The trauma plot: how did culture get addicted to tragic backstories?

Again and again, audiences have been spoon-fed the same story: a character can only be explained by a past trauma, tantalisingly revealed in the last episode. Has the trope reached a tipping point?

Joseph Wambaugh obituary

Bestselling crime writer whose work drew on his own experience as an LAPD detective

The Electric State review – Millie Bobby Brown’s bot war yarn is soulless digital content

Brown, Chris Pratt and Stanley Tucci head the human cast of this muddled and derivative adaptation of a book by Swedish sci-fi artist Simon Stålenhag

Branching out or nipped in the bud? Could Groot be getting a solo Marvel movie?

Vin Diesel is excited by the possibility of the talking tree in its own movie – but with only three words to play with, the chances of a whole film set on Planet X are stick thin

Giants of La Mancha review – kids cartoon sticks Don Quixote Jr into the modern world

Alfonso Quixote, a descendant of Cervantes’ idealistic hero, is on a mission to save his town in this unsatisfying animated adventure

Jimmy review – lyrical and impressionistic vision of James Baldwin in 1940s Paris

The celebrated Black American author’s arrival in the City of Light is reimagined in this freewheeling feature, which prioritises images over the spoken word

James Bond nightclubs, vodka, aftershave: 007 writer on the spy’s future with Amazon

As the Bond franchise heads to the online giant, thriller author William Boyd foresees a slew of spin-offs and says AI is not a threat to human screenwriters

‘Heck, why don’t we just come up with a book?’: how Gene Hackman became an author

A voracious reader, the celebrated actor found a new creative outlet after retiring and went on to write five books that ranged from adventures on the high seas to gritty westerns

Gene Hackman obituary

Prolific Hollywood character actor who won Oscars for The French Connection and Unforgiven

Post your questions for François Ozon

The French auteur behind 8 Women, In the House and most recently When Autumn Falls is joining us to answer your questions, from how does he coax such amazing performances from actors to his visual influences

‘Electrifying experience’: stage version of The Hunger Games to open in new London theatre

Conor McPherson’s adaptation of the hit YA sci-fi novels and films – which starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen – will begin in October, having been delayed since last year

Gene Hackman and pianist wife Betsy Arakawa found dead at home alongside one of their dogs

The Oscar-winning star of The French Connection, The Conversation, Superman and The Poseidon Adventure has died, along with his classical musician wife

The Long Wave: How A Thousand Blows recovers the lost history of a lion-taming West Indian boxer

Historian David Olusoga sheds light on Hezekiah Moscow, a mysterious migrant seeking a better life in Victorian London. Plus, my suya obsession

Evan Gershkovich memoir to be adapted for big screen by Conclave director

Edward Berger will direct story of Wall Street Journal reporter who was held in Russia on espionage charges for over a year

Chang’an review – animated Chinese tale of poet-warriors is spectacular work of art

The historic capital of China is rendered in gloriously intricate detail, but this animated feature feels like a state-sponsored history lesson