In this May 7, 2015 file photo, George Miller arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of "Mad Max: Fury Road" at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
PARIS (AP) --
The Cannes Film Festival has invited "Mad Max" director George Miller to preside over this year's jury and award the Palme d'Or for France's equivalent of the Oscars.
The festival said Tuesday that choosing Miller, an Australian director, screenwriter and producer, was a celebration of genre cinema. Miller's films defy easy categorization, from the apocalyptic "Mad Max" series to "The Witches of Eastwick," the drama "Lorenzo's Oil," and the children's classics "Babe" and "Happy Feet."
As head of the jury, Miller will set the tone for the festival in France's Cote d'Azur, which runs from May 11-22.
MSNBC television anchor Rachel Maddow, host of the Rachel Maddow Show, moderates the "Perspectives on National Security" panel on Oct. 16, 2017, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Rachel Maddow is returning to her nightly perch on MSNBC — at least for the first few months of the second Trump administration.
The network announced on Monday that Maddow will lead its coverage of Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20 and, starting that night, begin airing her prime-time show five nights a week at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Maddow's new schedule will last until April 30, at which time she'll revert to her current Monday-only routine with Alex Wagner occupying the time slot on Tuesdays through Fridays. Wagner will go on the road for various reporting assignments during the first 100 days of the new administration.
Maddow stepped back from her five-night-a-week television schedule in 2022 under a new contract that has allowed her more flexibility to pursue other projects. She has launched a successful round of podcasts.
Yet even with her more limited television schedule, she remains MSNBC's signature personality and most popular host. Last year Maddow's show averaged 2.5 million viewers on Mondays, that audience swelling by 866,000 through the week when time-shifted viewers are figured in, the Nielsen company said.
Maddow will also be the lead anchor for the network's coverage of Trump's inauguration, starting at 10 a.m. Eastern next Monday.
The left-leaning network's viewership sunk dramatically following Trump's victory in November's election, and MSNBC is waiting to see whether it will become a leading destination for the Trump opposition. MSNBC argues that a post-election slump is typical for a network with an audience dominated by supporters of the losing candidate, and that viewers are slowly starting to return.
Maddow's audience last Monday was 1.6 million, up 20 percent compared its November and December... Read More
