High-profile Democrats are in disbelief over Donald Trump's call for Russian hackers to release some of Hillary Clinton's emails.

During a press conference on Wednesday, the Republican presidential nominee said that Russian hackers who released a trove of Democratic National Committee emails should also find thousands of emails that Clinton deleted from her private email servers while serving as secretary of state. 

Speaking with Business Insider in Philadelphia, Sen. Ron Wyden joined a chorus of Democrats condemning Trump, saying that the Republican presidential nominees comments were stranger than fiction.

"Donald Trump's comments today would not be believable if he was a character on 'House of Cards," Wyden said.

While Wyden dismissed Trump's invitation to Russian hackers, the senator did critique the leaked internal Democratic National Committee emails showing key members of the organization speaking critically of Sen. Bernie Sanders.

"The materials that came out over the weekend were unacceptable in terms of the very strict pledge of impartiality," Wyden said, referencing the DNC's pledge to stay neutral in primary fights. "That's really troubling."

Democrats weren't the only ones pushing back against Trump's comments on Wednesday.

House Speaker Paul Ryan also distanced himself from the real-estate mogul's stance on Russia.

"Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election," the spokesperson said.

SEE ALSO: 'Overblown': High-profile Democrats aren't concerned about calls of disunity

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NOW WATCH: Here’s the footage that Republicans suggest shows Hillary Clinton lied under oath

When Sarah Megan Thomas set out to make the next great Wall Street movie, she had a couple objectives in mind: feature strong women and do something that's never been done before.

Thomas loved films about Wall Street but felt that lately they'd all centered around the financial crisis and vilified bankers.

She wanted to do something new.

That led her to create "Equity," a feature film written, produced, directed, and starred in by women, which comes to theaters Friday.

She learned a few surprising things along the way.

She found out how much investment bankers travel and the insanely long hours they work — and that, despite many women on Wall Street having families, most wait until they've reached a certain level of seniority before daring to have kids.

"That was really surprising, and we put that straight in the script," said Thomas, who plays Erin Manning, a young banker up for promotion who conceals her pregnancy.

Thomas coproduced and costarred in the film with Alysia Reiner of "Orange is the New Black" fame.

The "Breaking Bad" star Anna Gunn plays the lead character, a top female investment banker fighting to keep her firm in the lead on an initial public offering for a Silicon Valley startup.

Gunn's character, Naomi Bishop, will struggle to "balance business and ethics in the post-financial crisis world where regulations are tight but aspirations remain high," according to the filmmaker's website.

A legendary connection

The script, written by Amy Fox, is based on interviews the filmmakers held with male and female bankers across Wall Street, including industry veterans Liz Myers, Barbara Byrne, Alexandra Lebenthal, and Elaine La Roche.

Thomas said her character was not based on any one banker, but was largely inspired by Myers, JPMorgan's global head of equity capital markets, and a more junior vice president at Goldman Sachs.

She recalled being surprised by the Goldman VP's apparel the first time they met — a feminine A-line skirt and blouse, rather than a suit.

"I took a picture and I sent it to our costume designer, and she matched it for the opening sequence of Erin in the movie," she said.

Thomas was introduced to Myers by Jimmy Lee, the legendary JPMorgan investment banker and vice chairman who died last year. Coincidentally, he was working on the IPO of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba when he and Thomas first met.

"We both went to Williams College — that's our only connection," Thomas said, adding that Lee always made time to meet with her despite having a family and busy travel schedule. "There was no reason he had to help me."

But Lee vouched for Thomas and introduced her to a number of senior men and women on Wall Street. He'd also planned to invest in the film before he died.

Thomas said the filmmakers encountered a lot of great male mentors on Wall Street for women, which they tried to reflect in the script.

Sharp elbows

Barclays' Byrne, who became a coproducer and invested in the movie, was a big inspiration for Gunn's character.

"Barbara talked to Anna Gunn on the phone about the character and being of a generation where sometimes you're told you have sharp elbows for being tough," Thomas said.

Byrne told the filmmakers that whenever she's in an uncomfortable situation in a room full of men, she always uses humor to break the ice.

"She's really funny," Thomas said. "She has a British humor, very dry."

One of the biggest challenges in making the film was finding drama in the mundane work that goes into actually doing a deal.

Bloomberg, which sponsored the film, helped the filmmakers get around this by lending reporters to anchor fake news segments and fill in the audience.

Bloomberg also created fake graphs with fake stock prices to display on terminals in the movie.

Showing support

Though Thomas says she "would never personally be able to be a Wall Streeter," she does see some similarities between the worlds of finance and entertainment — namely the lack of women in the room.

"If we want to see more female-driven content, it's important to go to the movie theater and support it with your dollar, opening weekend," she said.

Thomas herself will attend an opening night screening of the film hosted by JPMorgan in New York.

Myers will be there, along with a number of senior women from the firm, including Jennifer Nason, the global head of tech, media and telecom banking; Noelle Grainger, the head of global equity research; Lauren Camp, an investment banking vice chairman; and Alice Wang, a managing director.

SEE ALSO: Here's how the first movie about what it's like to be a woman on Wall Street got made

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NOW WATCH: Everyday phrases that even smart people say incorrectly

Comedy Central and its parent company, Viacaom, stopped Stephen Colbert from using the alter-ego he used for a decade on "The Colbert Report," according to the "Late Show" host.

Last week, Colbert brought back "The Colbert Report" character with the help of another Comedy Central alum, Jon Stewart. And while his fans were overjoyed about the comeback, Colbert (the real one) said his old bosses weren't.

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert created a cartoon Hillary Clinton and asked her some tough questions

DON'T MISS: Watch Stephen Colbert hilariously try to crash the DNC stage

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NOW WATCH: ‘How can you be this bad at it?’: Colbert joked about Clinton’s trusthworthiness — here’s how she responded

Another revival is in our midst.

MTV is rebranding the channel VH1 Classic (both are owned by Viacom) as MTV Classic. The new channel will air the shows that solidifed the network's name back in the day: "Beavis and Butt-Head," "Daria," "Total Request Live," "Pimp My Ride," and more.

The relaunch will take place on August 1, exactly 35 years after MTV first graced our TVs. In fact, MTV Classic is going to replay the exact first hour of programming MTV aired with "MTV Hour One," according to Variety.

There will be a special focus on the 1990s and early 2000s, according to Deadline. 

The first day will feature a "Total Request Live" retrospective called "The TRL Decade," and a marathon of the best episodes of "MTV Unplugged." The music is coming back to the music television network after all.

"Daria," "Beavis and Butt-Head," "Aeon Flux," "Run’s House," "Jackass," "Pimp My Ride," "Clone High," and other favorites will air during the hours of 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

The weekends will feature marathons of "Laguna Beach," "The Real World," and more.

Watch the announcement video:

SEE ALSO: 10 TV shows you used to be obsessed with that are being resurrected

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NOW WATCH: We took a ride around NYC in the new ‘Ghostbusters’ car which is actually a 1984 Cadillac hearse

As the Pokémon Go phenomenon marches on, players are increasingly turning to fan-made apps in their quest to catch 'em all.

It's no wonder why — as players keep overloading the game's server capacity, Pokémon Go developer Niantic seems to have turned off critical Pokémon-tracking features just to keep up. It means that these outside apps are often the only way to know where any given Pokémon is hiding.

So let's just say it off the top: using these apps is cheating and might get you banned. The vast majority of these apps are explicitly against Niantic's rules, and if you use them, there's a very good chance they'll ban your Pokémon Go account permanently. 

Here's the pertinent part of Pokémon Go's policy, buried about halfway through. You agreed to this policy when you signed up for the game, even if you didn't read it. It says you cannot:

"...attempt to access or search the Services or Content, or download Content from the Services through the use of any technology or means other than those provided by Niantic or other generally available third-party web browsers (including, without limitation, automation software, bots, spiders, crawlers, data-mining tools, or hacks, tools, agents, engines, or devices of any kind)...."

That also covers stuff like GPS spoofing, a technique that some players are using to trick their phones into thinking they are where they're not, meaning they can catch Pokémon from around the globe while sitting on their couch. Once Niantic figures them out, it's likely to be Bye-Bye, Butterfree. 

The good news is, some mapping tools like the mega-popular Pokevision, which works with a web browser, or PokeNotify, an app for Android, don't require you to use any login. So they won't know it's you.

Both services are very popular: PokeNotify tells Business Insider that its app has been downloaded 120,000 times; 16 million people used PokeVision in the first six days it was available.

But another Niantic's terms of service also prohibits "extract, scrape, index, copy, or mirror," meaning they'd be within their rights to shut down Pokevision and PokeNotify, too. That goes for iPhone apps like the similar PokeWhere, as well.

The absolute best tools, like PokeDetector for Android, can actually send you push notifications or texts when rare Pokémon appear in your vicinity.

But they require you to enter a game account login, since that's how it accesses the Pokémon location data. Plus, some of them charge for premium services, like this screenshot of PokeDetector offering you a Premium upgrade so you can choose which Pokémon you get notified about.

That's another no-no according to Niantic. Be warned. 

And while savvy players are creating throwaway, one-
time use accounts just for the app, lots of players are using their main Pokémon Go account. And whether you're using a Google account or a Pokémon Trainer's Club account to log in, Niantic can definitely see what you're doing.

So, yes, it's frustrating that Pokémon Go is currently broken to the point where it's way harder than it needs to be to find hidden Pokémon. Just know that you're taking your account and your future Pokémon journeys into your own hands if you use them.

And while the Pokémon Go servers are all funky, it's still pretty legit to use "Ingress," Niantic's previous game, as a tool to help hunt rare Pokémon. Here's how.

Niantic did not respond to a request for comment, but we'll update if we hear back.

SEE ALSO: 12 clever tips and tricks for Pokémon Go from the first guy to catch all 142 Pokémon in the US

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NOW WATCH: This map shows you where to find any Pokémon in ‘Pokémon GO'

The summer has seen a lot of sequels, but to the chagrin of Hollywood execs, many are bombing at the box office.

Analysts are crying sequel fatigue, but studios trying to bank on franchises isn't new. They're just doing it a lot more frequently, but with titles people care way less about seeing.

In looking at Box Office Mojo's ranking of some of the top-grossing franchises adjusted for inflation, it's clear that pursuing sequels has always been a roller-coaster ride.

Business Insider selected 15 franchises — the dominating fantasies as well as some animation, action, and horror films — from the top 100.

Of those 15, only three — "Toy Story," "The Lord of the Rings," and "Captain America" — have seen growth with every installment. The same can't be said, though, for "Iron Man," Marvel's other major solo-character series.

Every other franchise lacks a pattern, except that it seems that "Fast and Furious" reached a positive turning point in 2009 and no one wants more "Scream" movies at this point.

See how your favorite franchise did over its lifetime:

SEE ALSO: The sequels that are bombing badly at the box office this year

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NOW WATCH: Keanu Reeves blasted his way through a gun range training for the 'John Wick' sequel

Needless to say, politics can bring out a lot of emotion. But so can watching someone in a convincing role. And when those two things combine, it can result in what happened on Wednesday night, when a group of people saw Bradley Cooper in attendance at the Democratic National Convention.

Cooper was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in 2014's "American Sniper." The war movie was a hit among conservative Republicans, so some of them lashed out on the internet after seeing Cooper at the DNC:

In real life, Cooper supports the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and donated to Hillary Clinton's run for US Senate as well as her 2008 presidential candidacy.

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert says his old network stopped him from using his 'Colbert Report' character

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NOW WATCH: A Navy SEAL reveals what ‘American Sniper’ got wrong

I made the trek to Randalls Island in New York City this past weekend for Panorama Festival, the city's newest three-day music festival put together by Goldenvoice, the promoters behind Coachella.

With temperatures topping 100 degrees and a lineup featuring big headliners like Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, and Kendrick Lamar, I expected the weekend to be 🔥— both physically and performance-wise.

The most noticeable part of the festival, however, was a structural addition I didn't expect to either notice or care about: the massive video screens attached to both the Panorama Stage (main stage) and the Pavilion Stage (second-largest stage).

Here was my experience of Panorama festival and what impressed me the most:

Here's a look at the screen at the Panorama Stage:

The Panorama Stage featured an LED screen that wrapped around the entire performance space. It's 245 feet long and 36 feet tall at its highest point, according to Kyle Casey, the Panorama Festival director.

The Pavilion Stage, meanwhile, featured three screens. The one in the center was 32 feet wide and 18 feet tall, while the two screens on the side were 20 feet wide and 11 feet high.

Here's what the screens at the Pavilion Stage looked like:

This may seem like an odd thing to point out. Just about every large-scale concert, from festivals to amphitheater shows, has video screens to help the nobodies in the back see what the tiny figures in the distance are doing on stage.

But at Panorama, the screens seemed bigger.

Not only that — what was playing on the screens seemed far more thought out than at other shows and festivals I've attended. The cinematography of the artists' performances had a concert documentarylike quality. Those behind the booth seemed to always know where to place the camera to give a particular part of a song the emphasis it needed to drive it home.

This suspicion was confirmed by Casey, who said VER and BML Blackbird, the companies that provided the screens for the Panorama Stage and the Pavilion Stage, respectively, collaborated with each artist's team to make sure their prepared video content meshed with the camera work provided by the companies.

The more prominent artists, like the headliners and those playing just before, had their own personal video directors who called the shots and clearly knew the cues of each song.

I never thought I would care about something like that. I usually make fun of the people staring at the video screens at a concert. Why go to a concert if you are going to just watch a screen?

But at Panorama, the camera work was so visually interesting on its own — and the screens so massive — that I found myself constantly looking up at them whether or not my view was blocked.

On top of that, many of the artists turned the video screens behind and around them into something approaching a video art piece that completely changed your experience of their performance.

Sia tricked half the crowd into thinking Paul Dano, Kristen Wiig, and Tig Notaro were dancing on the stage. Arcade Fire displayed a slideshow of David Bowie photos while singing 2013's "Reflektor." The National and Oh Wonder layered the performance footage over abstract colors, patterns, and lines that mimicked the aesthetic on their album covers.

"Sesame Street" is in the middle of a controversy over age discrimination after firing three of its original cast members.

Bob McGrath, who played Bob; Emilio Delgado, who played Luis; and Roscoe Orman, who played Gordon, won't be back for the upcoming season of the PBS and HBO children's show.

Variety reported that McGrath broke the news at a recent convention. In his statement, McGrath appears to insinuate that "Sesame Street" let them go because of their age.

"As of this season, I have completed my 45th season this year," McGrath said. "And the show has gone under a major turnaround, going from an hour to a half-hour. HBO has also gotten involved. And they let all of the original cast members go, with the exception of Alan Muraoka — who is probably 20 years younger than the rest of us — and Chris Knowings, who is also young."

During Thursday's Television Critics Association press tour, TheWrap reported that PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said that the decision to terminate the actors was made by the producer of "Sesame Street," Sesame Workshop, and that PBS didn't find out about it until afterward.

Earlier on Thursday, Sesame Workshop released a statement distancing HBO from the decision to fire the actors. The show's producers also said that the actors would continue to represent "Sesame Street" and potentially appear in future productions.

Read the statement below:

"Bob McGrath, Emilio Delgado ('Luis') and Roscoe Orman ('Gordon') remain a beloved part of the 'Sesame' family and continue to represent us at public events. To us, and for millions of people worldwide, they are a treasured part of 'Sesame Street.' Since the show began, we are constantly evolving our content and curriculum, and hence, our characters, to meet the educational needs of children. As a result of this, our cast has changed over the years, though you can still expect to see many of them in upcoming productions. As we've stated previously, Sesame Workshop retains sole creative control over the show. HBO does not oversee the production."

SEE ALSO: John Oliver and 'Sesame Street' take on the lead-poisoning problem still sweeping America

DON'T MISS: Sesame Street just created its first autistic character, Julia

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NOW WATCH: Here's what real NFL agents think about HBO's 'Ballers'

With the release of Netflix's "Stranger Things," there has been a lot of talk about 1990s icon Winona Ryder making a comeback.

People are obsessed with revivals (see: "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" and "Fuller House"), and there's nothing like seeing an old favorite rise out of the ashes Britney Spears-style.

Except in looking at Ryder's IMDb credits, it wouldn't appear that the "Beetlejuice" and "Heathers" actress has really been absent. Since her debut in 1986's "Lucas," Ryder has been involved in a project every year except 2003 and 2005.

Of course, the projects aren't on the level of her '90s films like "Girl, Interrupted," "Bram Stoker's Dracula," and "Edward Scissorhands." Instead, they're lesser-known titles like "The Dilemma" and "The Iceman" or small roles in big films like "Star Trek" and "Black Swan."

But in a 2014 interview with The Guardian, Ryder said she's just fine with not being a major name.

"There’s a big part of me that just wants to do good work and not have that pressure,"Ryder said. "I don’t have any interest in being a movie star."

She admitted to struggling to find the right transition to adult roles. She eventually moved to San Francisco for her "hiatus" to explore interests beyond acting.

"Fame can be incredibly isolating," Ryder told The Guardian. "Dangerously so. And I’ve definitely gone through that. There was a time when I would go for a hike and I wouldn’t even know that I was being photographed."

Even though she needed to get out, Ryder acknowledges that her time off sealed her off in a '90s time capsule that only recently opened thanks to her role as Joyce Byers in "Stranger Things," which Tech Insider's Tim Mulkerin dubbed one of the best things he's seen all year.

"I took some years off, and I didn’t realize that was very dangerous in terms of my career," she told Time in a recent interview. "I was constantly being told, 'You have to keep working so you stay relevant.' When I was ready to come back, I was like, 'Oh, where did everyone go?' A lot of actors have ups and downs. I think mine were — people might see them as awful — but I learned, and I appreciated the time away."

SEE ALSO: Netflix's newest show 'Stranger Things' is the best thing I’ve seen all year

DON'T MISS: 10 TV shows you used to be obsessed with that are being resurrected

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NOW WATCH: Watch 'Harry Potter’s' Daniel Radcliffe infiltrate a white supremacy group in the trailer for ‘Imperium'

After being stuck beneath the yearlong financial struggle of production company Relativity Media, the trailer for "Masterminds" is out and it looks like this comedy will finally make its way to theaters. 

Based on the 1997 Loomis Fargo Bank robbery, which at the time was the second-largest cash robbery in US history, the movie stars Zach Galifianakis as the mastermind behind the robbery. His crew includes the likes of Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson. Jason Sudeikis, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones also star.

Watch the trailer below. The movie opens September 30.

SEE ALSO: The trailer for Mel Gibson's new war movie is here, and it looks like his big comeback

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NOW WATCH: Disney just released 3 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the new 'Star Wars' movie

Finally. Superman flies into The CW's "Supergirl" next season, and the network just released the first photo of "The Man of Steel."

Formerly a star of MTV's "Teen Wolf," Tyler Hoechlin dons the famous "S" and cape as Supergirl's (Melissa Benoist) cousin, reporter Clark Kent.

He'll appear at the beginning of the season this fall.

Previously, the show's producers said that it would take a long while before Superman appeared on the series. In season one, he had been shown with only his face hidden or chatting with his cousin in texts.

See the photo below:

SEE ALSO: Here's the actor who's playing Superman on the next season of 'Supergirl'

DON'T MISS: 10 ways 'Supergirl' is just like 'Superman'

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NOW WATCH: An artist used body paint to transform herself into Superman — and she live streamed the whole 15-hour process

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog had the most beautifully weird reaction to a question from The Verge's Emily Yoshida on the Pokémon Go phenomenon.

First, Yoshida asks him if he knows what it is. Herzog replies that he doesn't have a cell phone "for cultural reasons" and asks her to describe the game. She proceeds to describe the basics of finding and capturing Pokémon in the real world. 

That prompts Herzog to ask: "When two persons in search of a pokémon clash at the corner of Sunset and San Vicente is there violence? Is there murder?"

Yoshida explains that there's a way to fight virtually, but Herzog wants to know if they fight "physically."

"Do they bite each other's hands? Do they punch each other?" She asks if he means the Pokémon, or the people. "Yes, there must be real people if it's a real encounter with someone else."

The whole interview is well worth reading— Herzog is promoting his new film due out August 19th, a documentary called "Lo and Behold" about the ways the internet has affected human nature, financed by a company called NETSCOUT. It's a great look into the way the master filmmaker views the world through the lens of technology.

Here's the trailer for "Lo and Behold:"

Read the Verge's full interview with Werner Herzog here>>

SEE ALSO: 12 clever tips and tricks for Pokémon Go from the first guy to catch all 142 Pokémon in the US

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A reporter was caught playing Pokémon GO during an ISIS press briefing

Trevor Noah believes that Donald Trump should be judged by the company he keeps, or at least the leaders he admires.

On Wednesday, the Republican presidential nominee and his team were forced to deny having any association, financial or otherwise, to the Russian government, as suspicion arose when Trump encouraged Russian hackers to release Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's deleted emails.

Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously expressed mutual admiration numerous times. And Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort, used to work for a Ukrainian ally of Putin. On top of that, there are reports that Trump has become increasingly reliant on Russian money from wealthy sources close to Putin.

Noah pointed out on Wednesday night's episode of "The Daily Show" that Manafort called the accusations of ties to Russian money "absurd," which is also the word Manafort used to describe the accusations that Melania Trump plagiarized part of her Republican National Convention speech from Michelle Obama. Later, one of Melania's speechwriters took responsibility for copying lines from Obama's speech.

"It's smart, actually, because when you think about it, 'absurd' doesn't mean untrue," Noah said of Manafort's responses. "It just means ridiculous. Platypuses are absurd, but they still exist. So, Manafort is right. He isn't saying the Russia accusations are false. He's just acknowledging that all of this is bats--- crazy."

Noah said he was perplexed with how much Trump got away with saying and with Trump's candidacy in general.

"Donald Trump is almost like global warming right now," the host said. "People are trying to deny that it's real. They think it is something we can worry about later. But it is happening right now. And it also involves a lot of cow s---."

Noah then said the presidential race shouldn't even be a contest. He said if Clinton were selected, the "worst-case scenario" would be a bad president for four years. But the comedian warned of something far more dire if Trump were president.

"These are his role models," the host said while pointing to on-screen photos of Trump next to Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"And these people, once they're in power, they don't go away," Noah continued. "You don't get a chance to vote them out in four years. Their rule ends when the country ends. So to all the people out there considering voting for Trump, I hope you enjoy your vote. Because on days like this, you realize this could be the very last vote you will ever get."

Watch the segment below:

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert says his old network stopped him from using his 'Colbert Report' character

DON'T MISS: Trevor Noah blasts the RNC for fear-mongering: They're ‘acting like America is Westeros and winter is coming’

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NOW WATCH: Watch Joe Biden's full speech — the most effective Trump takedown delivered at the DNC

Three weeks after its release, Pokémon Go is still all the rage in cities across America, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.

The mobile-augmented reality game that allows players to catch Pokémon in real-life locations already broke the App Store record for number of downloads during its first week of release. And bizarre Pokéstops — like grave sites, for example — are still being discovered. Even Justin Bieber is getting in on the fun.

This week we went to a Pokémon Go meetup in New York City's Union Square. Several hundred people showed up to play together at the gathering, which was hosted by Rick Bross, who's been organizing meetups all over the city. Last week, almost 1,200 people showed up to play in Washington Square Park.

Below, 10 people explain why they're completely obsessed with the game:

SEE ALSO: I went to a decadent, $450-a-ticket party inspired by the Illuminati, and it was a totally surreal experience

Even if you're not playing Pokémon Go, it's easy to spot who is: Just look for the mobs of people looking down at their phones.

To keep players and their phones happy in the 90-degree weather, the Pokémon Go meetup supplied visitors with a free charging station and water.

Union Square is already a popular spot with players, since it's an official Pokéstop.

The Force was strong with fans in cosplay at Comic-Con this year. We saw a near screen-accurate Kylo Ren, Leia (both young and mature), and some incredible Boba Fett mash-ups.

These are our favorite photos of "Star Wars" cosplay at San Diego Comic-Con 2016.

SEE ALSO: 10 things in tech you need to know today

There has been an awakening in the Force.

A throwback Leia and Luke Skywalker rocked outfits from the original movie.

While this pair of lovebirds looked all grown up in their costumes from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Taylor Swift bought an 11,000-square-foot Rhode Island mansion for $17.75 million in 2013, and she reportedly paid for it in cash. 

Since then, the musician has put her hard-earned, lavish home to good use by hosting a number of parties with famous friends, known as her "squad."

Built in 1930, the mansion sits on the highest point in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, and features 700 feet of shoreline and views of Little Narragansett Bay, according to the real estate site Zillow.

It includes eight bedrooms, eight fireplaces, and a pool in the back, which was the site of a notable Fourth of July party that Swift hosted earlier this month.

Check out the inside of Swift's home and see her A-list parties in action: 

SEE ALSO: No one wants to buy 50 Cent's incredible $6 million mansion that he's been forced to sell due to bankruptcy

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This is High Watch in Rhode Island, Taylor Swift's seaside mansion.

She reportedly paid for the mansion by wiring $17.75 million in cash to a realtor in 2013.

Source: TMZ

Inside, Swift's pad has over 11,000 square feet of space.

It's looking more and more like Hollywood will want to forget the 2016 summer movie season. Ticket sales are down about 10% from last summer as a slew of blockbusters ("Alice Through the Looking Glass," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows," "The BFG," to name a few) have underperformed.

And it looks like the end of the summer isn't going to be any better.

Early projections suggest that Paramount's "Ben-Hur" will open with between $14 million and $15 million at the domestic box office, according to The Hollywood Reporter. For a movie that cost just under $100 million to make, according to THR, that's a horrific prediction for the latest adaptation of Lew Wallace's novel. The classic 1959 film of the story starring Charlton Heston won 11 Oscars.

Paramount certainly wasn't looking for that kind of performance for its update. In fact, it seems this time around the movie will have a more uplifting feel as opposed to the 1959 version, in which Heston's Ben-Hur was fueled by revenge. As director Timur Bekmambetov ("Wanted") told Business Insider earlier this year, "It's not a story about revenge but a story about forgiveness."

With three weeks left before the film opens on August 19, marketing will be focused on faith-based audiences to help the opening weekend, according to THR.

The movie stars Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire") in the title role. Morgan Freeman also stars. 

SEE ALSO: What it's like inside the secret, members-only club hidden inside Disneyland

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NOW WATCH: Jon Stewart just ranted against Republicans who have praised Trump for the same things they have bashed Obama on

Shonda Rhimes was supposed to be on vacation.

The "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal" creator spoke to People about the 12-minute biographical film on Hillary Clinton that she helped make for the Democratic National Convention.

"I was going away for three weeks, the first time in 12 years," Rhimes said.

Then the Clinton campaign called and asked her and her producing partner Betsy Beers to create the film shown at the end of the convention before Clinton gave her speech accepting the nomination.

"Shonda and I looked at each other and went, 'There goes vacation,'" Beers said.

The short film looks back at Clinton's life and career: advocating for children's rights, meeting her husband, working with President Obama, and rebuilding after 9/11. The producing duo told People that the toughest challenge was creating an intimate look at a public figure who has been making headlines since 1992.

"I wanted everyone who sees it to feel like they were sitting with a friend, drinking coffee, so that had to be authentic," Rhimes said. (Clinton was actually drinking tea during the shooting.)

Originally, the film, simply titled "Hillary," was 30 minutes, so they had to start sifting through the most important parts. After all, they had sat down with Clinton for five hours.

"As a writer who builds characters for a living, it was exciting to take an actual human being and pieces of who she is and see how it builds a person and her character, why she is who she is," Rhimes said. "Given the Trumpiness of the world today, we felt like we were doing the work of angels. And the best part? I didn't have to add a plot twist!"

Watch the full "Hillary" short film:

SEE ALSO: 28 celebrities who love and endorse Hillary Clinton

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Berlin-based music-streaming service SoundCloud is exploring strategic options that could lead to a sale, Bloomberg reported.

SoundCloud has been dogged by financial difficulties lately and has been looking for ways to boost growth and revenue off of its 175 million-strong user base.

A $1 billion exit would be a great result for SoundCloud’s owners and investors. The company has an estimated value of $700 million, based on the $70 million Series E funding round led by Twitter Ventures that closed in June. This valuation is unchanged from its Series D round in January 2014. In fact, SoundCloud had tried to sell itself to Twitter for $1 billion in 2014 too.

There a few reasons why SoundCloud could be looking to sell now: 

• Inability to compete head-to-head against rival players. Music streaming is currently dominated by Spotify and Apple Music, with former titan Pandora receding to the sidelines. Aside from these companies, YouTube, despite being primarily a video platform, also commands a respectable share of the audio-streaming market. 
• Inability to drive meaningful ad revenues. Despite its best efforts, being an audio-first platform hampers SoundCloud’s ability to tap into more lucrative video ads. At the same time, social ad budgets are being increasingly concentrated into a few select platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. On a broader level, 85 cents of every dollar spent in online advertising in Q1 2016 was estimated to go either Google or Facebook, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak cited in the New York Times.
• The company may lack a viable business model. This is a problem plagues the digital music industry at large, with businesses, record labels and artists struggling to find a suitable business model that works for all parties involved. The best solution so far has been to charge monthly subscriptions in exchange for unlimited streams, like Apple Music and Tidal do. Yet SoundCloud was late to the premium-subscription game, only launchinga paid tier to its service at the end of March.
• Financial woes persist. In February, financial filings from 2014 revealed SoundCloud’s precarious financial health. Overhead costs had been increasingly much more rapidly than revenue – with administrative expenses growing 67.8% in the year – leaving the company in a state of material uncertainty. These documents concluded that SoundCloud could only continue to operate if it was able to secure more funding. 

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