Leo gets his Oscar
It happened. It finally happened. Leonardo DiCaprio -- who was pretty much the Susan Lucci of the Academy Awards -- finally took home the coveted trophy. Well, DiCaprio didn't wait quite as long as Lucci, who finally won an Emmy Award for her role in "All My Children" in 1999 after 19 nominations. "The Revenant" star waited patiently through decades and five Oscar nods to finally take home the coveted trophy in February. Accepting his award on Hollywood's biggest stage, DiCaprio, 42, told the crowd, "I do not take this night for granted."
American Idol stops its search
In a two-hour series finale, American Idol ended its run sending the nation's most talented singers to Hollywood. Paying tribute to the hit series' 15 seasons, many past winners and finalists returned for surprise performance and appearances. Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Phillip Phillips and Jordin Sparks were among them. Even William Hung returned to sing his rendition of his audition song, She Bangs, by Ricky Martin.
Still, fans thought that more American Idol could be coming after host Ryan Seacrest signed off in the most unusual way. He uttered his famous phrase, "And one more time -- this is so tough -- we say to you from Hollywood, goodnight America." Then he added mysteriously "for now." Seacrest, 41, later clarified on Twitter that he simply "didn't want to say goodbye last night."
The world mourns pop icons
We lost far too many vaunted pop culture icons in 2016 ” including Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Muhammad Ali, Leonard Cohen, Alan Thicke, George Michael, and Carrie Fisher, to name a few. But the first couple losses to make huge impacts worldwide were those of music legends David Bowie and Prince. Bowie’s death on January 10 set off tidal waves of grief all over the world, and gave new context to Lazarus, his contemplative final album and stage play. The mourning cycle started all over again when Prince died on April 21, inspiring countless tributes. Leonard Cohen, George Michael and Carrie Fisher followed, with Fisher’s mother Debbie Reynolds dying a day later.
Batman v Superman vs. Deadpool vs. Suicide Squad vs. Captain America vs. Doctor Strange
Superheroes have been a part of American entertainment for decades, but surveying their prevalence in Hollywood in 2016 makes it clear they aren’t going anywhere. In fact, they’re getting bigger, bloodier, and sometimes a little stranger with each new blockbuster. In DC Comics’ corner of the ring, 2016 saw the release of Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad, both grim and cynical adaptations of beloved characters. In Marvel’s corner, there was Deadpool (the studio’s first R-rated feature), the great if depressing Captain America: Civil War, and the visually trippy Doctor Strange. And that’s before you consider TV series like The Flash and Arrow and Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daredevil and Luke Cage and oh God, we are so tired.
Harry Potter fans got more
J.K. Rowling spent the year adding new content to Pottermore, the official Harry Potter website, filling in gaps in the history of her wizarding world. This proved especially controversial in February, when the British author announced several new wizarding schools, including one for the entire continent of Africa and another whose origins turned out to involve some problematic dabbling in American folklore. Then, in July, Jack Thorne’s play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ” about the next generation of witches and wizards, as descended from Harry and his peers ” bowed on the London stage. The script was released in the form of a book a month later. And in November, the spinoff film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, starring Eddie Redmayne with a screenplay by Rowling, made its debut. As Fantastic Beasts is the first installment of a reported five-film franchise(?!), it looks as though the Harry Potter universes truly has no limits.
Brangelina split
It was a pop-culture bombshell that no one saw coming when Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from her long-time partner and husband of two years, Brad Pitt, in September. The fractured Hollywood power couple tied the knot in August 2014 in France at a ceremony featuring their children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh and twins Vivienne and Knox. Pitt, 53, and Jolie Pitt, 41, started dating in the mid-2000s after meeting on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It didn't help that the split immediately became messy with Pitt saying in a statement to People magazine that he was "very saddened" about his estranged wife's filing. Not to mention, Jolie filed for sole physical custody of their six children while Pitt filed for joint custody two months later.
