Happy New Music Friday! The weekend is here, which means more streaming, new playlists and the best that music has to offer — and ET has you covered for everything in between.

Paul McCartney announced his first-ever duet with Ringo Starr during his special fan album playback in London this week. The song was formed around a drum track Paul invited Ringo to record for the album with producer Andrew Watt. Paul shared, “Ringo went round to the studio and drummed a bit. I said to Andrew, we should make a track and send it to him. So this song is done totally with Ringo in mind. In writing the song I’m talking about where we came from. In common with a lot of people, you come from nothing and you build yourself up.” The song is the second song released from Paul’s upcoming album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, out May 29.

The Rolling Stones announced their new studio album, Foreign Tongues, will be out July 10. The album was made in under a month at Metropolis Studios in West London, with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood reuniting with Grammy-winning producer Andrew Watt. The album includes a special appearance from Charlie Watts, captured during one of his final recording sessions before his passing in 2021. Additional contributions include Steve Winwood, Paul McCartney, The Cure’s Robert Smith and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

This week, The Rolling Stones had a special event in New York that included a conversation with Conan O’Brien and an exclusive, behind the scenes look at the making of the album. Attendees were treated to first listens of three never before heard tracks from their upcoming album and a debut preview of the new music video for “In the Stars” which features Odessa A’zion.

American Music Awards have added Hootie & the Blowfish, KATSEYE, Keith Urban, Maluma, Riley Green, SOMBR, Teddy Swims, and Twenty One Pilots to their lineup of performers. The awards hosted by Queen Latifah will air May 25 on CBS and Paramount+.

Ahead of her highly anticipated world tour next month, Hilary Duff will be performing at SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series on May 14 at El Rey Theatre. Hilary will perform songs from her new album, luck…or something, alongside her beloved hits. Marking her first major tour in over 17 years, Hilary’s the lucky me tour will kick off on June 22 but before that, she’ll return to Voltaire at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on May 22.

No Doubt kicked off their highly anticipated residency at Sphere in Las Vegas this week. They opened the show with “Tragic Kingdom,” which was played live for the first time in almost 20 years. They also sang fan favorites like “Don’t Speak,” “Hella Good,” “Ex-Girlfriend,” “Just A Girl” and more. The residency marks their first extended run of shows in nearly 14 years.

Plus, new music from Barry Manilow, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick, Charli xcx, Kenny Chesney, Anderson .Paak, Josh Groban, Ashley McBryde, Adam Lambert, Sebastián Yatra, CORTIS and more.
 

“Home to Us” – Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr

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“In the Stars– The Rolling Stones

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“Another Life – 2026” – Barry Manilow

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“Chakzilla” – Chaka Khan

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“Where Is Your Heart” – Dionne Warwick & John Legend

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“LO ARRIESGO TODO” – Bruno Mars

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“Rock Music” – Charli xcx
 

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“Carry On” – Kenny Chesney

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“Aftertaste” – Anderson .Paak & DEAN

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CINEMATIC – Josh Groban

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BROWN – Chris Brown

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Wild – Ashley McBryde

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“EAT U ALIVE” – Adam Lambert

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“ORIGAMI!” – Kesha

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“Lo Que Me Pasa Con Vos” – Sebastián Yatra

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“Control” – Tori Kelly

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GREENGREEN – CORTIS

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“Without You” – GRYFFIN, AVELLO, Sasha Alex Sloan

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify
 

locket deluxe – Madison Beer

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“BOOTS” – Russell Dickerson feat Fetty Wap

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MUDA – Carín León

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“SMOKING PART II” – French Montana, Max B, Rick Ross

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THE AFTERPARTY – Lykke Li

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“These Arms” – The Temper Trap

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“Therapy At The Club” – FLO

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“Cabin Fever” – La Roux

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Dancing On The Wall – MUNA

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“high school sweetheart” – Ashley Cooke

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“Changes” – Tommy Richman

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The Lone Starlet – Tiffany Stringer

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“IDEAR” – Cooper Alan

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“Queen” – Fat Nwigwe

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“Little Blue House” – Moody Joody

Stream it now: Apple / Spotify

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 50 seconds ago

With both Star Wars and Marvel under their thumb, Disney controls two of the biggest IPs in the entire world. These IPs produce wildly different movies and appeal to very different fandoms, but they do have one thing in common: a slow loss of relevancy. Since Avengers: Endgame, superhero fatigue has set in, and Marvel movies and shows have dwindled in both box office gross and critical acclaim. Meanwhile, the failure of the Sequel Trilogy drove Star Wars out of theaters for the better part of a decade in favor of TV shows that have delivered increasingly diminished returns.

Now, Star Wars is poised to make a theatrical comeback with The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is intended to be the first of several new big-screen films set in a galaxy far, far away. Disney has high hopes for this comeback, but I can’t help but think the House of Mouse could learn from Deadpool, or at least learn from the guy playing him. Recently, Ryan Reynolds argued that “Deadpool works best on both scarcity and surprise,” which is why he doesn’t want to flood us with too many new movies and appearances. Sadly, Star Wars never got the memo, which is why it’s most likely (as C3PO would say) doomed.

Maximum Effort, Minimal Appearances

Recently, Ryan Reynolds did an interview with Collider that didn’t exactly push the envelope. He discussed how much he loves working with Marvel, how much he enjoys writing and playing Deadpool, and so on. But on the topic of when we’d see Deadpool again, he did say something quite surprising: that the character “works best on both scarcity and surprise, so jumping right back into it full on right now is probably something I’m not going to do.”

Say what you will about Ryan Reynolds, but this is a surprisingly commendable attitude. He could probably crank out a Deadpool movie every year or two for a lifetime of easy paydays, and the studio would certainly jump at the opportunity to put its most bankable hero in as many movies as possible. However, Reynolds is holding out so that his future appearances will have (ahem) maximum impact. Unfortunately, Disney is taking the opposite approach with Star Wars as a whole, and that decision may very well doom this powerhouse sci-fi franchise.

Before The Dark Times. Before The Empire

A long time ago, in theaters not-so-far, far away, Star Wars movies felt like special events. That was mostly due to (you guessed it) scarcity and surprise. After Return of the Jedi, it seemed like we might never get another film in this franchise, which is why it was such a pleasant surprise (well, hello there!) when The Phantom Menace came out 16 years later. After Revenge of the Sith came out in 2005, it seemed like big-screen Star Wars was done for good. That’s part of why The Force Awakens was such a successful film: fans were just happy to see more of their favorite characters in this blockbuster fictional universe.

After that, though, Disney began to unleash the firehose of Star Wars content. The sequels kept coming (each one pissing the fandom off more than the one before), and before The Rise of Skywalker even came out, shows began popping up on Disney+. The Mandalorian was a success, but after that, the TV content became a decidedly mixed bag. The Book of Boba Fett was a disappointment, and Obi-Wan Kenobi was completely superfluous. Andor was a masterpiece, but The Acolyte was a complete disaster. Adding insult to injury, the third season of The Mandalorian was an utter disappointment that currently has a 51 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

More Andor, Less Acolyte

Obviously, the worst of these shows were hampered by poor writing. But here’s the thing: even the crappiest of them would have likely been a hit if we only got one show every few years. But while Ryan Reynolds decided audiences would reject Deadpool if he popped up too much, Disney decided audiences would reject Star Wars altogether unless they got endless content. Unfortunately, they simply proved Reynolds’ thesis correct: Star Wars stopped feeling like a special event and started feeling like ongoing seasons of a TV show that should have been canceled many years ago.

Would scarcity magically make the writing for shows like The Acolyte better? Of course not. But if Disney only released a new Star Wars project (film or show) every few years, we would be more likely to get shows like Andor and films like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Unfortunately, the House of Mouse is too pot committed to their current plan of releasing as much Star Wars content as humanly possible. Even worse, they are unlikely to realize their mistake until they have done what even the prequels couldn’t do: run this beloved franchise into the ground.

The 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot is the #1 movie streaming on HBO Max.

By Charlene Badasie
| Published 1 minute ago

Mortal Kombat has fought its way into the top ten on the U.S. HBO Max streaming charts. The data is recorded by Flixpatrol, a site that tracks viewing data across multiple platforms worldwide. Based on the popular video game franchise created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, the 2021 movie is now streaming on HBO Max and serves as a reboot of the film series following the critical and commercial failure of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997.

Directed by Simon McQuoid from a screenplay by Greg Russo and Dave Callaham, Mortal Kombat follows a mixed martial arts fighter named Cole Young. Dealing with a failed career, he is unaware of his hidden lineage or why he is being hunted by an assassin known as Sub-Zero. Concerned for his family’s safety, he seeks out Sonya Blade.

After speaking with a Special Forces Major named Jax, who bears the same dragon marking Cole had since birth. His journey leads him to the temple of Elder God Lord Raiden. As protector of Earthrealm, he offers sanctuary to those bearing the dragon mark. To stand with Earth’s protectors against the Outworld enemies, Cole trains with Liu Kang, Kung Lao, and Kano as they prepare for battle.

After an intense battle, Shang Tsung vows to return with an army for the next fight. As a result, Raiden declares his intention to train new warriors for the next tournament, tasking his current champions with their recruitment. Cole leaves for Los Angeles to find Hollywood martial arts movie star Johnny Cage, setting up the story for the Mortal Kombat sequel.

The Cast Of Mortal Kombat 2021

The film stars Lewis Tan as Cole Young alongside Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Josh Lawson as Kano, Mehcad Brooks as Jackson “Jax” Briggs, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, and Max Huang as Kung Lao. Other popular characters from the Mortal Kombat video game are also featured. This includes Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Hiroyuki Sanada as Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion, and Joe Taslim as Bi-Han/Sub-Zero.

The cast also showcased the talents of Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Matilda Kimber as Emily Young, Laura Brent as Allison Young, Mel Jarnson as Nitara, Nathan Jones as Reiko, and Daniel Nelson as Kabal. Damon Herriman and Angus Sampson lend their voices to Mortal Kombat bad guys Kabal and Goro, respectively.

Response To Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat was a hit with fans, grossing $84.4 million worldwide. Critics had mixed feelings about the film, which currently holds a 54% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The site’s general consensus says the film is mainly for fans of the source material, but is flawed. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the movie a B+ average on a scale from A to F.

Why Everyone’s Streaming Mortal Kombat Now

The renewed interest in Mortal Kombat is being fueled by the release of Mortal Kombat II, which arrives in theaters this weekend. Directed once again by Simon McQuoid, the sequel finally centers the franchise around the actual Mortal Kombat tournament while introducing fan favorite Johnny Cage, played by Karl Urban.

The new film expands the roster significantly with the addition of Kitana, Jade, Shao Kahn, and Noob Saibot, while trailers have emphasized larger-scale fights, more recognizable game mythology, and far more elaborate fatalities. Early reactions suggest the sequel leans harder into the over-the-top tone and tournament structure that fans wanted from the 2021 reboot, positioning it as a much bigger, more crowd-pleasing adaptation of the games.