logo
(Video) Apple TV+ Unveils Trailer For New Historical Drama 'Chief Of War' Starring Jason Momoa

(Video) Apple TV+ Unveils Trailer For New Historical Drama 'Chief Of War' Starring Jason Momoa

Hype Malaysia13-07-2025
After teasing fans back in May, the first official trailer has finally been released. Recently, Apple TV+ has unveiled the first trailer for its upcoming historical drama 'Chief of War', starring, written by and executive produced by Jason Momoa.
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Hawaiian islands, the nine-episode series—based on true events—follows warrior Ka'iana, portrayed by Momoa, as he fights to unify the islands ahead of Western colonisation in the late 18th century. Chief of War will make its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes dropping on Friday, 1st August 2025, followed by new episodes every Friday through to 19th September.
Told from an Indigenous perspective, Chief of War is a passion project for creators Momoa and Thomas Pa'a Sibbett, who both share Native Hawaiian heritage. The series features a predominantly Polynesian cast, led by Momoa alongside Luciane Buchanan, Temuera Morrison, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Cliff Curtis, newcomer Kaina Makua, Moses Goods, Siua Ikale'o, Brandon Finn, James Udom, Mainei Kinimaka, Te Kohe Tuhaka and Benjamin Hoetjes.
The series is produced for Apple TV+ by FIFTH SEASON and Chernin Entertainment. Momoa directs the season finale and serves as executive producer, with Doug Jung acting as showrunner and executive producer. Additional executive producers include Thomas Pa'a Sibbett, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Tracey Cook and Brian Andrew Mendoza. Justin Chon directs the first two episodes and also serves as executive producer.
Other executive producers include Anders Engström, Jim Rowe, Molly Allen, Francis Lawrence and Tim Van Patten. The original score for the series was composed by Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer, who wrote the theme music and co-produced the score for all nine episodes alongside composer James Everingham. The score was created during Zimmer's tenure with Bleeding Fingers Music, the Emmy Award-winning and BAFTA-nominated composer collective he co-founded in 2013.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

How and why a fashion campaign about 'great jeans' sparked backlash online
How and why a fashion campaign about 'great jeans' sparked backlash online

The Star

timea day ago

  • The Star

How and why a fashion campaign about 'great jeans' sparked backlash online

US fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actress Sydney Sweeney. The ad blitz included "clever, even provocative language' and was "definitely going to push buttons', the company's chief marketing officer told trade media outlets. It has. The question now is whether some of the public reactions the Autumn/Winter denim campaign produced is what American Eagle intended. Titled "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans', the campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to "woke' US politics and culture. Most of the negative reception focused on videos that used the word "genes' instead of "jeans' when discussing the blonde-haired, blue-eyed actress known for the HBO series Euphoria and White Lotus . Read more: Celebrity fashion campaign stirs outrage over its 'great jeans' wordplay Some critics saw the wordplay as a nod, either unintentional or deliberate, to eugenics, a discredited theory that held humanity could be improved through selective breeding for certain traits. Marcus Collins, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, said the criticism could have been avoided if the ads showed models of various races making the "genes' pun. "You can either say this was ignorance, or this was laziness, or say that this is intentional,' Collins said. "Either one of the three aren't good.' Other commenters accused detractors of reading too much into the campaign's message. "I love how the leftist meltdown over the Sydney Sweeney ad has only resulted in a beautiful white blonde girl with blue eyes getting 1000x the exposure for her 'good genes'," former Fox News host Megyn Kelly wrote Tuesday (July 29) on X. American Eagle didn't respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press . The ad blitz comes as the teen retailer, like many merchants, wrestles with sluggish consumer spending and higher costs from tariffs. American Eagle reported that total sales were down 5% for its February-April quarter compared to a year earlier. A day after Sweeney was announced as the company's latest celebrity collaborator, American Eagle's stock closed more than 4% up. Shares were volatile this week and trading nearly 2% down Wednesday (July 30). Like many trendy clothing brands, American Eagle has to differentiate itself from other mid-priced chains with a famous face or by saying something edgy, according to Alan Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce. Adamson said the Sweeney campaign shares a lineage with Calvin Klein jeans ads from 1980 that featured a 15-year-old Brooke Shields saying, "You want to know what comes in between me and my Calvins? Nothing.' Some television networks declined to air the spots because of its suggestive double entendre and Shields' age. "It's the same playbook: a very hot model saying provocative things shot in an interesting way,' Adamson said. Chief marketing officer Craig Brommers told industry news website Retail Brew last week that "Sydney is the biggest get in the history of American Eagle', and the company would promote the partnership in a way that matched. The campaign features videos of Sweeney wearing slouchy jeans in various settings. She will appear on 3-D billboards in Times Square and elsewhere, speaking to users on Snapchat and Instagram, and in an AI-enabled try-on feature. American Eagle also plans to launch a limited edition Sydney jean to raise awareness of domestic violence, with sales proceeds going to a nonprofit crisis counseling service. In a news release, the company noted, "Sweeney's girl next door charm and main character energy – paired with her ability to not take herself too seriously – is the hallmark of this bold, playful campaign.' In one video, Sweeney walks toward an American Eagle billboard of her and the tagline "Sydney Sweeney has great genes'. She crosses out "genes' and replaces it with "jeans'. But what critics found the most troubling was a teaser video in which Sweeney says, "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair colour, personality and even eye colour. My jeans are blue.' The video appeared on American Eagle's Facebook page and other social media channels but is not part of the campaign. While remarking that someone has good genes is sometimes used as a compliment, the phrase also has sinister connotations. Eugenics gained popularity in early 20th century America, and Nazi Germany embraced it to carry out Adolf Hitler's plan for an Aryan master race. Civil rights activists have noted signs of eugenics regaining a foothold through the far right's promotion of the "great replacement theory', a racist ideology that alleges a conspiracy to diminish the influence of white people. Shalini Shankar, a cultural and linguistic anthropologist at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said she had problems with American Eagle's "genes' versus "jeans' because it exacerbates a limited concept of beauty. "American Eagle, I guess, wants to rebrand itself for a particular kind of white privileged American,' Shankar said. "And that is the kind of aspirational image they want to circulate for people who want to wear their denim.' Many critics compared the American Eagle ad to a misstep by Pepsi in 2017, when it released a television ad that showed model Kendall Jenner offer a can of soda to a police officer while ostensibly stepping away from a photo shoot to join a crowd of protesters. Viewers mocked the spot for appearing to trivialise protests of police killings of Black people. Pepsi apologised and pulled the ad. The demonstrations that followed the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis pushed many US companies to make their advertising better reflect consumers of all races. Some marketers say they've observed another shift since President Donald Trump returned to office and moved to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies. Jazmin Burrell, founder of brand consulting agency Lizzie Della Creative Strategies, said she's noticed while shopping with her cousin more ads and signs that prominently feature white models. "I can see us going back to a world where diversity is not really the standard expectation in advertising,' Burrell said. American Eagle has been praised for diverse marketing in the past, including creating a denim hijab in 2017 and offering its Aerie lingerie brand in a wide range of sizes. Read more: Fashion's new power move? Turning away from influencers and the overhyped A year ago, the company released a limited edition denim collection with tennis star Coco Gauff. The retailer has an ongoing diversity, equity and inclusion program that is primarily geared toward employees. Two days before announcing the Sweeney campaign, American Eagle named the latest recipients of its scholarship award for employees who are driving anti-racism, equality and social justice initiatives. Marketing experts offer mixed opinions on whether the attention surrounding "good jeans' will be good for business. "They were probably thinking that this is going to be their moment," Myles Worthington, the founder and CEO of marketing and creative agency Worthi. "But this is doing the opposite and deeply distorting their brand." Melissa Murphy, a marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, said she liked certain parts of the campaign but hoped it would be expanded to showcase people besides Sweeney for the "sake of the brand'. Other experts say the buzz is good even if it's not uniformly positive. "If you try to follow all the rules, you'll make lots of people happy, but you'll fail,' Adamson said. "The rocket won't take off. ' – AP

Oprah rejects claims she closed Hawaii road amid tsunami warning
Oprah rejects claims she closed Hawaii road amid tsunami warning

The Star

timea day ago

  • The Star

Oprah rejects claims she closed Hawaii road amid tsunami warning

Oprah Winfrey has a residence on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where tsunami warnings were issued after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Russia. Photo: AP Oprah Winfrey refuted widespread online claims Wednesday that she blocked off a private road on Hawaii property she owns, preventing tsunami evacuees from quickly reaching higher ground. Winfrey has a residence on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where tsunami warnings were issued after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Russia. Nicole Nichols, a spokesperson for the billionaire talk show host, told AFP Winfrey's team contacted local law enforcement and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure the road was opened "as soon as we heard the tsunami warnings." "Any reports otherwise are false," Nichols said in a statement. Across social media, angry users accused Winfrey of refusing to make her road available at any point to evacuees, despite heavy traffic on the island. Some posts amassed millions of views. But Maui officials repeatedly listed the route as an option in emergency alerts. "Oprah's road is open to get Upcountry," the county wrote, citing the Maui police department. Nichols said local law enforcement had been helping residents through the road 50 cars at a time and that the passageway would remain open "as long as necessary." The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later downgraded the situation in Hawaii to a tsunami advisory, and Maui authorities lifted evacuation orders. The media mogul also faced disinformation after wildfires devastated Maui in 2023, with conspiracists falsely claiming she had painted her roof blue to evade high-energy lasers they blamed for the blazes, and others saying she ignited them herself as part of a land grab. – AFP

#SHOWBIZ: Malaysian K-pop star Lingling of KIIRAS returns home for debut showcase
#SHOWBIZ: Malaysian K-pop star Lingling of KIIRAS returns home for debut showcase

New Straits Times

timea day ago

  • New Straits Times

#SHOWBIZ: Malaysian K-pop star Lingling of KIIRAS returns home for debut showcase

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian K-pop fans are brimming with excitement as Lingling, the 20-year-old leader of rising girl group KIIRAS, makes her triumphant return to her home country this week. Spotted at the airport proudly holding her Malaysian passport, Lingling's arrival has sent a wave of national pride across social media ahead of KIIRAS's highly anticipated debut performance in Kuala Lumpur. Formed in South Korea in May 2025 under LeanBranding, KIIRAS is a six-member multinational group that has quickly made a name for itself in the competitive 5th-generation K-Pop scene. Their bold debut single, "Kill Ma Bo$$," showcased their unique blend of Western cowgirl aesthetics with hip-hop and R&B, earning them strong digital engagement and widespread praise. Lingling, originally from Klang, Selangor, stands out as the first Malaysian female K-pop idol, captivating fans with her multilingual talent in Malay, Chinese, English, and Korean. The spotlight is firmly on Lingling as KIIRAS prepares for their inaugural Malaysian showcase, part of their first overseas schedule. The group will deliver a free live performance at the Dato Teo Hang Sam Auditorium at UOW Malaysia, as part of "The Music Journey 2" roadshow, tomorrow (Aug 1). The show kicks off at 3pm, and fans are encouraged to arrive early to witness this momentous occasion. Joining KIIRAS on stage will be a lineup of local and regional acts, including Priscilla Abby, Uriah, RYOTA, and Haoren, promising a vibrant celebration of music. Ahead of their Kuala Lumpur stop, KIIRAS travelled to Singapore for promotional activities. On July 28, as the group departed Incheon International Airport en route to Southeast Asia, Lingling, whose full name is Alicia Wong Ling Ling, unintentionally created a viral moment. While all six members looked stylish in their coordinated tropical outfits, a photo of Lingling casually holding her red Malaysian passport quickly circulated online. The image resonated deeply with Malaysian netizens, who expressed immense admiration and pride for the K-Pop idol's global success while still embracing her national identity. Many celebrated her "flexing" the Malaysian passport, often regarded as one of the world's strongest. After their Aug 1 show, KIIRAS is also scheduled to appear at a brand event in Sunway Pyramid at 2pm on Aug 2.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store