Entertainment
Bone Temple's Flop Should End Hollywood's Most Annoying Trend
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
The moment Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury turned up after the credits of Iron Man was the moment that entertainment changed forever. Every film had to be part of a larger universe, with each one teasing that the next would be bigger and better. The natural end result of this trend has been studios filming multiple movies back-to-back and planning from the beginning that, no matter the audience reaction, this will be another epic universe of interconnected films.
The long-awaited 28 Years Later ran headfirst into both trends, ending with a tease for the second film in a trilogy, and then 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple fell flat months later when confused audiences rejected it as too much, too soon, and too confusing.
The Bone Temple Doesn’t Sound Like A Sequel
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple picks up right where 28 Years Later leaves off and devotes its entire runtime to Spike (Alfie Williams) and the Jimmys, a strange gang based on the British personality Jimmy Saville (in the film’s timeline, Saville’s sex crimes were never exposed). The film itself is a great entry in the growing franchise by keeping the story’s focus tight on the group, which starts off as larger than you’d expect for a horror film, but quickly gets whittled down. It culminates in an insane sequence set to Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast that proves Ralph Fiennes can do anything. The problem isn’t with the film, The Bone Temple is well worth watching, but the problem comes from Hollywood’s fascination with milking every aspect of every successful film before anyone knows it’s a hit or not.
Thankfully for everyone involved, 28 Years Later was a hit during the summer of 2025. It would have been awkward for the already filmed and edited sequel if the first film had crashed and burned. Unfortunately, the summer of 2025 was only a few months ago, and the general audience didn’t think 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple was a sequel only six months later. Hollywood’s “everything is a franchise” hubris finally caught up with it, and the result was a truly unique horror film that earned less domestically than Tron: Ares.
2 Fast 2 Furious is a stupid name for a movie, but it makes it clear that it’s a sequel. M3GAN 2.0 was another disaster, but the 2 is right there. The Bone Temple doesn’t denote it’s a sequel, especially since the Bone Temple itself was a major part of the first film. It sounds like a director’s cut version of the first film.
Fans Rejected The Jimmy Gang Months Ago
Working against 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is the first appearance of the Jimmys at the end of the first film. Watching a group of color-coordinated tracksuit-clad survivors ripping apart infected like post-apocalyptic Power Rangers was such a tonal shift from the rest of the film’s meditation on grief and death that it immediately turned off a part of the film’s fanbase. Which is unfortunate, because the cast and crew had a three-week break between wrapping one film and starting another back in 2024, long before the public reaction to the wild twist.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple earned $13 million domestically during its opening weekend and a total of $46 million, which isn’t bad, but it’s lagging significantly behind 28 Years Later. An estimated budget of $68 million means that director Nia DaCosta’s follow-up to The Marvels is again going to bring in a respectable sum for most films, but the budget kills it. Once again, the talented DaCosta was saddled with bringing the studio’s vision to life, no matter what the fans said they wanted.
The Bone Temple underperforming won’t stop studios from purposely stretching out stories into multiple movies, and it won’t stop the trend of filming movies back-to-back before anyone knows what the fanbase is going to latch onto. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple ends with another tease for the third, and hopefully, final film. Years of Marvel post-credit teases that have gone nowhere haven’t left audiences waiting for every film to promise a bigger, better sequel; it’s done the opposite, and now audiences roll their eyes out of annoyance. Studios need to cut their losses and go back to focusing on telling one great story before any other fan-favorite franchises fall victim.
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 19, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you have a sweet tooth.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Lippy
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Green: Gowns
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Blue: Played in Vegas
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Purple: Sweet treats
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Cheeky
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Green: Dress measurements
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Blue: Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em
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Purple: Last words of candy brands in the singular
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1043 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Cheeky: ARCH, FRESH, SASSY, WISE
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Dress measurements: BUST, HIPS, LENGTH, WAIST
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Cards in Texas Hold ‘Em: FLOP, HOLE, RIVER, TURN
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Last words of candy brands in the singular: CAP, DUD, KID, MINT
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for April 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you’re constantly changing.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Small change
The words are related to changes.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe fine-tuning.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is vertical.
NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is There I Fixed It.
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NYT Strands word list for April 19
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There I Fixed It
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Adjust
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Modify
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Alter
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Improve
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Tweak
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Refine
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you can never sit down.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
To rise.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
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Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
STAND
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
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