of their seats."

He continued: "Our job now as we get to the back half of the second season is to fill in some of the big blanks and progress some of the relationships. You're going to see some intense things happen between Steve Howey's character and Captain Wagner really starts to bloom in the back half. That causes some good soapy messes on multiple fronts. It's just our normal MO of just trying to mix things up and keep the audience engaged and keep them guessing."

Everything to Know About High Potential's Supersized Season 2 After Major Twist

Harthan also expressed excitementat more guest stars.

"One of the wonderful things about this particular season is now that the show is doing really well, the choices we've had for casting have been incredible," he shared. "In the back half, you're going to see some really exciting guest stars."

Harthan concluded: "We have this wonderful main cast and we're trying to recruit — just like with Steve Howey. These actors have been just incredible. They can come into our show and hang with our wonderful cast and just add their own flavor to our world. It's been exciting and you'll see there's some really cool people popping in."

High Potentialreturns to ABC Tuesday, January 6, at 9 p.m. ET. The show is streaming on Hulu.

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April 01, 2026

Eddie Cibrian Makes Appearance in Surprise Role on ‘High Potential’ Before Season Finale

Eddie Cibrianmade a surprise appearance in the newest episode ofHigh Potential— but did everyone catch his scenes? ...

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“Brady Bunch” star Mike Lookinland says he went 'off the rails' after the show ended

Mike Lookinlandneeded a break after playing youngest brother Bobby on five seasons of the squeaky clean family sitcomThe Brady Bunch. And he took it.

"I lived my childhood in my 20s, because I couldn't when I was a child," Lookinland said Monday onThe Real Brady Brospodcast. "And in my 20s, I had a car and money and freedom. I was fully off the rails."

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The actor was all of eight when the sitcom premiered on ABC in 1969. When it ended five seasons and five years later, he was just beginning his teenage years.

"I'm just thankful that not every man, woman, and child had a high-def camera in their pocket when I was 25, like they do now," Lookinland said, "because it would have ruined my life."

Christopher Knight, who portrayed middle brother Peter, said that their TV parents — actors Robert Reed, who played Mike, and Florence Henderson, the actress behind Carol — were a deterrent to the cast in behaving badly.

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'We didn't wanna disappoint Florence and Bob," he said. "I mean, that was the beginning of it. It's like there's certain people that you just don't wanna disappoint. I think that was stronger with me with those two than it was my own parents."

And yet at least some bad behavior has come to light in the more than 50 years since the first incarnation of the Bradys went off the air. For instance, actress Maureen McCormick, who played elder sister Marcia, infamously wrote about struggling with drug addiction and an eating disorder in the years after the show.

Lookinland and many of his costars were part of the show's many reunion projects, including the psychedelicBrady Bunch Variety Hour(1976-1977) andThe Bradysseries in the '90s. Other appearances, such as when he, Knight, and Barry Williams, who played eldest brother Greg, were onThe Masked Singerin 2022, have been rare.

Lookinland married Kelly Wermuth in 1987, and the couple shares two children. He struggled with alcoholism, but said in 2013 that hehad gotten sober.

He now leads a small business that makes decorative countertops, fireplaces, benches, and other concrete items.

Listen to the full conversation above.

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April 01, 2026

“Brady Bunch” star Mike Lookinland says he went 'off the rails' after the show ended

Mike Lookinlandneeded a break after playing youngest brother Bobby on five seasons of the squeaky clean family sitcomThe ...

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Why there’s a giant golden toilet near the Lincoln Memorial

A towering golden toilet statue has taken a seat near the Lincoln Memorial, the latest Trump‑themed art installation to appear on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

The nearly 10‑foot sculpture, unveiled March 30 by the anonymous group The Secret Handshake, was inspired byPresident Donald Trump's recent renovation of theWhite House's Lincoln Bathroom. The group says the installation uses humor and spectacle to prompt political discourse.

In an emailed statement to USA TODAY, The Secret Handshake said visitors are allowed to take photos by sitting on the golden throne. The installation is titled "A Throne Fit For a King."

The statue appeared almost a month after the same group installed a separate sculpture on the National Mall depictingTrump and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteinas characters from "Titanic." The group is also behind another Trump‑Epstein statue that appeared in Washington, DC, in September.

Meaning behind the statue

The Secret Handshake said it created the piece as a tribute to Trump during what it described as a time of "unprecedented division,escalating conflictand economic turmoil." In that context, the group said, the president focused on what "truly mattered": remodeling the Lincoln Bathroom.

The statue, the group added, is meant as a reminder that Trump "isn't just a businessman," but is "taking care of business."

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"It's a tribute to a visionary," the group said in its statement, "who looked down, saw a problem and painted it gold."

White House renovations

Trump revealed amarble‑and‑gold makeover of the Lincoln Bathroomin October, according to previous USA TODAY reporting. The cost of the renovation has yet been disclosed.

"I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post at the time. He said the bathroom's previous 1940s art‑deco green tile was "totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era."

The bathroom overhaul is one of several renovation projects Trump has pursued during his second term. Since his inauguration, the president has paved over the Rose Garden lawn,demolished the East Wingand moved forward with plans for a 90,000‑square‑foot ballroom —a project a federal judge ordered haltedTuesday, March 31.

The golden toilet statue, however, is expected to remain on the National Mall for several days, according to The Secret Handshake.

Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Giant golden toilet statue appears near Lincoln Memorial

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April 01, 2026

Why there’s a giant golden toilet near the Lincoln Memorial

A towering golden toilet statue has taken a seat near the Lincoln Memorial, the latest Trump‑themed art installation to a...

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Thousands more US troops are heading to the Middle East

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of additional U.S. troops are heading to the Middle East as the Trump administration has insisted thatprogress has been madein talks with Iran and hasthreatened to escalate the warif a deal is not reached soon.

The aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush deployed Tuesday and is slated to go to the Middle East along with three destroyers, two U.S. officials said. The carrier strike group consists of more than 6,000 sailors.

It comes as thousands ofsoldiers from the 82nd Airborne Divisionalso have begun arriving in the Middle East, according to two other U.S. officials, who, like the others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans.

While the majority of those troops are part of a rotation of forces planned before the war, some are among roughly 1,500 paratroopers the Trump administration decided to surge into the region last week.

The Trump administration has not said what those troops will be doing, but the 82nd Airborne is trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields. A U.S. Navy ship carrying about2,500 Marines recently arrivedin the Middle East, and another 2,500 Marines also are being deployed from California.

The extra forces, on top of tens of thousands of service members already in the region, come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other administration officials have avoided questions about whether or not the U.S. military will deploy ground troops against Iran.

"You can't fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do to include boots on the ground," Hegseth told reporters Tuesday.

He added, "Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are."

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But he also said the goal is to reach a deal with Iran through talks because "we don't want to have to do more militarily than we have to."

Additional resources are heading in as the war has strained the troops and assets already in the region.

The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, had a fire in a laundry room on March 12, which forced it to return from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to undergo repairs at a naval base in Crete.

According to a Navy press release, the fire damaged seven berthing compartments aboard the ship, likely forcing hundreds of sailors to find new sleeping arrangements, and damaged personal effects.

While Ford is now in Croatia for time off, Navy leaders said the aircraft carrier will likely set records for the length of its deployment. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier alsoarrived in the regionin January.

"You're going to see a recordbreaking deployment by Ford," Adm. Daryl Caudle, the Navy's top officer, said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion Tuesday.

Caudle said the aircraft carrier would probably go into the 11th month of deployed operations — a length of time that would put the ship returning to Norfolk, Virginia, around the end of May. The Ford wasin the Mediterraneanbefore beingsent to the Caribbeanto take part in the military operation in January thatousted Venezuela's leader, Nicolás Maduro, and then was deployed to support the Iran war.

"For those that are not in the Navy, that's an extraordinary thing to even think about something of that kind of deployment length," Caudle said.

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April 01, 2026

Thousands more US troops are heading to the Middle East

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of additional U.S. troops are heading to the Middle East as the Trump administration has insi...

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Diaries of Mao Zedong aide can stay at Stanford rather than return to China, U.S. court rules

HONG KONG — Thediaries of an aide to former Chinese leader Mao Zedongcan stay at Stanford University, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, ending a yearslong legal battle that had raised concern they could be censored if returned toChina.

Li Rui, a senior member of China's ruling Communist Party, became Mao's personal secretary in 1958. In diaries he kept for eight decades starting in 1938, Li left a rare record of Chinese history from an insider's perspective, including a firsthand account of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing'sTiananmen Squareon June 4, 1989.

The diaries also included criticism of the Great Leap Forward, an industrialization program championed by Mao from 1958 to 1961 that caused a famine estimated to have killed as many as 40 million people.

According to Stanford, Li had directed that the diaries, along with correspondence, meeting minutes, photographs and other materials, be made publicly available for study at the university's Hoover Institution for fear they might otherwise be destroyed by Chinese authorities. His daughter Li Nanyang, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party who lives in the United States, made the donation official shortly before Li's death in 2019 at the age of 101.

Soon after, Li's second wife, Zhang Yuzhen, sued for the return of the original diaries, saying they contained deeply personal information about her relationship with Li and that they were rightfully hers. A Beijing court ruled in Zhang's favor, but Stanford said it was denied the opportunity to appear in court and sued Zhang for control of the diaries in California.

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In his ruling Tuesday, Judge Jon S. Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California said the court was declining to enforce the Beijing ruling and that Li Nanyang's "possession and donation of the Li Materials was lawful and in accordance with Li Rui's wishes."

The Hoover Institution, which has an extensive collection on modern Chinese history, welcomed the ruling.

"This decision ensures one of the most valuable firsthand accounts on the history of modern China will be freely available for study," Condoleezza Rice, director of the Hoover Institution and a former U.S. secretary of state,said in a statement.

According to the institution, witnesses for both sides testified during the trial that if the materials were returned to China, they would at the least be censored and more likely be banned.

The court said it had determined that Zhang, who is in her 90s, did not initiate the Beijing case and that her defense in the California case was most likely being funded by the Communist Party. A lawyer for Zhang, who did not testify, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

"Li Rui was very clear in his diaries and conversations that he intended for his historic documents to be preserved and maintained by Hoover's Library and Archives," said Mark Litvack, one of Stanford's lawyers. "We are very pleased with the court's decision, that Mr. Li's wishes will be honored."

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April 01, 2026

Diaries of Mao Zedong aide can stay at Stanford rather than return to China, U.S. court rules

HONG KONG — Thediaries of an aide to former Chinese leader Mao Zedongcan stay at Stanford University, a federal judge rul...

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Hiker's dog lost in a wild New Zealand forest rescued by helicopter after strangers fund search

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — When a hiker fell from a 55-meter (180-foot) waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers were forced to evacuate the badly hurt woman without her dog, which couldn't be found. After strangers raised thousands of dollars for a search, border collie Molly was flown to safety by a helicopter pilot who was determined to reunite pet and owner.

New Zealand Dog Rescue

A week earlier, an emergency rescue helicopter found the woman with bruises and lacerations after a fall at a rocky spot at the waterfall on the South Island's West Coast. She was airlifted on March 24 but they were forced to leave without her pet.

Molly was bedraggled and hungry when she was found Tuesday, just a few meters from the spot where the hiker had been lucky to survive.

"I contacted her in hospital and said I'd go for a look for it," said Matt Newton, the owner-operator of Precision Helicopters New Zealand, which is based at Hokitika Gorge near the Arahura River where Molly went missing. "I went and looked for the dog several times and no avail."

Unwilling to give up, Newton and his family launched a fundraiser to pay for more flying hours and advanced search gear. Offers of help and donations poured in, with strangers pledging more than 11,000 New Zealand dollars ($6,300) for a search.

It was enough to fund three more hours in a helicopter using thermal imaging equipment. On Tuesday, Newton took to the skies with a veterinary nurse, volunteer searchers and a dog named Bingo in a renewed search for Molly.

"We struck jackpot within about an hour," he said. "As we made our way up the river, we could see the dog in the thermal and then we could visually see it."

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There had been no sign of Molly at the waterfall when Newton previously searched the spot, he said. It wasn't clear if the dog had also fallen from the waterfall or if she had eventually made her way to the spot where her injured owner landed.

The helicopter dropped low enough for a volunteer to disembark with the rescue dog Bingo to help coax Molly to safety and keep her calm.

Newton thought the dog had survived by eating feral animals during her week in the wilderness.

"She knew what we were up to, I think," he said. "She behaved real well. She didn't run away and she was pleased to be rescued."

The dog was in "surprisingly good condition", the pilot said. He sent word back to the helicopter base, where other volunteers waited to take turns in the search. "Instead we just had a big barbecue and all had a cuddle with Molly."

Hours after the dog's rescue, her owner, still battered from her fall, arrived for a tearful reunion.

"I think that'll speed up her healing process somewhat," Newton said. "Having your dog back, that's for sure."

byCosmopolite

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April 01, 2026

Hiker's dog lost in a wild New Zealand forest rescued by helicopter after strangers fund search

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — When a hiker fell from a 55-meter (180-foot) waterfall in wild New Zealand bush, rescuers ...

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