Tara Reid feels “judged and bullied” after police said there is no video evidence that her drink was drugged at a DoubleTree hotel in Rosemont last month. The 50-year-old actress had alleged she was drugged by a stranger after having just one drink at a hotel in Rosemont, near Chicago, on November 23, before being taken out on a stretcher and brought to the hospital.

When Pope Leo XIV, formerly Robert Francis Prevost, stepped out onto the balcony above St. Peter’s Square on May 8, 2025, it was a moment of pride for Catholics across Chicago’s South Side and suburbs. Now, a new Vatican-produced documentary gives audiences a deeper look into the Chicago roots of the first American pope. Titled Leo from Chicago…

Local Area Network, a new independent feature from Chicago filmmaker Glenn Garrabrant (Visiting Friends), will make its world premiere at The Lake Street Screening Room on Saturday, December 13 at 7:00 PM, followed by an audience Q&A with Garrabrant and cast. Shot entirely in Chicago and the surrounding region, Local Area Network is inspired by true stories and created with the mission of increasing awareness and conversation around suicide prevention.

As Chicago’s beloved Music Box Theatre approaches its 100th birthday in 2029, it is preparing for a landmark year of growth both in the city it calls home and across state lines in Minnesota. Longtime owners Brody Sheldon and the Schopf family announced two major milestones for 2026. The first is the addition of a new 100 seat third screen at the Music Box’s Lakeview location.

The Chicago Acting In Film Meetup NFP (CAFM) wraps up 2025 with a festive holiday party, fundraiser, and networking night.  Filmmakers, film actors, and film industry workers of all kinds are welcome as the 17th Annual CAFM Holiday Hurrah happens Monday, December 15, 2025, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Barrio in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. The event is open to the entire Chicago film production community and the general public 21 and older.

As the holidays arrive, the Chicago theater scene is once again stepping into the spotlight with a lineup that blends beloved classics, local favorites, and new seasonal productions. From downtown mainstays to neighborhood gems, the city’s stages offer something festive for every age and taste, and audiences are already packing houses across the city. Here’s a look at what’s playing across Chicago this holiday season:

The Ferris Bueller’s Day Off spin-off movie, Sam and Victor’s Day Off, has reportedly been cancelled. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the offshoot of director John Hughes’ 1986 teen comedy classic has been scrapped at Paramount Pictures following the studio’s merger with Skydance Media. As well as Sam and Victor’s Day Off, the Miles Teller-starring romance film…

Legendary guitarist, songwriter and producer Steve Cropper, who helped shape the Stax Records sound, has passed away at 84. A statement released by his family confirmed the news, saying Cropper died peacefully in Nashville on Wednesday. It began: “Steve was a beloved musician, songwriter, and producer whose extraordinary talent touched millions of lives around the world.” No cause of death has been revealed.

The Chicago Japan Film Collective (CJFC) announces Backstreet Cinema Series Vol. 2, featuring two extraordinary Japanese documentary films that explore the power, emotion, and history behind Japan’s most iconic cultural expressions: Godzilla and Taiko drumming. Following the successful launch of the series in September, CJFC continues its mission to bring diverse and meaningful Japanese cinema experiences to Chicago and beyond, building toward its 5th Anniversary Festival in 2026.

Papa Johns has tapped Leo as its new creative agency as the pizza giant works to strengthen its marketing and reverse a lingering sales slump. The move follows a creative agency review launched in early October. The chain confirmed it has parted ways with The Martin Agency, which handled the business since late 2023 and is now part of Omnicom after the IPG deal.

Happy New Year from Schafer Condon Carter. Thirty-six-year-old SCC is closing out a milestone year marked by new leadership, new work, significant business wins, and a sharpened agency identity built around a simple promise: Create. Impact. Under President and CEO Ben Behrman, SCC completed a sweeping leadership evolution that has reshaped the agency as it heads into 2026. Craig Miller joined as Chief Creative Officer.

This year’s Doc Chicago mini-conference kicks off with a showcase of regionally produced short documentaries at Chicago Filmmakers on Friday, December 5, followed by an afternoon of documentary-focused panels, a case study, and discussions at the Chicago Cultural Center on Saturday, December 6. Rooted in a spirit of mutual aid, Doc Chicago is a volunteer-driven initiative that invites the regional documentary community to come together, share ideas, and learn from another. 

Taylor Kinney has never been the guy chasing cameras. In fact, the Chicago Fire star is famous for doing the opposite, quietly showing up to the set, delivering fan-favorite performances as Kelly Severide, and then disappearing just as quickly into his very private, very offline life. Which is why his latest move is so unexpected, and honestly, kind of refreshing.

The news that Omnicom is cutting 4,000 jobs and sunsetting legacy agencies like FCB, DDB, and MullenLowe should have rocked the industry. Instead, it landed with a dull thud, because we’ve been conditioned to expect consolidation as the default move when holding companies run out of ideas. As always, the press releases hit the same talking points: efficiency, technology integration, structural optimization, streamlined leadership.

Omnicom employees, now including those from the former DDB Chicago and FCB Chicago, are heading into December with tough news. The global holding company said Monday it will cut more than 4,000 jobs and sunset several long-standing agency brands as it begins integrating Interpublic Group, the rival it acquired for $13 billion in November. For Chicago, the announcement hits especially close to home.

Macaulay Culkin hates being "touched" by fans and has set "rules" to keep himself "safe." The Home Alone star, 45, has been dealing with fame for most of his life since the 1990s, and admits he's learned how to excuse himself from uncomfortable situations and how to handle fans when they're "overly excited" to meet him. He told Deadline, "I learned a bunch of tricks over the years.

Chicago is adding another high-profile project to its 2026 production slate. The psychological techno-thriller Mia: See Clearly will shoot key sequences in the city next year, joining Detroit and New Orleans as principal locations. The feature, produced by Golsa Sarabi’s Golsa Enterprises, begins pre-production in February. Sarabi stars as Mia, a brilliant but disillusioned former intelligence operative who stumbles into a sprawling surveillance conspiracy.

Michael Mann is coming home. Well, for a little while. The iconic Chicago-born filmmaker has officially confirmed that Heat 2, his long-gestating follow-up to the 1995 crime classic, will film partially in Chicago, marking a major return to the city that shaped both his life and career. Production is slated to begin in 2026, with additional filming in Los Angeles, Paraguay, and potentially Singapore.

Pope Leo XIV has warned that the "future of humanity is at stake" amid wars around the globe. The Chicago-born pontiff is visiting Turkey on his first trip abroad as the head of the Catholic Church and expressed concern that the world is being destabilised by "ambitions and choices that trample on justice and peace". After meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan…

Christopher Nolan’s commitment to practical filmmaking has become the stuff of legend, and a new interview only adds fuel to the fire. According to The Dark Knight special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, the director flat-out refused to use CGI for what is arguably the most dangerous and iconic stunt in the 2008 blockbuster. Before The Dark Knight became a global phenomenon, it was first and foremost a Chicago production, a massive, months-long shoot that transformed the city into Gotham.

Police in Rosemont say they are “committed to investigating” Tara Reid’s allegation that she was drugged at a hotel bar near Chicago over the weekend. The 50-year-old actress told officers she “completely blacked out” for hours after having a drink with a man she had just met at the DoubleTree Hotel in Rosemont. In a statement to People, the Rosemont Public Safety Department said, “The Rosemont Public Safety Department understands the severity of the allegations being reported and are committed to investigating this incident fully.

Macaulay Culkin has pitched an idea for a Home Alone sequel. The 45-year-old actor, who rose to fame as a child star playing Kevin McCallister in the 1990 Christmas classic and its 1992 follow-up Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, has insisted he is not "completely allergic" to reprising his role for another dose of festive comedy chaos. …

Chicago has been the backdrop for several memorable holiday productions, and when it comes to Thanksgiving films, three titles consistently rise to the top. All are connected in one way or another to John Hughes, whose holiday storytelling shaped some of the most enduring seasonal movies of the last several decades. From road-trip chaos to courtroom drama to the classic struggle to get home, these films have secured their place in the Thanksgiving rotation, and I had the good fortune to work on all three.

DoorDash is spotlighting the side-hustle hustle with its newest recruitment ad, a stylish and surprisingly cinematic grocery delivery spot created by Quality Meats in partnership with DoorDash’s in-house creative team Superette. The new thirty-second piece, titled “Karate,” follows a martial arts instructor who juggles teaching classes at her dojo while squeezing in grocery deliveries on DoorDash. The message is straightforward and relatable to anyone piecing together multiple income streams: restaurant rush hours do not always sync with real life, but grocery deliveries do.

Macaulay Culkin's sons still do not realize that he played Kevin McCallister in Home Alone, despite them watching it "often." The 45-year-old actor hopes Dakota, four, and Carson, three, do not realize that he has been portraying the plucky youngster aged 10 for a long time yet. Macaulay - who said it is a “completely different experience” watching the movie his bundles of joy love - said at the 35th anniversary of the first…