Evening News · Sunday 25 October 2026
Netflix’s zombie hit All of Us Are Dead has brought back a character fans thought was gone for good. Tonight’s edition also has Jenna Ortega planning a break from television after Wednesday, the final weekend figures for DC’s Clayface, and a Hollywood premiere for the Sylvester Stallone story I Play Rocky.
The News That Matters
All of Us Are Dead season 2 confirms Cheong-san is alive and moves the outbreak to Seoul
- New development: At Netflix’s 10th-anniversary fan festival in Seoul on Saturday 24 October, Yoon Chan-young told the crowd that his character Cheong-san survived the first season, despite fans assuming he had died
- The new season: Park Ji-hu, Cho Yi-hyun and Lomon also return. The friends are now university students and young adults, facing an “evolved” zombie crisis on a bigger scale in Seoul, according to What’s on Netflix
- Also at the showcase: Tantara, with Song Hye-kyo and Gong Yoo, is confirmed for 11 December; the ghost-hotel fantasy Grand Galaxy Hotel, from the makers of Hotel Del Luna, is due next year; and Byeon Woo-seok made his first appearance as Sung Jin-woo in the live-action Solo Leveling, which is still filming
- UK availability: Season 1 streams on Netflix in the UK. Season 2 is billed as “coming soon”, UK date not yet confirmed
Cheong-san’s fate was the biggest question left hanging when the first season ended in 2022, so his return is exactly what fans wanted to hear. There was no teaser and no date, which will disappoint anyone hoping for a first look, but moving the story from Hyosan High to the streets of Seoul promises a much larger outbreak.
It was a busy weekend for Korean titles on Netflix. Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love, which we called a quietly colossal masterpiece, also arrives on the service on 6 November.
Jenna Ortega plans to be “off the TV for a while” after Wednesday
- New development: Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, as reported by Deadline on Thursday 22 October, Ortega said she will “probably be off the TV for a while” once Wednesday is done
- Why: She said she spent years “bouncing from show to show as a kid” and wants “to leave time for new things”, adding that she hasn’t had many franchise conversations
- Where things stand: Season 3 finished filming in September and is due in 2027. Netflix has not said whether it will be the last
- UK availability: Seasons 1 and 2 stream on Netflix in the UK. Season 3 is due in 2027, UK date not yet confirmed
The third season has a strong British flavour. Joanna Lumley has been made a series regular, Billie Piper returns as Isadora Capri, and Eva Green joins as Aunt Ophelia, alongside Lena Headey and James Lance.
Ortega is clearly thinking about life after Nevermore. She is in cinemas now in Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun, and in our Super Review her performance was the best thing about it.
Update: Clayface confirmed at No 1 with $24 million, and the UK is its biggest overseas market
- New development: Sunday’s studio estimates confirm Clayface opened at No 1 in North America with $24 million from 3,458 cinemas, Deadline, AP and Boxoffice Pro reported. Last night it was still a projection
- Worldwide: It took an estimated $19 million from 76 overseas markets for a $43 million global start. The UK was its top international market with about $2.6 million, ahead of Mexico and Australia, Boxoffice Pro reported
- The rest of the chart: A24’s You Can See Everything rose 25% in its second weekend to $19.5 million, and Laika’s Wildwood opened third with about $11 million and an A CinemaScore
- UK availability: Clayface and Wildwood are both in UK cinemas now
As we reported in last night’s edition, Clayface also earned an A- CinemaScore, which is rare for a horror film. On a reported budget of around $40 million, it is a modest opening by superhero standards but a good one for horror, and a strong UK start suggests British audiences have taken to James Watkins’ grisly take on the Batman villain.
If you haven’t decided yet, our Clayface Super Review and our Wildwood Super Review will help you choose this week’s cinema trip.
I Play Rocky gets its Hollywood premiere at AFI Fest ahead of its UK release
- New development: Peter Farrelly’s film about how Sylvester Stallone fought to play the lead in his own script had its Los Angeles premiere at AFI Fest on Saturday 24 October, at the TCL Chinese Theatre
- Who was there: Farrelly was joined by Anthony Ippolito, who plays Stallone, with AnnaSophia Robb, Stephan James, Kiki Seto, Matt Dillon and P.J. Byrne
- Behind the scenes: Ippolito told Variety he spent nearly two years bulking up, from about 150 to 180 pounds, training at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. His first scenes were with the dog playing Stallone’s beloved Butkus, who took a few days and plenty of treats to warm to him
- UK availability: In UK and Irish cinemas from Friday 6 November, released by Entertainment Film Distributors. It opens in selected US cinemas the same day and goes wide on 20 November
Written by Peter Gamble, the film also stars Toby Kebbell, Jay Duplass and Tracy Letts, and its release marks 50 years since Rocky. It was the London Film Festival’s surprise film earlier this month, and we covered its second trailer on Friday.
Robb plays Stallone’s first wife, Sasha, and James plays Carl Weathers. With less than two weeks to go, it is shaping up as one of the season’s great underdog stories about a great underdog story.
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
Tonight is about comebacks and exits. Cheong-san has cheated death, Jenna Ortega is already planning her life after Wednesday, and Clayface has shown that a smaller, nastier DC film can still top the chart, with British audiences leading the way overseas. Next up, Sylvester Stallone’s own comeback story heads for UK cinemas.
Are you glad Cheong-san is back, or should All of Us Are Dead have let him go?
Back tomorrow with What to Watch Tonight at 7:30am and the Morning News at 8am.