Netflix closed on a massive deal for two sequels to the 2019 blockbuster "Knives Out," with Rian Johnson set to direct and Daniel Craig featuring again as Benoit Blanc, according to Deadline and Variety.
Netflix spent $450 million on the sequels, according to the reports, making it one of the largest streaming-movie deals ever.
According to Deadline, Apple, Amazon, and Netflix bid on rights to the sequels. The first film, acquired by Media Rights Capital and distributed through Lionsgate, cost $40 million and grossed $311 million. The first sequel will begin shooting in Greece on June 28, and casting will now start.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
President Joe Biden exercised his power on his first day in office with a series of executive orders, already ticking off some items on his agenda and undoing his predecessor's legacy.
Many of Biden's first actions in office have targeted former President Donald Trump's policies.
"There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face," Biden said on day one. "That's why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families."
Issuing executive orders is typically among presidents' first duties. Biden outpaced Trump, who on his first day in office signed only one order, to begin a reversal of the Affordable Care Act, which ultimately was unsuccessful.
Biden took the reins of the presidency during a tumultuous period for the nation, still reeling from the deadly Capitol riot and the coronavirus pandemic. The new president repeated calls for unity in his inauguration ceremony and issued a proclamation declaring Wednesday a "National Day of Unity."
Beyond bridging political divides, Biden has the monumental task of combatting a raging public-health crisis. More than 400,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the US.
Wearing a mask at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Biden kicked off his pandemic response with a "100 Days Masking Challenge" and issued a mask mandate in federal buildings.
This graphic categorizes all of Biden's executive orders, memoranda, and proclamations. If you click on an action, it will take you to the full text and details from the White House. We'll keep it updated.
On day one, Biden also rejoined the Paris climate accord, an international treaty that the Obama administration adopted and Trump abandoned. And Biden stopped the US's withdrawal from the World Health Organization, which Trump had initiated last summer after accusing the United Nations agency of cozying up to China.
Biden extended an eviction moratorium and student-loan-payment deferments to support Americans struggling financially during the pandemic.
Since those actions were presidential statements or agency directives, they aren't included in the graphic. You can find all of Biden's statements, actions, and directives on the White House website, or in the Federal Register.
A controversial past vote by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida has taken on new significance following reports that the Republican lawmaker is under federal investigation over whether he violated sex trafficking laws.
The Justice Department is investigating whether Gaetz, 38, had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and violated federal laws against sex trafficking in the process, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
This isn't the first time Gaetz has taken heat over trafficking.
In 2017, Gaetz was the lone member of Congress to vote against an anti-human trafficking bill that gave the federal government more money to fight the illegal trade across the country.
The Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act designated a trafficking prevention coordinator at the Department of Transportation and created a committee to develop best practices for states and transportation stakeholders to combat human trafficking.
The Senate unanimously passed the bipartisan bill in 2017, after which it went to the House of Representatives, where it passed - though not unanimously - 418 to 1. Former President Donald Trump signed the bill into law in January 2018.
Gaetz was the only representative to vote against the bill.
Florida's two senators at the time, Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, were both co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill.
Following the vote, Gaetz defended his solo stance in a Facebook Live video broadcast. The lawmaker said he voted against the bill because it represented "mission creep" in creating the committee at the federal level.
"Unless there is an overwhelming, compelling reason that our existing agencies in the federal government can't handle that problem, I vote no because voters in Northwest Florida did not send me to Washington to go and create more federal government," Gaetz said.
The representative also pointed to his former role as chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee in the Florida Legislature where he made it easier for prosecutors to bring charges against traffickers in the state.
Now Gaetz faces an investigation by the Department of Justice over whether or not he violated sex-trafficking laws during his alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
"The allegations against me are as searing as they are false. I believe that there are people at the Department of Justice who are trying to criminalize my sexual conduct, you know, when I was a single guy," Gaetz said to Axios, confirming the investigation.
Gaetz has been quick to deny the allegations against him and claims the investigation is part of "an organized criminal extortion" scheme against him. In a series of tweets responding to news of the investigation, Gaetz said the probe is based on "lies" being pushed against him by a former Justice Department official.
Reports of the criminal inquiry come just hours after Axios reported Gaetz was "seriously" considering early retirement from Congress to take a job at far-right media network Newsmax.
Gaetz provided the following statement to Insider Tuesday night:
"Over the past several weeks my family and I have been victims of an organized criminal extortion involving a former DOJ official seeking $25 million while threatening to smear my name. We have been cooperating with federal authorities in this matter and my father has even been wearing a wire at the FBI's direction to catch these criminals. The planted leak to the New York Times tonight was intended to thwart that investigation. No part of the allegations against me are true, and the people pushing these lies are targets of the ongoing extortion investigation. I demand the DOJ immediately release the tapes, made at their direction, which implicate their former colleague in crimes against me based on false allegations."
A New York judge ruled that the state's COVID-19 vaccination rollout policies that excluded prisons unfairly denied prisoners access to the vaccine and ordered the state to immediately begin vaccinating inmates.
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Alison Y. Tuitt called leaving out inmates "unfair and unjust" and an "abuse of discretion," in a ruling Tuesday.
The state has allowed corrections staff to get vaccinated as well as other groups in close congregate living settings like nursing homes, but inmates who are also high risk were excluded.
Tuitt said the protocol "irrationally distinguished between incarcerated people and people living in every other type of adult congregate facility, at great risk to incarcerated people's lives during this pandemic."
The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed last month from two Rikers Island inmates.
As of Tuesday, A total of 6,314 incarcerated people have tested positive for COVID-19 with 35 deaths, according to state data. Additionally, 4,951 staff have contracted the virus, with eight deaths.
Governor Andrew Cuomo's office did not reply to Insider's request for comment but told ABC News that as of Tuesday 822 of 1,066 inmates 65 years or older were vaccinated, more than a month after the state allowed elderly inmates to be vaccinated.
On March 5, the state also allowed inmates with comorbidities to get a vaccine.
CBS reported that so far, 7,538 prison staff members had received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to 3,374 people who are imprisoned.
