A bustling scene unfolded Saturday morning at a shopping center near Chicago as hundreds gathered eagerly for the release of the Swatch and Audemars Piguet Royal Pop Collection pocket watch. The unexpected turnout led the store to shut its doors for the day, according to local police.

Numerous police vehicles were stationed at Oak Brook Center Mall as a precaution on Saturday.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

“The crowd was here for the launch of a new watch. However, Swatch has announced that they will remain closed today at their Oak Brook location,” police informed ABC7.

Early Saturday, a significant crowd was visibly assembled outside the storefront.

The Royal Pop Collection, a joint effort by Swatch and luxury brand Audemars Piguet, includes pocket watches priced at approximately $400. These watches are reportedly being sold online for more than $1,000, underscoring their high demand.

“To all our dear fans worldwide of our AP x Swatch collab, launched on May 16. To ensure the safety of both our customers and our staff in Swatch stores, we kindly ask you not to rush to our stores in large numbers to acquire this product,” Swatch said in a statement. “The Royal Pop Collection will remain available for several months. In some countries, queues of more than 50 people cannot be accepted, and sales may need to be paused.”

It was not yet clear when the Oak Brook Swatch store would reopen.

Julianne Moore has stirred up quite a debate online following her candid remarks about her cinematic preferences, expressing a distinct distaste for films filled with “explosions and guns.”

In a candid conversation with Variety during the Kering Women in Motion Talk at the Cannes Film Festival, the 65-year-old actress opened up about her evolving interests in the film industry. Moore, who has built an illustrious career in Hollywood, revealed that she finds herself increasingly disinterested in tragic storylines.

“In these challenging times globally, I find it hard to engage with narratives that feel artificial, where the emotional depth doesn’t align with the world’s current state,” Moore explained. “I don’t feel inclined to invest myself in such stories.”

She elaborated on her experience with scripts and films, noting her sensitivity to “when something is there for stakes.” She emphasized, “I don’t appreciate superficial stakes.”

Moore continued, “I’m not a fan of murder scenes. I shy away from explosions and guns. I dislike melodrama. I steer clear of narratives that heighten stakes without genuine emotion beneath them.” Her words have ignited discussions among film enthusiasts, reflecting the diverse tastes and expectations audiences have from cinema today.

“I mean, that actually bothers me because that’s like noise. I don’t know how to play it. I don’t want to watch it.”

After a clip of the interview was shared on X, many fans took issue with Moore’s statement in the comments section, with many pointing out she has starred in multiple movies with guns and violence.

“I’ve lost count how many movies she’s done with guns,” one fan wrote. Another added, “Funny how artists forget their own catalog until it’s time to virtue signal.”

Another fan shared, “That’s great! Now playback all the degenerate, violent entertainment Julianne has happily participated in throughout her career.”

A fourth fan wrote, referencing the sequel to “Silence of the Lambs,” which tells the story of serial killer Hannibal Lecter, writing, “A man had his skull removed in Hannibal, and brain eaten.”

While many took issue with her comments, others came to her defense, with one writing, “Julianne Moore choosing emotion over chaos is exactly why she’s respected worldwide.”

“I actually agree with her! We already have enough violence in the world! We need good family values in movies back!! Good family fun!! And the movie theaters will be full again! We want to go to the theaters but there’s not enough quality movies going out! That’s why The Devil Wears Prada was great,” another said.

This isn’t the first time Moore has faced backlash, as Vili Fualaau, who gained national attention for his illicit relationship and marriage with his sixth-grade teacher in the late 1990s, took issue with her film, “May December,” which told a similar story, calling the project a “ripoff” of his life.

Despite the backlash, Moore maintained when speaking to Entertainment Tonight in January 2024, that throughout filming the movie, director Todd Haynes was “always very clear when we were working on this movie that this was an original story … a story about these characters.”

“So that’s how we looked at it too,” Moore said. “This was our document. We created these characters from the page and together.”

Moore won an Academy Award in 2015 for her leading role in “Still Alice,” in which she played a woman dealing with her early onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. She was previously nominated for her roles in “Boogie Nights,” “The End of the Affair,” “The Hours” and “Far From Heaven.”

The actress was at the Cannes Film Festival as the recipient of the Kering’s Women in Motion Award, an award which is presented to an actress who has helped advance the role of women in society and film.

In an amusing twist during the season 50 finale of Saturday Night Live, audiences were momentarily confused by the appearance of two Will Ferrell lookalikes during the opening segment.

Longtime fans of the 58-year-old comedian, however, quickly sensed something was amiss when a familiar yet subtly different figure energetically descended the stairs to kick off the monologue.

As it turned out, the man on stage wasn’t Ferrell himself but rather his uncanny lookalike, Chad Smith, the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The striking resemblance between the two has been a source of playful media buzz for years.

Smith, at 64, sported a gray suit and an open-collared black shirt identical to what Ferrell wore when he made his entrance moments later to reclaim the spotlight from his imposter.

Attempting to seize the spotlight, Smith exclaimed, “I’m thrilled to be back here hosting Saturday Night Live. Thrilled! I was a cast member for seven years, and now I’m hosting for the sixth time! Amazing. It really feels like coming home.”

But then the door at the back of the bandstand swung open and the real Ferrell burst through and scurried down to the front of the stage to cut off his look-alike.

Saturday Night Live audience members were seeing double this week after they were confronted with what appeared to be two Will Ferrells in the season 50 finale’s opening monologue 

But fans familiar with the 58-year-old former cast member picked up on something fishy as soon as he bounded down the stairs to start his monologue. That’s because it wasn’t actually Ferrell at all, but his doppelgänger, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith (pictured)

‘Hey, hey! Excuse me! What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ Ferrell said breathlessly as he stood side-by-side with Smith to emphasize their resemblance. 

Smith, still in character, gestured toward the audience and shot back, ‘I think I’m hosting the show.’

An indignant Ferrell replied, ‘You’re not the host, I am. You’re Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.’

As the audience started to cheer and applaud for Smith, Ferrell turned to them and shouted, ‘No! Shut up! Everyone shut up!

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ he continued. ‘He pushed me down backstage! And I fell! Hard!

‘Lorne [Michaels] had to give me mouth-to-mouth,’ he said of SNL’s creator and executive producer. ‘Seriously, what are you even doing here?’

Smith looked as if he was about to fess up, though his answer didn’t satisfy Ferrell.

‘OK, I’m the musical guest tonight,’ the drummer said sheepishly.

‘Hey, hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ Ferrell said after bursting onto the stage as he stood side-by-side with Smith to emphasize their resemblance. ‘He pushed me down backstage! And I fell! Hard! Lorne [Michaels] had to give me mouth-to-mouth’

Smith bizarrely tried to claim that he was the show’s musical guest, but Ferrell corrected him by noting that Paul McCartney was the evening’s performer

‘No, you’re not. No, you’re not,’ Ferrell said as he wagged his head side to side. ‘No, Paul McCartney is the musical guest.’ 

He shooed Smith away and ordered him to ‘just get of the stage, now!’ 

As the audience started to send off the Chili Peppers drummer with applause, Ferrell interrupted them again.

‘No, no, don’t clap for him. Don’t. Don’t clap for him. He’s a bad guy,’ he said, before admitting that the whole segment had been ‘really weird.’

Then Ferrell suggest he perform a ‘hard reset’ as he began his monologue all over again as if nothing had happened.

But after picking up where Smith left off and bragging that he was hosting SNL for the sixth time, Ferrell paused to say that it felt off.

‘You guys feel that. I’m very off. Chad Smith, he took the wind out of my sails. This sucks,’ he said in a funk. ‘I don’t even know if we should do the show. That’s where I’m at, emotionally.’

After the audience shouted for him to go on with the show, Ferrell joked in perfect deadpan that he would do ‘what the host does when they don’t have any ideas, so I’ll take questions from the audience.’

After deciding the monologue just felt off after Smith’s intrusion, Ferrell decided to answer audience questions, with the first one going to Paul McCartney, who was convinced that Ferrell was actually the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer

He took his first question from ‘the cute one,’ which turned out to be Paul McCartney. 

‘Yeah, I have a question. What do you think you’re doing, Chad?’ said McCartney.

Ferrell invited him onstage to clear up the confusion, admitting that he and Smith ‘do look a lot alike,’ but the Beatles bassist wasn’t convinced. 

‘Nice try, Chad. Get back behind the drums where you belong!’ McCartney shouted. 

‘Paul, with all due respect, you look like a fool right now,’ the Elf star said.

He admitted McCartney had written some great songs, and started naming a few, but the list continued to grow as Ferrell continued naming classic after classic, both from the singer–songwriter’s days in the Beatles, as well as from his solo material. 

Several songs in, McCartney suggested ‘Penny Lane,’ which Ferrell was suddenly dismissive of.

He added that there were several great songs the rocker hadn’t written, including ‘the alphabet song, Timber featuring Pitbull,’ and ‘all the Smash Mouth stuff.’ 

 

 

 

 

On social media, fans marveled at just how good of a match Smith made for Ferrell

 One user shared a screenshot of Ferrell and Smith together on stage and raved that seeing them in the same frame was ‘too good’

Ferrell and Smith hung out recently, as they were spotted sitting near each other in April at game three of the Stanley Cup playoffs between the LA Kings and the Colorado Avalanche

But McCartney simply whispered, ‘Get your a** behind the drums, Chad.’ 

Then Smith ran back out to sign off before the first post-monologue sketch of the night. 

On social media, fans marveled at just how good of a match Smith made for Ferrell.

‘They really do look alike!’ one person wrote on X, while another fan called his cameo ‘epic.’ 

Another fan wrote that ‘Chad and Will side by side FINALLY proves they are TWO separate people!!!! Hilarious!’ 

One poster opined that ‘Will & Chad could literally be twins, lol.’ 

Another user shared a screenshot of Ferrell and Smith together on stage and raved that seeing them in the same frame was ‘too good.’ 

Contrary to what many viewers at home thought, Ferrell and Smith have already been side by side before. 

The two poked fun at their resemblance, which has long been a subject of memes, back in 2014, when they appeared together on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for a charity drumming competition.

Ferrell and Smith even hung out recently, as they were spotted sitting near each other in April at game three of the Stanley Cup playoffs between the LA Kings and the Colorado Avalanche.