AP’s picks for the week of April 20–26 point to a crowded entertainment slate, with Timothée Chalamet’s “Marty Supreme,” Charlize Theron’s survival thriller “Apex,” the return of Kate Hudson’s “Running Point,” and Kehlani’s new album helping define one of the more varied release weeks of the spring.
NEW YORK — A busy late-April streaming week is putting star power front and center.
In its latest roundup of notable releases for April 20–26, The Associated Press singled out a mix of films, series and music led by Timothée Chalamet, Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson and Kehlani. Taken together, the lineup reflects how major platforms are continuing to rely on recognizable names and cross-category variety to compete for attention in an increasingly crowded home-entertainment market.
The biggest film title in AP’s list is “Marty Supreme,” the Josh Safdie-directed drama that casts Chalamet as a ping-pong striver in 1950s New York. The film begins streaming Friday, April 24, on HBO Max after a theatrical run that AP described as commercially strong and awards-visible, noting nine Oscar nominations and $179 million in ticket sales. AP also called it A24’s biggest box-office hit ever, underscoring how unusually large the film’s cultural footprint has become for a project built around an eccentric sports premise.
That matters because “Marty Supreme” arrives with more than ordinary streaming-week buzz. Chalamet remains one of the few younger movie stars whose projects can draw both prestige attention and broad online fascination, and the film’s unusual combination of table tennis, period grit and Safdie intensity has already made it stand out from more conventional sports dramas. Its streaming debut gives the title a second wave of visibility, now aimed at viewers who may have heard the hype but skipped the theatrical release.
If “Marty Supreme” represents prestige energy, “Apex” is the week’s more straightforward action-survival play. AP describes the Netflix film, debuting Friday, April 24, as a thriller about a grieving woman who heads into the Australian wilderness for outdoor adventure before being terrorized by a sadistic local played by Taron Egerton. For Theron, whose career has repeatedly moved between awards-caliber drama and physically demanding action roles, the film extends a screen persona built on resilience, intensity and control under pressure.
The appeal of “Apex” is also strategic. Streamers have become increasingly dependent on clean, high-concept stories that can be sold globally with a single sentence, and a survival chase anchored by Theron fits that model neatly. It offers recognizable talent, immediate danger and a dramatic landscape, all of which translate well in a recommendation-driven environment where viewers often make choices in seconds.
On the television side, AP highlighted the return of “Running Point,” with Kate Hudson reprising her role as Isla Gordon when season 2 premieres on Netflix on Thursday, April 23. In the series, Hudson plays the head of the fictional Los Angeles Waves after her family’s longtime basketball ownership passes into her hands. AP noted that the character is based on Jeanie Buss, connecting the comedy-drama to a recognizable real-world sports-business template even as the show leans into stylized entertainment.
Its return suggests Netflix sees continued value in workplace dramedy with a glossy, accessible hook. Sports-front-office storytelling has become a reliable genre because it combines status, conflict, family tensions and institutional chaos, and Hudson’s presence helps keep the show squarely in comfort-watch territory. In a week that also includes thrillers, documentaries and competition programming, “Running Point” gives audiences something lighter but still familiar.
The music side of AP’s list is led by Kehlani’s self-titled new album, due Friday, April 24. AP ties the release to the momentum of “Folded,” which it says became Kehlani’s first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and marked a new peak for the singer’s more mature R&B sound. AP also notes that it previously named the song among the best tracks of 2025, positioning the album as a moment of consolidation rather than reinvention.
That makes Kehlani one of the more interesting names in this week’s slate. While film and television often dominate streaming conversation, major music releases still shape the mood of a week online, especially when they arrive attached to an artist whose evolution has been closely watched. A self-titled album usually signals statement-making intent, and in this case it suggests an artist framing the current phase of her work as definitive.
What makes AP’s lineup notable is not only the individual titles, but the broader pattern they reveal. This is not a week organized around one overwhelming franchise release. Instead, it is built around different forms of star recognition: Chalamet as prestige magnet, Theron as action anchor, Hudson as charismatic series lead and Kehlani as a singer entering a new career chapter with visible momentum. That kind of spread increasingly defines streaming-era attention, where audiences do not move as one mass so much as cluster around different niches at the same time.
There is also a wider industry point here. Weekly release guides now function as mini-maps of platform strategy. A film like “Marty Supreme” helps HBO Max claim cultural seriousness. A thriller like “Apex” gives Netflix an internationally legible action vehicle. A returning series like “Running Point” strengthens bingeable subscriber loyalty. An album like “Kehlani” keeps music in the weekly conversation alongside screen entertainment. The result is less a single entertainment event than a coordinated contest for slices of audience time.
For viewers, that means a week in which discovery may be as important as headline value. Some will come for Chalamet’s feverish period drama. Others will choose Theron’s wilderness pursuit, Hudson’s sports-world comedy or Kehlani’s R&B release. But AP’s grouping itself is revealing: the week’s most notable arrivals are unified less by genre than by recognizability, timing and the ability to break through the noise.
In an era when every platform is constantly stocked, that breakthrough is the real prize. And in the week of April 20–26, AP suggests, a handful of familiar names still have the clearest shot at getting there.
