Following its TIFF market screening, the Richmond-set musical comedy offers Rolling Stone Canada an exclusive first look at the feature originally conceived before its nine-million-view viral success.

Viral Microdrama Rags 2 Richmond is stepping onto a bigger stage.

Following its inaugural market screening at the Toronto International Film Festival this month, the Richmond, B.C.-set musical comedy is offering a first glimpse at itsfeature-length debut, exclusively on Rolling Stone Canada.

Set in 2005, the film follows Nathan, an aspiring singer who enters an Asian male beauty pageant hoping it might offer his way into show business, pulling him into a world of competition, performance and pop ambition. Jonathan Wong returns as Nathan alongside Jennifer Tong (Fakes), Shannon Kook (The Conjuring: Last Rites) and Hong Kong screen veterans Eric Tsang(Infernal Affairs) and Nancy Sit (God of Cookery), with TJ Gavel directing from a screenplay by Wong, Patrick Do and Aaron Sprecher.

The film's executive producers include Paul Telner, Head of Programming at Viral Nation, Kevin Healey, producer of the Die Hart franchise and former Co-Head of HartBeat Studios, and Benny Luo, founder of NextShark.

There is a real world behind the story, too. Wong, Justina Shih and Simon Yin developed Rags 2 Richmond from their experiences around Asian beauty pageants and talent competitions across North America and Asia, drawing in particular from a circuit with longstanding ties to Richmond. It is a corner of entertainment culture that has rarely made its way onto North American screens, despite pageants historically offering contestants a route into music, television and film across parts of Asia.

The feature was actually the idea before Rags 2 Richmond became a vertical series. With the team initially struggling to communicate the concept through traditional development channels, they made a short-form version as proof that the story could find an audience, releasing 28 episodes in late 2024. More than nine million Instagram views followed within the first month, giving the project the momentum to return to the feature-length format its creators had originally imagined.

Dominic Kwow / Sea to Sky Media

Music has been inseparable from the story throughout that journey, with the feature carrying a twelve-track original soundtrack co-produced by Wong and Tat Tong, VP of A&R and Creative at Warner Chappell Music APAC. Its Y2K-inspired sound leans naturally into Nathan’s own in-movie pursuit of pop stardom, while music connected to Rags 2 Richmond has already travelled outside

Canada in the real world, with Wong becoming the first solo act from Hong Kong to ever perform on South Korea’s MBC Show! Music Core.

See on Instagram

The film’s arrival at TIFF also comes as Rags 2 Richmond begins moving into another format. Viral Nation and Media Trifecta are developing an unscripted competition series inspired by the pageant world behind the franchise, bringing together contestants who will be tested on everything from performance and presentation to the kind of showmanship required on the pageant stage, before culminating in a live finale. The format was introduced to buyers at the Access Canada Summit during TIFF’s inaugural market.

It marks a considerable evolution for a project that was still being tested through one-to-two-minute episodes less than two years ago, but its point of view has remained remarkably specific throughout. Richmond is still Richmond, the music remains integral to the story and the pageant culture that inspired it is no longer simply the backdrop, but the world around which *Rags 2 Richmond* continues to grow.

Watch the exclusive first look at Rags 2 Richmond above.

Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady attend the premiere of "Heated Rivalry" at TIFF Lightbox on November 24, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario.

Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady, the executive producers behind hit hockey romance series Heated Rivalry, have launched the Irina Foundation through their production company, Accent Aigu Entertainment. The private fund will support organizations creating opportunities for LGBTQIA2S+ and underserved communities to participate in sports and the arts, with an emphasis on connection, belonging and mental well-being.

The name comes directly from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels, the books that inspired Heated Rivalry. In the series, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov establish their own Irina Foundation, named after Ilya’s late mother. The fictional organization supports inclusion and mental health initiatives, including a youth hockey camp.

The real-life foundation will provide support to existing organizations whose sports and arts programs align with its mission. Kate Spade New York is the foundation’s inaugural donor, while men’s grooming company Harry’s is among its early supporters.

“For many of us, some of life’s most meaningful moments happen on a team, in a studio or on a stage,” Tierney and Brady said in a statement. “The Foundation is our way of giving back.”

The launch follows a significant fundraising effort surrounding Heated Rivalry. According to Accent Aigu, the company, its partners and fans have raised more than $1.5 million USD in recent months for organizations including You Can Play, the New York LGBTQ Center and Rainbow Railroad. The new foundation is intended to continue that philanthropic work.

Accent Aigu president Jayme Alter Wilson said the foundation’s name reflects what Irina represents within Reid’s story: the idea that people facing difficult circumstances deserve support and connection.

Paul McCartney has been listening to Céline Dion’s work on his upcoming animated film High in the Clouds, and the former Beatle is already seriously impressed.

As Dion continues her long-awaited return to the stage in Paris, McCartney took to Instagram this week to celebrate her comeback and reveal that he has heard some of what she has recorded for the animated musical.

“It’s been great to see the amazing reaction to Céline’s comeback in Paris. There’s so much love out there for her,” McCartney wrote.

He also spoke of her contribution to High in the Clouds, the animated adaptation of the children’s book McCartney co-wrote with Geoff Dunbar and Philip Ardagh.

See on Instagram

“I’m so excited that she’s part of our High in the Clouds film. I’ve just been listening to some of her performances, and I’m blown away. Wow, what a talent!” he wrote. “We are very lucky to have her as part of the team. Can’t wait to share it with the world.”

McCartney also shared images with Dion that appear to have been taken during a recording session. Dion subsequently shared the images herself. Dion was announced as part of the film’s star-studded voice cast in 2025, alongside Himesh Patel, Hannah Waddingham, Idris Elba, Lionel Richie, Ringo Starr and McCartney himself. She voices Sugartail, while McCartney plays McKenzie.

The film follows Wirral, a teenage squirrel who sets out to restore music to a world where it has been banned by Gretsch, a tyrannical owl. McCartney wrote the film’s original songs, while Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino is handling the score.

The movie is scheduled for release in the summer of 2027.

A collection of memorabilia spanning the career of Paul Reubens is headed to auction via Julien’s Auction on Oct. 28. It will feature an array of iconic items from his Pee-wee Herman days, including the quintessential gray suit and custom red Schwinn bicycles used while playing the beloved character.

The auction includes more than 400 items from Reubens’ estate, including rare limited-edition dolls from Reubens’ JCPenney line, original production costumes and props, stop-motion puppets and claymation artwork, production scripts and storyboards, signed posters, and personal items.

Highlights include the slate gray glen plaid suit Reubens wore in 2016’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, which comes with the white shirt, red bowtie, pocket square, and white loafers that completes the outfit. It’s expected to go for $8,000-$10,000.

One of the bicycles available at the auction is a replica from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which is packaged with his 2011 Visionary Spike TV Scream Award. The full-scale replica of the red Schwinn DX he rode to accept the award is expected to fetch $5,000-$7,000.

Among the puppets available is a Pee-wee’s Playhouse dinosaur, which is an original wire-armature and foam puppet. It’s mounted on a custom wooden stand amd includes an extruder handle for stop-motion animation. It’s listed at $2,000-3,000.

Other eclectic lots under a grand are also up for grabs, including 12 prop food pieces from the Pee-wee Playhouse refrigerator. Among the props are claymation red pepper and bacon with armature arms, olive barbells, frozen food boxes, and desserts. It’s expected to nab $800-$1,000.

There’s also a collection of 13 scripts, one for each episode of Pee-wee’s Playhouse Season One, as well as a Pee-wee’s Big Adventure script — credited to Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens, and Michael Varhol — containing minor differences from the final film including a deleted magic shop scene. Each lot ranges from $500-$700.

On the Hollywood memorabilia side, there is as a Pee-wee Herman 1989 JCPenney 40-inch limited edition doll, with only 2,000 made, which is on offer for $300-$500. For the same price range, there’s a metal production parking sign that reads “Pee Wee’s / PLAYHOUSE / P. REUBENS.”

The live auction will take place on Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. PT on the Julien’s Auctions website and at The Groundlings Theatre, where Reubens continued to develop his craft and where he first showcased his Pee-wee Herman character with the renowned Groundlings improvisational group. To celebrate the late actor, who died in 2023 at age 70, Julien’s and the Groundlings will present an exclusive exhibition featuring highlights from Reubens’ archive from Oct. 14 through Oct. 28. On Oct. 14, The Groundlings will screen several episodes from his career-defining Pee-wee’s Playhouse series, with a panel discussion to follow. Tickets for the kick-off screening celebration go on sale Oct. 2 via The Groundlings website.

Michael Bublé and Drew Scott are teaming up for a new documentary series celebrating youth hockey. The pair are at the centre of Hometown Giants, a new six-part docuseries following their Western Hockey League team, the Vancouver Giants, through its 2025-26 season. Prime Video unveiled the first look this week, with all six episodes set to premiere October 16.

Bublé has been a minority owner of the Vancouver Giants since 2008, while Scott joined the ownership group in 2023. Now, cameras follow the longtime friends as they navigate the realities of running a major junior hockey franchise, from front-office decisions and roster moves to the much more personal stakes facing the teenage players on the ice.

The Giants entered the season with plenty to prove. Vancouver has not won the Memorial Cup since 2007, and the 2025-26 campaign was an attempt to turn around a franchise that had struggled the previous season. The series also introduces viewers to players balancing school, life away from home and the enormous pressure of trying to turn junior hockey into an NHL career.

Bublé and Scott reportedly consulted Ryan Reynolds before embarking on the project, given Reynolds' experience as co-owner of Welsh soccer club Wrexham and the success of Welcome to Wrexham. Reynolds' advice, according to the pair, was blunt: “Don't do it.”

Matthew Perry

Matthew Perry’s family and friends remember the late actor’s incredible talent, generosity, and long battle with addiction in the poignant new trailer for the upcoming documentary, The One About Matthew Perry.

The clip opens with a montage of archival footage and interviews with Perry discussing his desire to make people laugh and become famous, as well as the phone call that changed his life when he was offered the role of Chandler Bing on Friends. “I was extremely happy when I got famous,” Perry says in one interview. “Then I was like, ‘Uh-oh, this didn’t fix what’s inside me. This didn’t do what I thought it was gonna do.’”

Immediately after, Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, adds, “My brother would talk about that feeling of emptiness or loneliness that he couldn’t quite fill. He spent $7 million trying to get sober — that’s how seriously he took his disease.” (Perry died in 2023 from the acute effects of ketamine, which caused him to accidentally drown.)

Bowick is one of several people who speaks on camera for the first time about Perry in the documentary, along with longtime friends Roger Castillo and David Pressman. While none of his Friends costars participated in the film, a few people on the show’s creative team did, as did some of Perry’s collaborators from other projects like The Whole Nine Yards, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Fools Rush In.

Along with digging into the actor’s own efforts to get sober, it will also examine how he tried to help others. Two people Perry met in recovery and rehab spoke for the film as well, including Evelyn Sallinger and Tim Harrington, who became Perry’s roommate for a time in the early 2000s and credits the actor with saving his life.

The One About Matthew Perry was directed by Mary Robertson. It’s set to premiere Oct. 27 on Netflix.