As noted by the recent Tobies, awards season continues in full flight, so it's no surprise to have The Oscars drop their nominations just in time for Matt and Julian to break them down. 'Sinners' taking home 16 noms sets an Oscars record and (more importantly) validates Julian's recent Tobie pick. Plus, the guys return to a more traditional news format with headlines about James Bond, Game of Thrones, He-Man and more! Finally, the guys look into their crystal balls, gazing into the future, to make entertainment-based predictions for the year 2026. How will the WB/Netflix deal play out? Will Star Wars have a hit with 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'? Will Nolan's 'The Odyssey' be as big as 'Oppenheimer'? Only the ToB hosts can tell you! (No future lotto tickets or sports almanacs unfortunately)
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Show Notes
Movies
Oscar Nominations - https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2026
Rumour - Pierce Brosnan wants to return as James Bond (he's 72!)
Speaking of being old - George Clooney reveals that he’s getting the gang back together (Pitt, Cheadle, Damon, Julia Roberts) for another ‘Oceans’ movie.
Trailer - ‘Masters of the Universe’
Sam Raimi tried to make a Batman movie but he couldn’t get the rights.
Chrsitina Hodson, who wrote the shelved ‘Batgirl’ movie, has been tapped to write ‘Batman: Brave and the Bold’ for James Gunn’s DCU.
James Cameron says he needs to find a cheaper way to make the ‘Avatar’ movies in order to make more. Avatar 3 still made $1.28B at last check.
Idirs Elba is receiving a knighthood.
TV
Game of Thrones:
Early reviews of ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ are mostly positive.
A different ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoff is now being discussed. A sequel series that would follow Aria Stark’s journey.
The story of Aegon’s conquest is being considered for a movie (Dune sized epic) or HBO series.
‘House of the Dragon’ will end with season 4.
Duffer Bros say they started S5 production of ‘Stranger Things’ without a finished script for the finale. They also said that the rock in the briefcase is “essential” to the spinoff series.
Trailer - ‘Maul: Shadow Lord’ - two-episode premiere on Disney+ on April 6, 2026 - finale on May 4
2026 Predictions
The WB/Netflix deal finally goes through, Netflix keeps its word about maintaining the WB theatrical window (45 days), but still doesn’t fully commit to theatrical and pulls a few BS moves with which movies are in theatres which days anyway.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
Will make decent money because SW has been out of theatres for so long + baby yoda - approx $700m+
The movie itself won't feel cinematic in the way we’re used to from SW projects. It’ll feel small and tangential.
They won’t have a good excuse for bringing back the Razorcrest.
The fan community will be divided and there will be stories about how it marks a rocky start to Dave Filoni’s era as creative director at Lucasfilm.
At least 1 new SW movie will be green lit and actually enter production. Likely for a 2028/2029 release.
Christopher Nolan's ‘The Odyssey’ won’t be as big of a deal as ‘Oppenheimer’ was.
Dune 3 and Avengers: Doomsday won’t ultimately release on the same day. Dune will likely move.
Speaking of Avengers Doomsday - it will make over $1 billion but it won’t be able to recapture the magic of Infinity War or Endgame.
The RDJ as Doom stuff WILL work, but it will be distracting.
The movie will NOT do proper justice for the Fox X-Men.
Cap returning will be the best part but will overshadow new characters, leaving them back at square 1.
HBO’s Green Lantern series will be good, people will like the actors in their roles, but be disappointed by the lack of outer space stuff.
Another videogame adaptation (movie or show) will be another unexpectedly massive hit.
What We've Been Watching
Julian - 28 Years Later: Bone Temple
Julian - Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - 25th Anniversary
Matt - The Rip
Matt - Andor
Matt - Pluribus
