Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and Matthew McConaughey playing the real-life bus driver who saved elementary school students during California’s deadliest wildfire are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: The classic children’s story “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White turned into an animated series for HBO Max, the documentary “Prime Minister” chronicling the five-year tenure of former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern and some katana-swinging mayhem with the video game Ghost of Yotei.
— Matthew McConaughey plays the real bus driver who drove 22 elementary school students to safety during 2018’s Camp Fire that engulfed Paradise, California, in the new film “The Lost Bus,” streaming Friday, Oct. 3 on Apple TV+. America Ferrera co-stars as the teacher who went along for the ride, expecting it to be a straightforward drop off at a nearby school. Paul Greengrass directed the film like an old-fashioned disaster movie, I wrote in my review, adding, “it’s impossible to take your eyes off the screen, away from the inferno and the sense of our own smallness and helplessness to ‘battle it.’”
—— Cillian Murphy is the headmaster of a reform school in “Steve,” a taut drama about mental health and a broken education system. The film, which hits Netflix on Friday, Oct. 3, is based on Max Porter’s novella “Shy.” “Steve” was directed by Belgian filmmaker Tim Mielants who also directed Murphy in the terrific Claire Keegan adaptation “Small Things Like These,” (currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+) which focused on the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. Together they could make for a moving double feature.
— The new documentary “Prime Minister,” streaming on HBO Max on Tuesday, chronicles the five-year tenure of former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern. Just 37 when she took over, and only the second elected world leader to give birth while holding office, Ardern was praised around the world for her handling of the nation’s worst-ever mass shooting and the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. But she faced mounting political pressures at home and a level of vitriol from some that hadn’t been experienced by previous New Zealand leaders. In 2023, she shocked the world with her announcement that she was stepping down.
— It’s her, hi: Taylor Swift returns with her highly anticipated 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” out Friday, Oct. 3. The record was completed in Sweden with producers Max Martin and Shellback during the Eras Tour and while details of the album have been limited, Swift did appear on the “New Heights” podcast in August to tease it. Swift promised infectious melodies and vivid lyrics across “The Life of a Showgirl,” an album that will be much more “upbeat” than 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department.”
— If cheery-sounding post-punk (or “egg punk” for the very online crowd) is an interest area, look no further than Nashville’s Snooper, a good-time group known for their ebullient live performances and penchant of paper mâché puppetry. Their latest release, “Worldwide,” arrives via Jack White’s Third Man Records on Friday, Oct. 3. It’s 12 tracks of catchy fun.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— Superman only had to put on a pair of glasses to disguise himself as Clark Kent but in the new Hulu series “Chad Powers,” Glen Powell wears prosthetics and a wig to masquerade himself — all in the name of football. Powell plays Russ Holliday, a college football quarterback at the top of his game, until he makes an embarrassing mistake that ruins his career. Instead of giving up, Holliday decides to transform himself into an alter ego named Chad Powers, who is a walk-on player at a different school. The show is based on a character created by Eli Manning for his 2022 ESPN docuseries “Eli’s Places,” where he changed his look to take part in walk-on tryouts at Penn State. It streams beginning Tuesday.
— The classic children’s story “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White is now an animated series for HBO Max. All three episodes drop Friday, Oct. 3. The show’s voice cast includes Amy Adams as Charlotte, Elijah Wood as adult Wilbur, Cynthia Erivo as goose and Jean Smart as the narrator.
— Charlie Hunnam also transforms himself for Netflix’s true crime dramatization called “Monster: The Ed Gein Story.” Hunnam plays Gein, a convicted murderer and suspected serial killer from the 1950s. Cocreated by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the “Monster” anthologies tend to illustrate the impact of true crime on pop culture. In this “Monster,” Tom Hollander plays Alfred Hitchcock, whose movie “Psycho” was inspired by Gein. Olivia Williams and Laurie Metcalf also star. It debuts Friday, Oct. 3.
— PBS has two interesting offers for the weekend. On Friday, Oct. 3 it will air “Great Performances: The Magic of Grace Bumbry ” about the real-life opera singer from Missouri who made history as the first Black mezzo-soprano to perform at Germany’s Bayreuth Festival. It also shows her impact on musicians today including Beyoncé, who is mentioned in the doc. It premieres on Friday, Oct. 3 on PBS and streams on pbs.org and the PBS App.
— On Sunday, Oct. 5, we’re introduced to Jules Maigret, a detective created by author Georges Simenon. His first Maigret novel was published in 1931 but a new PBS Masterpiece series about the investigator takes place in modern day. Benjamin Wainwright stars as the titular character who — along with his team — use unorthodox methods to solve crimes. “Maigret” will also will be available on pbs.org and the PBS App.
— The second season of the biblical drama “House of David” premieres Sunday, Oct. 5. Available with a Wonder Project subscription on Prime Video, the show details the rise of David, a biblical figure who became the most celebrated king of Israel.
— Atsu, the protagonist of Ghost of Yotei, was just a girl when the renegade Lord Saito killed the rest of her family. Sixteen years later, she’s returned to northern Japan to exact vengeance against Saito and his minions. She’s learned some mad samurai skills in the meantime, so expect plenty of katana-swinging mayhem. This new adventure from Sony’s Sucker Punch studio is the follow-up to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, and it builds on that game’s sprawling scope and lush graphics while blending 1600s history with Japanese folklore. Atsu’s mission begins Thursday on PlayStation 5.
