Director revered by actor’s character in Dawson’s Creek is among film industry figures – also including Zoe Saldaña and John M Chu – to make large donation to family

The film director Steven Spielberg has donated $25,000 (£18,365) to a crowdfunder to help the widow and six children of the actor James Van Der Beek, who died this week after being diagnosed with cancer in 2023.

Dawson Leery, Van Der Beek’s character in Dawson’s Creek, the 90s teen soap that shot him to fame, was an aspiring director who idolised Spielberg. Show creator Kevin Williamson had based the character on himself; he went on to write the horror-comedy Scream and other films in the franchise.

A poll has found differences between men and women’s motivations for watching romance films together, with 20% of men hoping it may result in sex

As groups of women block-booking rows of seats with friends to see Wuthering Heights look likely to help propel Emerald Fennell’s adaptation to the top of the Valentine’s weekend box office, a new survey suggests men are amenable to watching romantic movies at home – although their motivations for doing so are mixed.

A poll of 2,000 film fans on behalf of the wall-to-wall romance movie Freeview channel Great Romance has found that the top three reasons given by men for watching a romance film are feeling closer to their partner (36%), wanting a quiet life (21%) and thinking it might lead to sex (20%). Twenty per cent said that such films “remind me of the magic of when we met”, while half that number said such an activity was “low effort but still feels like bonding”.

Early projections suggest Emerald Fennell’s adaptation could recoup its $80m production budget in its opening three days – with strong US and overseas takings expected

The titillating trailers and method-dressed promotional tour appear to have paid off: early indications are that Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights will earn back its $80m (£59m) production budget on the first weekend of release.

Projections estimate the three-day frame, which falls on Valentine’s weekend, should recoup around $50m (£37m) at the US box office – where it opens across 3,600 screens – and a further $40m (£29m) overseas.