Entertainment
Netflix Action Comedy Heist Unites World's Biggest Stars
By Jacob VanGundy
| Published
Netflix brought together some of Hollywood’s biggest names for the 2021 action comedy, Red Notice. Despite a tepid critical reception, the movie dominated the streaming platform’s viewership when it came out. The movie has gained a reputation as a light, fun, mindless action comedy popular enough that multiple sequels have entered development.
Two Thieves, An FBI Agent, And A Huge Budget
Red Notice centers around a series of heists and cons as various characters try to acquire an ancient set of bejeweled eggs that belonged to Cleopatra. The movie’s three central characters are the world-famous thief, Nolan Booth, his rival Sarah Black, and an FBI profiler named John Hartley.
The three engage in a series of temporary alliances, double-crosses, and deceptions with each other as they each try to acquire the eggs.
The cast is what makes Red Notice noteworthy, with its three leads each being played by an A-list actor. Nolan Booth is played by Ryan Reynolds, Sarah Black by Gal Gadot, and John Hartley by Dwayne Johnson. Seeing these mega-stars acting together is the movie’s main draw.
Released in 2021, Red Notice was originally planned as a Universal movie but was acquired by Netflix, receiving a limited theatrical release. It dominated the streaming platform, becoming the most-watched debut weekend in Netflix history.
It was the 5th most-watched movie on Netflix in 2021, making it a huge hit for the company as an exclusive film. Due to the unusual way the movie came to Netflix, it has a much higher budget than most Netflix-exclusive movies. Costing $200 million, Red Notice was the most expensive Netflix movie at the time, though it was later unseated by The Gray Man in 2022. This budget is reflected in the cast and explosive action sequences.
Critics Didn’t Like It
In addition to its huge budget the production of Red Notice is noteworthy because it was produced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic created major problems for the movie, which was filmed in both Atlanta, Georgia and Rome.
Production was halted completely for some time and the portion filmed in Italy was significantly delayed.
Despite its popularity on Netflix, Red Notice was a huge flop among critics. The film has a 36 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with the writing being the most heavily criticized element, particularly the movie’s unbelievable plot. Despite overall poor reviews, the performances, action sequences, and comedy were fairly well received and often praised even in negative reviews.
Red Notice’s success has prompted the greenlighting of two sequels, being made back-to-back. These sequels are currently in the writing stage, with one script finished and the other still being written. It’s been claimed that these sequels will add more stars to make the franchise a growing ensemble venture.
Due to its time of release and the fact that it was a Netflix original movie, Red Notice became one of the standout movies of the pandemic. While some of its success is likely a result of those circumstances, the chemistry and skill of its all-star cast may have made it a hit under any circumstances.
Red Notice is a fun, star-studded, action comedy mega-hit, that is still available on Netflix.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for July 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you like things large.
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: Big talk
The words are related to size.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe large things.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
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NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Supersize it.
NYT Strands word list for July 19
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Giant
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Behemoth
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Leviathan
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Mammoth
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Colossum
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 July 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you like to make food from scratch.
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:
A way to make butter.
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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 C.
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…
CHURN
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.
Entertainment
Hurdle hints and answers for July 19, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
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If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
Rode over.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
DROVE
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Hurdle Word 2 hint
Salt water.
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
BRINE
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Hurdle Word 3 hint
Bombardment.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
BLITZ
Hurdle Word 4 hint
Fabric.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
CLOTH
Final Hurdle hint
Tunes.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
MUSIC
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
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