With a career that spans over three decades in TV and movies, Pierce Brosnan has done it all — from belting out songs in the “Mama Mia!” movie to playing James Bond four times.

Since handing in his license to kill as 007 in 2002, following the release of “Die Another Day,” Brosnan has continued his career through a diverse collection of roles. His latest is “The Foreigner,” where he plays a former-IRA-member-turned-British-government-official, who finds himself in a cat-and-mouse game with a persistent father (Jackie Chan) whose daughter died in a terrorist act. And it's one of his best in recent years. The movie also teams Brosnan with director Martin Campbell, who made his first Bond movie, “GoldenEye.”

Business Insider spoke with Brosnan about working again with Campbell, and acting across from Jackie Chan but never actually meeting the man (we’ll let him explain) — but our James Bond questions led to a brief awkward moment.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Jason Guerrasio: At this point in your career do you not even entertain a project unless it has really interesting pieces to it, like Jackie Chan, or returning to work with someone like Martin Campbell?

Pierce Brosnan: Well, you always try to have interesting elements. You want to be able to get out of bed and kind of go to work and put in a 14-16 hour day, so yes, it better have some point of interest and some meaningful wordsmith or storytelling. And in this particular case it's Martin Campbell. We have a friendship and a relationship of many years. And Jackie, I'm just a huge Jackie Chan fan. I grew up on Bruce Lee and then it was Jackie Chan. He's just one of the great all-around entertainers.

Guerrasio: Did you know Jackie at all before going into this?

Brosnan: No. No, I never knew the man. 

Guerrasio: Did you need a little get-to-know-you meet with him before getting into the intense scenes you two have in this movie? Meet for a drink or something?

Brosnan: No. Not at all. [Laughs] Just showed up for work and if you're cast correctly, and the script has meaning, and you're in the hands of a great director, then everyone knows their job and they know what to do. Jackie and I didn't socialize. We were scheduled for dinners which didn't happen for one reason or another. Mainly because of work. When I wasn't working, Jackie was, and then if he wasn't working, he was back in China working on another movie. The man is completely work obsessed. 

Guerrasio: So did that heighten the scenes because you didn't know him and he's playing a character that's so different from what he's done in the past? 

Brosnan: Jackie was 100% committed to the work at hand, and Martin is a taskmaster in the most glorious fashion. He just doesn't leave the set until the scene is enlivened by the performers. What can I say, I wasn't with Jackie Chan, I was with his character Quan, and that's always wonderful. I fully believed who he was. 

Guerrasio: As the production goes on is there anyone on the cast or crew brave enough to come to you or Martin and ask some "GoldenEye" questions or ask for some stories from set?

Brosnan: Oh yes. Yes. It's a very communal and easy-going atmosphere. And Martin and I would occasionally reference the movie.

Guerrasio: That's interesting. Something would come up on set that would bring back memories of "GoldenEye?" Would it go as far as how to tackle a certain scene? "Martin, remember what we did on 'GoldenEye?'"

Brosnan: No. Nothing like that. Just a quiet understanding of history and what we have done. That's in the past. 

Guerrasio: As the years go by of being removed from Bond do you appreciate it more, or does it become more of a burden? You've said in the past you're marked for life with that role. How do you see it now at this moment in your life?

Brosnan: It was a great job. It was a wonderful part to play. 

Guerrasio: As the years go by do you have a different affection for it?

Brosnan: I’ve always had affection for it. I still have affection for it. 

Guerrasio: Were you shocked Daniel Craig came back for the role?

Brosnan: No. It would have been rude not to. 

Guerrasio: Because I would think that's such a hard role to walk away from. Can you relate to what Craig has gone through? For you, was it hard to walk away from Bond?

Brosnan: What's this got to do with “The Foreigner?"

Guerrasio: Oh, well, I've asked questions about the movie, this is a Q&A, I'm just touching on everything — if that's okay? This is my last one on the topic, Mr. Bronson, was it hard to walk away from Bond?

Brosnan: My name is Brosnan, not Bronson. 

Guerrasio: Did I say that? I'm sorry.

[Pause] 

Guerrasio: Is it hard to walk away from that role?

Brosnan: Completely in keeping with the times.
 
Guerrasio: Another movie I wanted to bring up is "The Thomas Crown Affair," which you also produced. Were you surprised you were never able to do a sequel?

Brosnan: Not in the least. I never wanted a sequel. The studio wanted a sequel. 

Guerrasio: Oh really. Well, one sequel you are doing is "Mama Mia!," are you prepping?

Brosnan: I’m on a plane tomorrow to Croatia.

Guerrasio: Excited to get back into the singing again?

Brosnan: Oh, absolutely. These are dear friends and it's a kick in the pants to play in that movie. It's criminal how much fun we have. 

Guerrasio: And Andy Garcia is coming on this time around.

Brosnan: That I had no idea. Well, you know more than I do. 

Guerrasio: I think that was announced recently. Do you know Andy at all?

Brosnan: I don't. I'm sure it will be fun. I enjoy his work very much. I think I know who he's playing, though. He's going to be great.  

"The Foreigner" opens in theaters October 13.

SEE ALSO: With its $10-a-month service, MoviePass has totally changed my relationship to movie theaters

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NOW WATCH: We played the highly-anticipated new Super Mario game and were blown away

This is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

What is eSports? History & Rise of Video Game Tournaments

Years ago, eSports was a community of video gamers who would gather at conventions to play Counter Strike, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

These multiplayer video game competitions would determine League of Legends champions, the greatest shooters in Call of Duty, the cream of the crop of Street Fighter players, the elite Dota 2 competitors, and more.

But today, as the history of eSports continue to unfold, media giants such as ESPN and Turner are broadcasting eSports tournaments and competitions. And in 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch, the live streaming video platform that has been and continues to be the leader in online gaming broadcasts. And YouTube also wanted to jump on the live streaming gaming community with the creation of YouTube Gaming.

eSports Market Growth Booming

To put in perspective how big eSports is becoming, a Google search for "lol" does not produce "laughing out loud" as the top result. Instead, it points to League of Legends, one of the most popular competitive games in existence. The game has spawned a worldwide community called the League of Legends Championship Series, more commonly known as LCS or LOL eSports.

What started as friends gathering in each other's homes to host LAN parties and play into the night has become an official network of pro gaming tournaments and leagues with legitimate teams, some of which are even sponsored and have international reach. Organizations such as Denial, AHQ, and MLG have multiple eSports leagues.

And to really understand the scope of all this, consider that the prize pool for the latest Dota 2 tournament was more than $20 million.

Websites even exist for eSports live scores to let people track the competitions in real time if they are unable to watch. There are even fantasy eSports leagues similar to fantasy football, along with the large and growing scene of eSports betting and gambling.

So it's understandable why traditional media companies would want to capitalize on this growing trend just before it floods into the mainstream. Approximately 300 million people worldwide tune in to eSports today, and that number is growing rapidly. By 2020, that number will be closer to 500 million.

eSports Industry Analysis - The Future of the Competitive Gaming Market

Financial institutions are starting to take notice. Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and expects the market will grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into a more than $1 billion opportunity.

And industry statistics are already backing this valuation and demonstrating the potential for massive earnings. To illustrate the market value, market growth, and potential earnings for eSports, consider Swedish media company Modern Times Group's $87 million acquisition of Turtle Entertainment, the holding company for ESL. YouTube has made its biggest eSports investment to date by signing a multiyear broadcasting deal with Faceit to stream the latter's Esports Championship Series. And the NBA will launch its own eSports league in 2018.

Of course, as with any growing phenomenon, the question becomes: How do advertisers capitalize? This is especially tricky for eSports because of its audience demographics, which is young, passionate, male-dominated, and digital-first. They live online and on social media, are avid ad-blockers, and don't watch traditional TV or respond to conventional advertising.

So what will the future of eSports look like? How high can it climb? Could it reach the mainstream popularity of baseball or football? How will advertisers be able to reach an audience that does its best to shield itself from advertising?

Robert Elder, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled an unparalleled report on the eSports ecosystem that dissects the growing market for competitive gaming. This comprehensive, industry-defining report contains more than 30 charts and figures that forecast audience growth, average revenue per user, and revenue growth.

Companies and organizations mentioned in the report include: NFL, NBA, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Ligue de Football, Twitch, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, Valve, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, ESL, Turtle Entertainment, Dreamhack, Modern Times Group, Turner Broadcasting, TBS Network, Vivendi, Canal Plus, Dailymotion, Disney, BAMTech, Intel, Coca Cola, Red Bull, HTC, Mikonet

Here are some eSports industry facts and statistics from the report:

• eSports is a still nascent industry filled with commercial opportunity.
• There are a variety of revenue streams that companies can tap into.
• The market is presently undervalued and has significant room to grow.
• The dynamism of this market distinguishes it from traditional sports.
• The audience is high-value and global, and its numbers are rising.
• Brands can prosper in eSports by following the appropriate game plan.
• Game publishers approach their Esport ecosystems in different ways.  
• Successful esport games are comprised of the same basic ingredients.
• Digital streaming platforms are spearheading the popularity of eSports.
• Legacy media are investing into eSports, and seeing encouraging results.
• Traditional sports franchises have a clear opportunity to seize in eSports.
• Virtual and augmented reality firms also stand to benefit from eSports.  

In full, the report illuminates the business of eSports from four angles:

• The gaming nucleus of eSports, including an overview of popular esport genres and games; the influence of game publishers, and the spectrum of strategies they adopt toward their respective esport scenes; the role of eSports event producers and the tournaments they operate.
• The eSports audience profile, its size, global reach, and demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes; the underlying factors driving its growth; why they are an attractive target for brands and broadcasters; and the significant audience and commercial crossover with traditional sports.
• eSports media broadcasters, including digital avant-garde like Twitch and YouTube, newer digital entrants like Facebook and traditional media outlets like Turner’s TBS Network, ESPN, and Canal Plus; their strategies and successes in this space; and the virtual reality opportunity.
• eSports market economics, with a market sizing, growth forecasts, and regional analyses; an evaluation of the eSports spectacle and its revenue generators, some of which are idiosyncratic to this industry; strategic planning for brand marketers, with case studies; and an exploration of the infinite dynamism and immense potential of the eSports economy.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

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NOW WATCH: Jaleel White played Steve Urkel on 'Family Matters' for 9 years — here’s what he’s up to now

The latest episode of Apple Music's "Carpool Karaoke" features Linkin Park and the band's late lead singer, Chester Bennington, singing with comedic actor Ken Jeong. 

Apple dedicated the 23-minute episode to the memory of Bennington, stating that the video was shared "with the blessing of Chester's family and his bandmates." 

At the start of the video, Jeong jokes that he had a dream he joined the band and renamed it "LinKEN Park." Then Bennington, Jeong, and the band launch into Outkast's "Hey Ya!," before singing several of the group's hits, including "Numb." 

Bennington died on July 20 at the age of 41. His cause of death was ruled a suicide by hanging. 

The "Carpool Karaoke" episode was filmed six days before his death. 

Watch the episode below:

SEE ALSO: Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda remembers Chester Bennington with the first photo they took together

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NOW WATCH: Google is creating pop-up donut shops across the US to give away the Home Mini — here's what it's like inside

When Ben Swinburne joined Morgan Stanley’s equity research team in 1999, companies like Netflix, Amazon, Facebook and Google were in their infancy, if they existed at all.

Now, 18 years later, they're some of the most highly valued equities on stock markets.

We spoke with Swinburne, now a managing director and head of media research at the bank, about how cord-cutting and the rise of streaming are affecting all companies, from legacy cable providers like Altice to movie studios like Disney.

Here's what Swinburne says to expect this earnings season from Netflix, Disney, Pandora, and the other 29 companies he covers.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Graham Rapier: What's on your radar as we approach earnings season?

Ben Swinburne: We're seeing an acceleration in consumer adoption of over-the-top content. That's showing up in a lot of different places. We're seeing significant growth in network usage, both wireless and wired, which is obviously helping the cable industry and leading the charge in terms of taking share in broadband business. We think it will also help drive value for DISH's stock because Dish owns a unique portfolio of spectrum assets.

And then on the content side, there are clearly businesses benefiting from that shift, Netflix being the most obvious. But there are other companies who either own unique intellectual property, like MSG, who own the Knicks and Rangers, where we're seeing the value of that unique IP grow in a market where you have more and more money funneling into over-the-top and trying to reach consumers.

Even on the traditional network side, there are businesses that clearly have some challenges but have really exciting opportunities in that shift. One of those names we tend to talk about is Lionsgate, which owns Starz. Starz and its fellow premium network, like HBO and Showtime, they've all typically always been sold at the top end of a pay-TV package that can run $80 to $120 per month. They're now able to reach the consumer and broadband-only homes in a way that they weren't before, so that's quite exciting. There are traditional companies that have easier and more challenging tidbits toward this skinnier bundle and OTT world that we're clearly moving toward even faster this year.

Rapier: You mentioned Netflix specifically. What will you be watching in its earnings report next week?

Swinburne: Obviously they're going to report subscriber results and guide to the fourth quarter, so that'll be a big focus. Longer term, we really believe the company has significant profit potential, and they're just starting to generate earnings today. We believe there's a path to significant margin for this business. The cost structure is largely fixed, and what I mean by that is there's no relationship really between how many customers they have, how much revenue they generate, and how much they're spending, particularly on content. To the extent that they can drive pricing or customer growth that will translate into greater and greater margin over time. So the fact that they've introduced some new price increases recently tells you that their path toward profitability is improving and accelerating more than the market has previously realized.

Rapier: Most of Netflix's growth in recent quarters has come from abroad while the US subscriber growth has decelerated. How do you see this playing out?

Swinburne: The US market is obviously the one where they've got furthest along in terms of penetration, but they've done really well in international markets as well, so I think the international opportunity is certainly significant. On the US side, there are 80 million paid TV households in the United States and a roughly similar number of broadband homes, so there is certainly room for Netflix to grow.

There are 80 million paid TV households in the United States and a roughly similar number of broadband homes, so there is certainly more room for Netflix to grow.

What I think Netflix is doing around distribution is quite smart. They have an agreement with T-Mobile, for example. They have an agreement with Comcast on the X1. So when you look at 2 hours or more of viewing a day in a Netflix home, that level of engagement would suggest this can be a fairly widely adopted, if not mass market product, in the United States.

What they've proved is that the model can be replicated in other markets. I'm not sure they'll get to US penetration and US profits in every market — there are markets that culturally don't watch as much television as we do and don't spend as much money as we do. I'm not sure that's going to dramatically change, but Netflix may be serving these markets in a way they haven't been served before from a product perspective.

The history would tell you that the company, if given time, can ramp in almost any kind of market. It's probably intuitive that a market with a relatively developed economy like the US and the UK, and certainly English language with a strong technology adoption curve, strong broadband networks, would be a successful one for Netflix.

Then you look at a market like Brazil — obviously an emerging market, with a much different income per capita, a much weaker broadband-network structure than what you typically see elsewhere, and the product has scaled to profitability and significant penetration rates that should give people confidence that they can scale in other kinds of markets.

Rapier: Will competing platforms eat into Netflix's potential market? Will they be successful on their own?

Swinburne: Over time you'll see more direct-to-consumer strategies come out of traditional TV businesses that have been wholesaled. You'll see studios — who also compete with Netflix — be very careful in licensing to Netflix. What Netflix has proven out so far is they have a nice strategy to hedge that risk.

For one, they've vertically integrated and are producing a lot of their new programming themselves. That also includes hiring showrunners who are exclusive to Netflix, like the Shonda Rhimes deal that was announced recently. They're attracting talent to their platform, and between their checkbook size and their global scale and subscribers, it's a unique place to go make TV shows and movies for.

The other piece is that when most traditional television studios make a show or produce a film, there are equity participants in those assets. Specific producers or directors may own equity in that show, and it's very important that that talent is happy with how the product is monetized and distributed. So if Netflix is the best place, financially and otherwise, for that show to end up, that's what will happen more often than not.

Rapier: What about Disney? Can its standalone service compete? What are you looking for in Disney's earnings on November 9?

Swinburne: On this next earnings call we'll get greater clarity on the near-term impact to earnings from this shift toward over-the-top. The biggest dilution in 2018 will probably come from their BAM tech acquisition, which closed in September. You'll start to see some licensing revenue go away because they will be pulling products back for themselves. We'll get a little more clarity on the impact of all that on the 2018 financials when they report. That obviously will be a big focus for people.

Bigger picture, though, what we have seen in the past several years is that there's tremendous demand for over-the-top content. It's not just Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. We've seen lots of other services, traditional services like Starz or CBS All-Access, but also niche services like Japanese anime from Crunchyroll scale to 1 million-plus subscribers relatively quickly in a market that's very early.

Then we have these virtual MVPDs [multichannel video programming distributors], whether it's YouTube TV or Sling, that we think are going to reach 4 million subscribers by the end of this year. People are adopting and watching more than ever. When you think about Disney's brands — Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel — they've got a better chance than probably any other existing content and media company to take advantage of all this.

Now, that will take time, and it will take some initial investment, but we think particularly on the kids side and how important OTT is to kids viewing and families, there's a huge opportunity for them globally in a direct-to-consumer Disney environment. That's different for ESPN, but certainly for the Disney side of the house, the outlook long term is quite bullish.

Rapier: What's different with ESPN? What will you be watching for in that business segment?

Swinburne: Our eyes are all wide open. ESPN has probably benefited more than any other business in the existing bundle, from a profit perspective. They are facing a market where skinny bundles are the future, so they have to figure out a way to run their business in that environment. The good news there is that they are aware of these challenges. They are moving to an over-the-top product in 2018 that will give them a lot of insight into how sports can work — or not — in an OTT environment, which will inform them quite a bit in how they think about bidding for sports rights in three or four years, when the NFL, baseball, and other big sports deals are up.

The last piece would be that they just had a very successful renewal with Altice, the first distributor renewal in an upcoming cycle and very important to driving the earnings for that particular business in Disney going forward. I think investors should take some confidence out of the Altice renewal that the Disney portfolio of networks — which is not just ESPN but also ABC, Disney Channel — remain incredibly important assets in a competitive cable world.

Rapier: What's going on in the cable industry? Is there any upside potential in those service providers?

Swinburne: Absolutely. Whether you're talking about a Disney or Lionsgate, they certainly have value in this new ecosystem. Their content is being consumed at generally higher levels than before and there's a clear path at least for some of these businesses to build new profit pools in an OTT environment.

On the cable-specific side, Comcast and Charter are two stocks we like. The fact that they are cable businesses is almost a misnomer today. They're really ISPs.

The fact that they are cable businesses is almost a misnomer today. They're really ISPs.

Every cable operator has more broadband customers than video customers today. The earnings contribution from broadband is growing rapidly, while the earnings contribution from video is declining. Their exposure to television and cord-cutting is probably a lot lower than people realize. You'll see the number of devices people have in the home, the data they're consuming, has been growing 30%, 40%, 50% year-on-year, a trend that's going to continue. That really plays to the cable industry's strengths.

Rapier: Is there any competition to these incumbent service providers? Is Google Fiber or something like that even on their radar?

Swinburne: They really have a unique product position in the marketplace; they've got the best mousetrap. The cable plant is the most flexible plant in adding capacity inexpensively, where they compete with twisted pair, DSL, they offer much faster speeds. It's incredibly expensive to build a scaled fiber business across the United States. Google Fiber has essentially stopped adding any new footprint.

Rapier: What haven't we talked about that's on your radar?

Swinburne: We're quite bullish on the music business. There are not a lot of ways to play that in the public markets today. We have an overweight on Pandora; we think they are in a position to disrupt and take share from the traditional radio market from an advertising perspective. That's a part of media that, after 15 years of declines in spending, has really started to take off with growth in subscription streaming. We think it's a business that's going to grow rapidly for a long time.

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NOW WATCH: The head of investment themes at UBS explains the big trends every investor should know

On Tuesday night, Bob Weinstein made his first public statement after allegations of sexual harassment and assault by his brother, movie producer Harvey Weinstein, surfaced in stories from The New York Times and The New Yorker last week.

"My brother Harvey is obviously a very sick man," Bob told TMZ. "I've urged him to seek immediate professional help because he is in dire need of it. His remorse and apologies to the victims of his abuse are hollow."

Harvey was fired from The Weinstein Company by its board, which includes Bob, who is a cofounder, on October 8. Two days before, however, Page Six reported that tension had been rising between the siblings, referring to them as the "Cain and Abel" of Hollywood.

"Bob's wanted Harvey out for years," a former staffer told Page Six. Bob Weinstein has denied these allegations. 

Together, the brothers owned 42% of the company, and while it has not yet been determined what will happen to Harvey's share, Bob is now currently the head of the company.    

TMZ reported that Harvey believes it was his younger brother who fed information to The New York Times, and it was reported today that The Weinstein Company had known of Harvey's payoffs to women since 2015. 

SEE ALSO: Bob Weinstein calls his brother Harvey 'a very sick man' and a 'world class liar'

Harvey and Bob Weinstein are from New York City, and as Bob wrote in a Vanity Fair article in 2003, the two "grew up in a small two-bedroom apartment in a lower-middle-class housing development called Elechester." In that same article, Bob referred to himself as the "quiet brother."

Source: Vanity Fair

Harvey and Bob Weinstein founded Miramax in 1979 and sold it to Disney for around $70 million in 1997. The name was a nod to their parents, Miriam and Max.

Source: New York magazine

In 2005, the brothers left the company and began The Weinstein Company with a $1 billion investment from Goldman Sachs.

Source: Forbes

Actress Rose McGowan has been very active on social media over the past week, following the multitude of sexual harassment and assault allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein.

And on Thursday, McGowan tweeted that the head of Amazon's studio knew that "HW" assaulted her, and ignored it. "HW" most certainly refers to Harvey Weinstein.

McGowan tweeted at Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, that she "told the head of your studio that HW raped me." McGowan is likely referring to Amazon Studios chief Roy Price.

"Over and over I said it," she continued. "He said it hadn't been proven. I said I was the proof." (Last week, The New York Times reported that the "Scream" actress reached a $100,000 settlement with Weinstein in 1997, according to a legal document.)

Last September, McGowan said she had “just sold my show to Amazon," and indicated that she would write and direct it. But on Thursday, McGowan tweeted that when she heard that a "Weinstein bailout" was in the works at Amazon, she asked the company to "do the right thing." 

"I was ignored," McGowan tweeted. "Amazon won a dirty Oscar. I called my attorney and said I want to get my script back, but before I could, Amazon Studios called to say my show was dead."

In August, Amazon Studios boss Roy Price was investigated for allegedly making inappropriate sexual remarks to Isa Hackett, a producer on its series "The Man in the High Castle." His attorney at the time was Lisa Bloom, who was part of Weinstein's team before she dropped Weinstein in dramatic fashion over the weekend, as allegations of sexual assault broke. (Bloom told BuzzFeed News Thursday that her representation of Price "has concluded.")

Amazon was not immediately available for comment. In response to McGowan, a representative for Weinstein told Entertainment Weekly: “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein.”

"I am calling on you [Jeff Bezos] to stop funding rapists, alleged pedos and sexual harassers," McGowan tweeted Thursday. "I love Amazon but there is rot in Hollywood."

Amazon has also been criticized for the multi-part deal it has with Woody Allen, for movies and a TV show. Amazon spent $80 million to lure Allen onto streaming, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

SEE ALSO: All the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault

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• Harvey Weinstein's success and wealth gave him power over the careers and livelihood of his alleged victims.
• Women who speak up about sexual assault and sexual harassment face many risks and challenges, including financial ones.
• It's a pattern that replays itself in cases such as those of Bill Cosby and Roger Ailes.

As details continue to surface regarding Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's years of alleged sexual assaults and harassment, a clear theme has emerged:

Harvey Weinstein had a lot of power.

Power over the careers of young actresses and models trying to make a living in Hollywood. Power over their money and their opportunities. Power over their silence.

Weinstein's alleged victims were early in their careers — no match for an established Hollywood heavyweight. Many of his accusers have become household names today — Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cara Delevingne to name a few — but everyone starts somewhere.

And when you're just starting out, going head to head with a man worth millions is a financial fight you can't expect to win.

"I am a 28 year old woman trying to make a living and a career. Harvey Weinstein is a 64 year old, world famous man and this is his company. The balance of power is me: 0, Harvey Weinstein: 10," wrote former employee Lauren O'Connor in a 2015 memo addressed to executives of The Weinstein Company and obtained by the New York Times' Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.

Harvey Weinstein's company raked in billions of dollars

The Weinstein Company, which produced movies such as Django Unchained and The King's Speech, grossed billions of dollars in the past two decades alone. With a net worth of $150 million, Weinstein himself fits solidly into the top .01%.

Weinstein's nine-figure net worth still eclipses that of most of his accusers, even those who have gone on to achieve success of their own. It's an imbalance of power — and account balances — reminiscent of other media moguls accused of similar behavior, such as Bill Cosby and Roger Ailes.

Wealth can be used in positive ways. It often is. But Weinstein's immense wealth, and his alleged victims' financial dependence on his favor, created a power dynamic that made it nearly impossible for anyone to speak up against him.

For many of Weinstein's alleged victims, keeping silent was their only financial choice.

"I really felt scared, like he was in this all-powerful position, and I was clearly never going to work again if I said anything," Katherine Kendall told Michael Barbaro on Wednesday's episode of The Daily podcast from the New York Times.

"Once you've got some of these people with a ton of power, like a Harvey Weinstein or someone like that, they have so much power, and so many cronies that are going to support them, that it's so hard to go against them because you're almost always going to get retaliated against," Stephanie Gironda, senior associate in employment law at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, told Business Insider. "It puts people in a really tough situation."

Money is power — until the numbers are no longer in your favor

It would seem, as recent examples have shown, that the only thing more powerful than money is numbers. Support for the accusers — and condemnation of the accused, whether Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes, or Harvey Weinstein — grew as the number of women coming forward with allegations mounted.

Weinstein has denied many of the allegations, and in a statement provided to the New Yorker said he "believes that all of these relationships were consensual."

He's not the first person to believe that unwanted advances were consensual, when women have said otherwise.

Donald Trump, who owned the Miss Universe pageant franchise before selling it after becoming president, admitted to walking into the dressing rooms when contestants were changing. Some were as young as 15 at the time, Buzzfeed News reported last year.

"I'm allowed to go in, because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it," Trump boasted to Howard Stern in recordings released by CNN. "And you see these incredible looking women, and so I sort of get away with things like that."

Exactly.

Women who speak up put their career and livelihood at risk

Many of the women who have come forward to accuse Weinstein publicly are now financially independent. For victims of sexual assault or harassment who are not, speaking up means putting a lot on the line.

"I thought it would be a 'He said, she said,' and I thought about how impressive his legal team is, and I thought about how much I would lose, and I decided to just move forward," a woman who alleges Weinstein forced himself on her "sexually" told Ronan Farrow for the New Yorker.

One in six American women has been a victim of sexual assault, according to RAINN, but fewer than a third report the assault to police.

Cara Delevingne, who has also accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, wrote in a statement, "The more we talk about it, the less power we give them." It's a hopeful message.

But to truly shift the balance of power, we also need a system that protects the vulnerable before their numbers grow so large that we have no choice but to believe them. The high school student who accuses the National Honor Society president of rape, or the 20-something intern who claims her boss groped her at the holiday party, deserve the same level of support we reserve for the victims of Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby.

Until that support becomes the norm, speaking up will continue to be a risk for victims who do not have the power of money or numbers on their side.

SEE ALSO: All the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault

DON'T MISS: Gretchen Carlson says the way we handle sexual harassment 'gags' the women who confront it

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NOW WATCH: 'One of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood': Trump attacks Meryl Streep over blistering Golden Globes speech

We already know Jack Ma can dance. But the billionaire CEO of Alibaba showed recently that he can sing as well.

On October 11, Ma joined Chinese singer Li Jian on stage for a surprise appearance at Yunqi Music Festival, where he sang a duet on Li's hit song "Legend."

Adorned in a hip jacket, jeans and sunglasses combo, he didn't stop there.

Ma stayed on stage and sang solo for another three songs, including "Unchained Melody," followed by Jonathan Lee's "I Finally Lost You" and Wang Feng's "When I'm Thinking of You."

The festival was part of the Computing Conference 2017, an event hosted by Alibaba Cloud in the city of Hangzhou.

Ma's singing showcase comes just a month after he performed a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson at his company's 18th annual celebration. He's also been known to belt out tunes over the mic, having performed songs from the "Lion King" at a company meeting of more than 16,000 people back in 2014.

Watch the full performance here:

SEE ALSO: BANK OF AMERICA: 'This is not your parents' tech bubble'

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NOW WATCH: RAY DALIO: There's one asset every portfolio must have

Some patrons of the AMC Empire 25 theater in New York City's Times Square are complaining of bed bugs — but the theater is pushing back against the claims.

The theater suffered from a bed bug problem in the summer of 2010 and the fall of 2015.

The most recent sighting came on October 4, when Jessica Vidal took to Facebook and posted pictures of the bugs as well as her husband's neck, which looks to have been bitten by the bed bugs.

Here's what she posted:

One day prior to Vidal's post, NYU graduate student Don Ho told Gothamist that he got "red itchy bumps" on his forearm while at AMC 25.

So what exactly is going on over at AMC 25?

The bed bug discovery in 2010 led to the theater being closed for a brief time for it to be exterminated. Since then, the movie chain claims to have done constant inspections at AMC 25, which along with being a major destination for moviegoers in Manhattan, is also one of the theaters Hollywood studios use to show advance media and word-of-mouth screenings.

A spokesperson for AMC told Business Insider that they have not found any bed bugs at AMC 25.

"We are aware that guests have reported this issue recently, but have found no evidence at the theatre to confirm those reports," the statement read. "As we do any time bed bugs are reported, we investigated immediately upon receiving a guest report, using a third-party pest control company. Thorough examinations of auditoriums in question revealed no sign of any bed bug activity."

The statement went on to say: "Bed bugs are a widespread issue throughout New York City. Studies show that people are much more likely to encounter them in hotels and on their transportation to a movie theatre than in a movie theater itself. AMC is vigilant and aggressive about the inspection and treatment of this issue, both proactively and reactively. Every seat at AMC Empire 25 is proactively inspected every month and treated immediately if there is any sign of bed bugs."

SEE ALSO: Twitter explains why it suspended Rose McGowan's account following her Harvey Weinstein comments

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NOW WATCH: A Dungeons & Dragons master shows us how to play the classic game featured in 'Stranger Things'

Writer and director Quentin Tarantino has worked with Harvey Weinstein on a number of projects, including 1994's "Pulp Fiction," which was nominated for several Oscars including best picture and best director. Tarantino won the Oscar for writing the original screenplay. 

The Weinstein Company also released Tarantino's films "Django Unchained" (2012 ) and "Inglorious Basterds" (2009), which rank among the company's highest-grossing films. 

The sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein have built since they surfaced last week, and many in the industry have publicly made a statement, but Tarantino had not.

But on Thursday night, actress Amber Tamblyn, who is friends with Tarantino, shared an Instagram and tweet with a short statement from him, since he does not use social media. Here's what Tarantino said:

“For the last week, I’ve been stunned and heartbroken about the revelations that have come to light about my friend for 25 years Harvey Weinstein. I need a few more days to process my pain, emotions, anger and memory and then I will speak publicly about it.”

In the next few days, we should expect to hear more from Tarantino on the Weinstein allegations. 

SEE ALSO: All the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault

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When asked to weigh in on the allegations against Harvey Weinstein during the Busan International Film Festival Friday morning, director Oliver Stone refused to condemn the producer.

“I’m a believer that you wait until this thing gets to trial,” Stone said. “I believe a man shouldn’t be condemned by a vigilante system. It’s not easy what he’s going through, either.”

Stone continued to say that though he had never done business with Weinstein, he has heard "horror stories" about him from "everyone in the business" — but he doesn't want to "comment on gossip."

"I’ll wait and see, which is the right thing to do,” Stone said.

But Stone quickly changed his tune. Hours later, the director posted a statement on Facebook saying that he was "appalled" by the reports on Weinstein, and that he would be pulling out of his scripted "Guantanamo" series if the "Weinstein Company is involved."

Here is Stone's full statement:

"I’ve been traveling for the last couple of days and wasn’t aware of all the women who came out to support the original story in the New York Times. After looking at what has been reported in many publications over the last couple of days, I’m appalled and commend the courage of the women who’ve stepped forward to report sexual abuse or rape. I’ll therefore recuse myself from the 'Guantanamo' series as long as the Weinstein Company is involved."

SEE ALSO: All the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault

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NOW WATCH: Everything we know about 'porgs' — the penguin-like creatures from 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'

One of the biggest banks on Wall Street just made a wild prediction about Netflix.

Goldman Sachs raised its 12-month price target for the streaming company by 17.5% to $235, the highest rating among analysts tracked by Bloomberg. Netflix is trading 1.74% higher after Goldman released the new target.

Netflix is scheduled to report earnings on Monday, and Goldman says the rest of Wall Street is underestimating the company's potential.

"We believe consensus subscriber estimates for Netflix ahead of Monday’s earnings remain too low," Goldman wrote in a note to clients. "While we are considerably above consensus (13.9 million net subscriber adds in the second half of 2017 vs. FactSet consensus of 10.8 million) and don’t expect management to guide to our forecast, we do believe management is likely to exceed those forecasts."

Netflix announced a price increase for its subscribers earlier this month. The price hikes won't affect many users until November, but they did send a number of analysts on Wall Street to raise their price targets and re-evaluate the company ahead of its earnings.

The average price target for the 45 analysts tracked by Bloomberg is currently $200.85, which is about 1% higher than Netflix's current price of $198.96, but many of the more recent estimates are more bullish. About 74% of analysts who issued new research since Netflix raised its prices are bullish, according to data from Bloomberg.

Goldman said it set the ambitious $235 price target because it sees other firms generally underestimating Netflix. If Netflix reports its earnings and beats many of Wall Street's estimates, analysts will revise their price targets higher which will drive Netflix's stock higher as well, according to Goldman.

"While high expectations, particularly in light of the price increase, could lead to volatility post results, we believe upward revisions to consensus estimates will ultimately drive further outperformance and remain Buy rated," Goldman said.

Many analysts point to the company's rising prices as a way for Netflix to increase its spending on new content. Good content is often seen as a driver of new subscriptions.

Netflix is facing a wave of new competition, however. Competitors have been trying to find a way to grab their own piece of Netflix's success. Companies like Apple, CBS, Amazon, Hulu, Disney and others are producing original content to place exclusively behind their own paywalls. 

Goldman increased its price target by 17.5% on Friday. Netflix is up 56% this year.

Read about how Netflix timed its price hike perfectly so you wouldn't leave...

SEE ALSO: UBS: Netflix perfectly timed its price increase to ensure you won't leave

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NOW WATCH: Traders are gearing up for Trump's tax cut plan

With the revelations in the past week of decades of alleged sexual harassment and assault by Harvey Weinstein of women in Hollywood, many actresses are opening up with their own experiences — not just with the disgraced movie mogul, but with others in the industry.

In a story the Los Angeles Times ran Thursday, actress Blake Lively opened up for the first time about being sexually harassed by a makeup artist for three months on a project she worked on.

“He was saying things inappropriately, insisting on putting my lipstick on with his finger,” Lively said. “I was sleeping one night on location and I woke up and he was filming me. I was clothed, but it was a very voyeuristic, terrifying thing to do.”

Lively quickly reported the person to the producers on the project, but nothing was done, she said.

“Finally,” she said, “after three months of complaining, they called me into my trailer and said, ‘We need to talk to you.' I thought, ‘Well finally, they’re going to do something about this man who I had to have touching me all day.’ And they said, ‘Your dog left a poop behind the toilet in your dressing room and our janitor had to pick it up. And this is very serious and we can't have this happen again.'"

Lively finally took the harassment issue to her lawyer. An investigation was conducted, and the makeup artist was removed from the project, according to the LA Times. However, it doesn't seem to have hurt that person's career.

“Our unit production manager wrote him a letter of recommendation because nobody wanted there to be bad blood,” Lively said.

The epidemic of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry goes back to the early days of the business, and though the phrase "casting couch" — actresses advancing their careers by being coerced into sleeping with or being sexually assaulted by people with power — is thought to have disappeared with the evolution of the enlightened times we live in today, in actuality it's just become a better-kept dirty secret.

The Weinstein scandal has revealed women (and men) in the business are still being harassed.

SEE ALSO: People are saying a movie in Times Square is crawling with bed bugs — again

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NOW WATCH: SCOTT GALLOWAY: Facebook could screen its advertisers, but it doesn't want to hurt profits

Goldman Sachs is "exploring options" for its small stake in The Weinstein Company after more than two dozen women came forward with accusations of sexual harassment against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, according to Shannon Bond at The Financial Times.

Andrew Williams, a spokesman for the bank, told the FT the firm is exploring options for its stake, which is valued at less than $1 million.

Goldman Sachs helped finance the creation of The Weinstein Company back in 2005.

Even before reports about Weinstein's alleged misconduct came to light, The Los Angeles Times says that the company was "already facing financial strains because of a lack of commercial hits and increasing competition in the indie cinema space."

Last week, a bombshell New York Times report exposed decades of sexual harassment and abuse allegations against Weinstein, including from actress Ashley Judd. The Times reported that Weinstein has made legal settlements with at least eight women.

Since then, over two dozen women have come forward, including stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Cara Delevingne.

Most of these alleged encounters follow a similar pattern of "business meetings" turning into a proposed massage and hotel room sexual harassment or assault. The accusations begin as early as the 1980s and include actresses, assistants, and other employees of Weinstein's companies. 

The Huffing Post reported on Friday that Lauren Sivan, who was previously a news anchor on local cable channel Long Island 12, alleges that a decade ago Weinstein trapped her in the hallway of a restaurant that was closed to the public and masturbated in front of her until he ejaculated.

Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company by its board last the weekend. The statement announcing the firing said the decision was made "in light of new information about misconduct by Harvey Weinstein that has emerged in the past few days."

Weinstein and his brother, Bob, who is now the head of the company, together own 42% of the company. 

Check out the full report from The Financial Times here.

SEE ALSO: All the women who have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment or assault

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NOW WATCH: Watch billionaire CEO Jack Ma dance to Michael Jackson in full costume

With the help of a footage from Sean Hannity's recent Fox News interview with President Donald Trump, Stephen Colbert got some face time with his rival.

Thanks to a green screen and some creative editing, The "Late Night" host magically sat across from Trump in a segment on the show Thursday night, and Colbert hilariously had his way with him.

Colbert "asked" Trump to comment on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, which Trump in a doctored response said "it was very sad when I saw this." 

Colbert then asked if he ever engaged in any sexual harassment.

The manipulated Trump footage had him answer: "25 years ago, 20 years ago, and 10 years ago, and 5 years ago." Colbert asked of any other times and Trump replied, "Tomorrow."

Colbert then turned to Trump's electoral college win to claim the presidency. He was curious if Trump could name the states he thought clinched it. Trump said he could name "many states." Colbert asked if he could name one of those states now. Trump said, "Russia."

To end the interview, the Trump footage made it seem like he was praising Colbert's high ratings and beating all the competition. Colbert then said he would "return the compliment."

"I think you are a bloated narcissist whose presidency is a knife in the moral heart of America," Colbert said. "A wound on our national soul that will take generations to heal, if ever."

Watch the faux interview below:

SEE ALSO: 11 fan theories about who Rey is in the "Star Wars" universe

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NOW WATCH: Jaleel White played Steve Urkel on 'Family Matters' for 9 years — here’s what he’s up to now

Known for being the master of the motion-capture performance following his roles as Gollum, King Kong, Caesar (in the “Planet of the Apes” movies), and currently Supreme Leader Snoke (“The Force Awakens,” “The Last Jedi”), Andy Serkis is throwing a major curveball on all of us for his feature directorial debut.

“Breathe,” about the life of Robin Cavendish — who became paralyzed from the neck down from polio — and his wife Robin, is a traditional biopic that is fueled by the performances of its leads Andrew Garfield as Robin and Claire Foy (Netflix's "The Queen") as Diana. The intimate love story is a departure from the usual CGI-focused work Serkis is known for. The movie was made through his production company, The Imaginarium, which mostly focuses on mo-cap projects.

But this is only a brief departure.

The opportunity to make “Breathe” came to Serkis while he was in post production on an extremely ambitious project: A live-action “The Jungle Book” movie for Warner Bros. that will feature a lot of big name actors doing mo-cap of the legendary characters that were brought back to the zeitgeist after Disney's CGI blockbuster release of its own "Jungle Book" movie in 2016.

Business Insider chatted with Serkis in New York City about finding the time to make “Breathe,” why he’s completely okay with movies resurrecting deceased actors through CGI, the status of “Jungle Book,” and how he created the Snoke voice.

Jason Guerrasio: You run The Imaginarium with Jonathan Cavendish, the son of the main characters of "Breathe," Robin and Diana. How did you meet him?

Andy Serkis: Jonathan had seen a film I had made called "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" about Ian Dury, who was a polio sufferer, and a punk rocker first and foremost, and he loved it and began telling me the story about his father. And then he told me he had been developing the script for five years. So we started The Imaginarium.

Guerrasio: So basically you were like, good luck with all of that with your family script.

Serkis: Yeah, it wasn't really the idea I was looking for. We were looking for other directors to direct it. And then I took the script home and I was just floored by it. It was just so incredibly powerful and emotional and you never read scripts like this in terms of the emotional content of it. So I was like, "S---, I'm having lunch with him tomorrow and I think I'm going to pitch me directing his parent's life story." So I did.

Guerrasio: At this point it's just script stage, no talent attached.

Serkis: Right. None. And he said, "Yeah, let's do it." So we started developing it and then "Jungle Book" came along and we started working on that and then that became a long preproduction. We shot "Jungle Book," principal photography, worked on it for a year and a half, and then this weird opportunity came up in the long post production we've had. Andrew and Claire became available and we raised the money in seven weeks and we shot the whole thing in seven weeks.

Guerrasio: Was that a nice time to shut off the part of your brain that was focused on "Jungle Book" or while making "Breathe" are you juggling that as well?

Serkis: Juggling lots of plates.

Guerrasio: But was it fun to shoot something that wasn't going to be as heavy motion-capture as "Jungle Book" is?

Serkis: I was so looking forward to it. This joy of seeing the performance at the end of the day rather than waiting a year and a half to see how a character is going to turn out eventually was a joy.

Guerrasio: Is that the big difference of directing "Breathe" versus "Jungle Book," the immediacy of it?

Serkis: In many ways it's the least complicated shoot I've ever done. On "The Hobbit" for Pete Jackson I was his second unit director, so that was my first grand scale experience as a director. Stepping onto a set with 150 crew and working for 200 days straight. The technical side of it was a huge education. So I felt prepared when I went into "Jungle Book."

Guerrasio: Was it nice to go back to basics, so to speak, of traditional filmmaking with "Breathe?"

Serkis: The simplicity was tied together with the brief shooting days. On those big projects you have nothing but time, this was like we have to get all of this in seven weeks. There was pressure. I didn't want to just make a film that felt like a drama-documentary that's handheld and not lit well. I always wanted to make it cinematic. It's based on truth but I wanted it to feel like a fairy tale which gradually gets stripped away towards the end of the movie.

Guerrasio: What did Jonathan think of the movie?

Serkis: He was by my side every day.

Guerrasio: But it's one thing if you make a biopic and the person it's based on is still alive, you may meet them briefly and maybe they'll come out and do press. This is the son of the main characters right next to you. Was it more pressure?

Serkis: We're such close friends, it was a joy. And he's so objective about his life. He wanted to see it from the outside. That was a gift.

Guerrasio: So you found the right guy to be your business partner.

Serkis: [Laughs] That's true. It could have gone horribly wrong.

Guerrasio: What's the latest on "Jungle Book?"

Serkis: We're in a really good place with it. We shot the performance capture, it's live-action, so we shot in South Africa with this amazing young actor named Rohan Chand. Our version is darker in tone to the Disney one. Which I loved.

Guerrasio: So you have seen it?

Serkis: Oh, yeah.

Guerrasio: You didn't feel like, "I can't see it, I have to go in fresh with mine."

Serkis: No. No. Because I just wanted to make sure we weren't covering similar ground and I don't think we are. There was a point where we were neck and neck, these films were potentially going to come out within months of each other.

Guerrasio: Could you sit back and enjoy Jon Favreau's movie and not analyze the heck out of it?

Serkis: When we were shooting at the same time there was a bit of that worry, but I knew our script was for a PG-13 audience. It's a story about identity and we're using performance-capture as opposed to the whole jungle being CG. So, honestly, you can't think about the other one, you focus on what you're doing. I love where it is. We have designed these animals that you can very much see the actors' faces we have — Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch — in them.

Guerrasio: So you're just deep in post right now?

Serkis: Yeah. The animation is flowing. I think it's in good shape.

Guerrasio: I would like your thoughts on motion-capture in general. We've now had CGI versions of living people — Michael Douglas in "Ant-Man," Robert Downey Jr. in "Captain America: Civil War" — but also people who have passed away — Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher in "Rogue One" — is there a certain line the industry should not cross in regards to using the tools we have?

Serkis: You mean digital resurrection?

Guerrasio: Exactly.

Serkis: I think if it's handled with taste and it honors actors who have passed and their families are happy, the estates are happy, if it's done in a respectful way, I think that's perfectly fine. But there has to be a good reason for doing it. Dramatically. Storywise. I mean, I think digitally resurrecting any character from history, Abraham Lincoln could have been performance-captured or Winston Churchill for that matter, it's a way of doing it. It's so funny because we love real stories and bringing people back to life through them. Think of how many actors have done an impersonation of somebody else. Wouldn't it be great to have the real Elvis Presley or someone through 3D imagery?

Guerrasio: The recent "The Last Jedi" trailer has Snoke’s voice prominently featured. How did you come up with the voice?

Serkis: When I first worked on it with ["The Force Awakens" director] J.J. [Abrams] there was an evolving design of the character. It was going through lots of changes. But it's all about where a character carries his pain, or aggression, or emotional centers and with Snoke it was very much there [putting his hands to the back of his head]. And his skull has got this big scar in the front, so for me it was a fracturing. He's got this cleft in his head and I think it's very painful for him to speak and yet there's an imperiousness about him. He's severely damaged but there's a vulnerability that's he's trying to cover so that was sort of what I was trying to do.  

Guerrasio: I'd like your thoughts on the recently news about Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment and assault. Weinstein was an executive producer on all the "Lord of the Rings" movies. What's your reaction to the revelations?

Serkis: I think there's no excuse for a culture that allows for any kind of bullying or coercion on predatory behavior and I think we are behoove not just in this industry but across all industries to be vocal about that and to encourage and help and support people who are brave enough to come out and to challenge people who are in positions of authority if they behave badly. That's it. 

SEE ALSO: Morgan Freeman talks Pussy Riot, the keys to longevity, and his new National Geographic show

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The second season of "Stranger Things" is almost here, and Netflix surprised everyone by dropping a new trailer on Friday the 13th. The footage reveals a number of different things about the plot and includes some references to classic films of the time. Here's everything we know so far. WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD. Following is a transcript of the video.

 The season is set in 1984, one year after the first.

"Ghostbusters" the movie also came out in 1984.

Eleven is alive!

These are the Eggos Hooper left her at the end of season 1.

Hooper's quote is a nod to "Rosemary's Baby."

Hooper: "These are not nightmares. This is happening."

Rosemary: "This is no dream. This is really happening!"

Will is now the one being tested, not Eleven.

Joyce Byers: "What is wrong with my boy?"

There is a terrifying new "shadow" monster. It's huge and has many tentacles.

Will has been drawing strange pictures of it.

Steve still has his weapon from season 1, the bat he used to fight the Demogorgon.

The season will revisit Hawkins Lab.

Hooper may go back to the Upside Down. All of the kids may go as well, and someone is keeping track of  their every move.

Sean Astin plays a man named Bob Newby. It looks like he will help Hooper and the kids.

They also have help from a new friend named Max.

The second season premieres Oct. 27, 2017.

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In this prolific week for new music, Beck, St. Vincent, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, the Wu-Tang Clan, and English rock prodigy King Krule all released new albums. 

Here are the 5 best songs from the past week that you can stream right now:

SEE ALSO: The 5 best songs you can stream from last week — Sam Smith, Belly, and more

Beck — "Colors"

Beck's 13th studio album "Colors" commences with its shape-shifting title track, a pop-structured song backed by atmospheric synths, lively drumming, and a shockingly effective use of pan flute. 

St. Vincent — "Young Lover"

Annie Clark of St. Vincent paints a troubling portrait of love and drug abuse on "Young Lover," a moving standout track from her eclectic fifth album, "MASSEDUCTION."

Robert Plant — "Keep It Hid"

"Keep It Hid" is a highlight from Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant's 11th solo album, "Carry Fire." Built around a whirling, Radiohead-like synth, the four-minute track features cryptic lyricism and a restrained, yet potent, vocal performance from Plant.

The new "Lord of the Rings" game, "Middle-earth: Shadow of War," is fine. 

Not in the '90s sense, but in the literal sense. It's not a terrible game, and it's not a great game. It's fine.

I've spent around 15 hours murdering orcs and arguing with the ghost inside of the game's main character. What I've found is an aggressively mechanical game with a nonsensical story that's as fun to play as it is rote. 

These are the highs and lows of "Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

SEE ALSO: 16 reasons why now is the perfect time to buy a PlayStation 4

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for "Middle-earth Shadow of War," including story and gameplay.

It probably goes without saying, but I'm going to speak explicitly about "Middle-earth Shadow of War" — this is a review, after all. If you don't want anything spoiled, turn back!

"Middle-earth: Shadow of War" is a third-person action game set in the "Lord of the Rings" universe.

To be clear, "Shadow of War" is a game about killing orcs by the wagon-full — thus the grisly creep you see above. The "Lord of the Rings" scenery and setting is merely a backdrop. Though it can feel overbearing at times, "Shadow of War" is not a game strictly for "LOTR" superfans.

There is a ring at the center of things, as is so often the case in Mordor. But does it matter?

If you're looking for a complex tale of adventure and sacrifice set in J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy universe, you're barking up the wrong Ent. "Shadow of War" is rife with "LOTR" references and characters, but dialog and story contrivances had me rolling my eyes from the first 10 minutes.

For a game that's so nakedly about the interplay of video game-centric systems, "Shadow of War" is bizarrely overloaded with needless storytelling. Can I get back to sneaking up and killing orcs?

As the Harvey Weinstein scandal of alleged sexual harassment and assault has evolved in the last week, the one name that's appeared more and more is former Miramax executive Fabrizio Lombardo. 

Lombardo, who was the head of Miramax's Italy office until it was closed in 2003, has been referred to as Weinstein's Italian connection in multiple stories about his alleged sexual misconduct toward women that spans three decades.

Italian actress and director Asia Argento later confirmed on Twitter that he was the producer she referred to when recounting her alleged encounter with Weinstein in a hotel room in 1997 to The New Yorker. 

Argento told The New Yorker that the producer (Lombardo) invited her to a party thrown by Miramax — the company founded by Harvey and his brother Bob before they formed The Weinstein Company in 2005 — at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, on the French Riviera. Argento said she showed up, but the producer led her to a hotel room with only Weinstein in it. “I’m, like, ‘Where is the f---ing party?’” she recounted saying. The producer then told her, “Oh, we got here too early,” Argento told The New Yorker. Then he left her alone with Weinstein, she said, and subsequently Weinstein allegedly performed unwanted oral sex on her.

After the New Yorker story came out, Argento tweeted that Lombardo was the producer that brought her to Weinstein.

New Zealand model and writer Zoë Brock alleged that Lombardo was also among the men that left her alone with Weinstein while they were in his hotel room during the Cannes Film Festival in 1997. Brock said when she was alone with Weinstein, he took his clothes off and asked her for a massage. She ran into a bathroom to escape, she said.

Brock alleged that Lombardo was one of the people in Weinstein's circle who would "hunt" women for him.

“I did not hunt for him,” Lombardo told The Guardian, in his first interview about the scandal. “It is not my style ... it is not my relationship with Weinstein."

Lombardo added that he could not recall ever meeting Brock and denied bringing Argento to Weinstein's hotel room, or having any knowledge of Weinstein's alleged sexual misconduct. He did admit that he introduced Weinstein to "countless" people, but said Weinstein didn't need his help to meet women.

“He can pick up the phone and have lunch or dinner with whoever he wants," Lombardo said.

Despite not having contact with Argento for years, according to The Guardian, Lombardo contacted her the day after the New York Times story on Weinstein. 

Lombardo sent Argento two messages on Whatsapp that he claimed were sent to her by mistake. In one, a man wakes up next to a woman in bed and attempts to leave what he believes is a bad one-night stand, only to realize she's his wife. In the other, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi – known for his “bunga bunga” sex parties – is pictured with a car and a license plate that reads “escort.”

Argento tweeted them:

Lombardo told The Guardian that those messages were intended for a friend he often sends memes to.

“I sent it by mistake," he said. "Maybe hers was close to another name."

According to a New York Times story in 2004, Miramax paid Lombardo for months after its Italy office closed, despite Lombardo having another full-time job at the time at a real estate company.

SEE ALSO: How Andy Serkis went from playing Gollum to directing his first movie — and the pressure of making a non-Disney "Jungle Book"

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