Entertainment

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday announced the 12th Governors Awards, originally slated for January 15, is now set for March 25 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Hollywood. Honorary Awards at the scaled down event will be presented to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award will be presented to Danny Glover…

Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-nominated West Side Story will make its U.S. streaming debut on Disney+ and HBO Max on March 2, the streaming service announced on Tuesday. In addition, the ABC one-hour special Something’s Coming: West Side Story — A Special Edition of 20/20 is available to stream on Disney+ now. Spielberg’s adaptation of the classic stage musical has nabbed seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress for Ariana DeBose…

Deadline reports Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley have boarded Heat director Michael Mann‘s biopic Ferrari, which chronicles personal and financial struggles ex-race car driver Enzo Ferrari faced on his way to becoming a racing mogul. Driver replaces Hugh Jackman in the title role, with Cruz playing Enzo’s wife, Laura, and Woodley will portraying Ferrari’s mistress, Lina Lardi. The plan is to start filming in May…

Squid Game is heading to the big screen for a two-night theater engagement in both New York and Los Angeles, according to Variety. Episodes one through four of the Korean-language thriller’s first season, which streams on Netflix, will be screened this coming Saturday and episodes five through nine the following Saturday, February 19, both at the Netflix-operated Paris Theater in New York, and the Netflix-operated Bay Theater in Los Angeles. The screenings will open with a new introduction featuring the show’s stars. The screenings are open to the admission-paying general public…

The trailer for the fifth and final season of FX’s series Better Things dropped on Wednesday. The series follows Pamela Adlon’s Sam Fox, “a single mother and working actor with no filter,” who raises her three daughters in Los Angeles, while also looks after her mother, “an English expat who lives across the street,” according to the show’s official publicity. Sam approaches all of those challenges “with fierce love, raw honesty and humor.” Better Things returns for its final season on February 28…

America Ferrera has been added to the cast of the upcoming Greta Gerwig-directed live-action Barbie movie, alongside Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as the titular doll, according to Deadline. There’s no word yet on who Ferrera will play, and plot details are being kept under wraps. Ferrera will next be seen alongside Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway in the Apple TV+ limited series We Crashed, debuting in March…

FX announced on Wednesday that Mayans M.C. will kick off its fourth season with two episodes airing back-to-back on April 19, according to Deadline. New episodes will stream the next day on Hulu. The Sons of Anarchy spinoff follows follows Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes — played by JD Pardo — a member of the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border fresh out of prison, his brother Angel — portrayed by Clayton Cardenas — and the rest of the Santo Padre M.C., who face retaliation from other chapters after a failed attempt to align under one King. Meanwhile, EZ and Angel have grown distant from their father Felipe — played by Edward James Olmos — after a heart-wrenching betrayal. Danny Pino, Carla Baratta, Michael Irby, Raoul Max Trujillo, Richard Cabral, Emilio Rivera, Sarah Bolger, Frankie Loyal, Joseph Lucero and Vincent Vargas also star…

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Bob Saget, who was found dead in a Florida hotel room last month, died from head trauma, his family said in a statement on Wednesday.

“They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep,” his family said in a statement obtained by ABC News. “No drugs or alcohol were involved.”

A police report revealed that Saget, 65, was found “unresponsive and not breathing” during a wellness check conducted January 9 after he failed to check out of his room the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida, and his family was unable to reach him.

Saget was discovered “in a supine [face upward] position on his bed. His left arm was across his chest while his right arm was resting on the bed. No signs of trauma were seen,” according to the report. He was already “cold to the touch, yellow and clammy.”

The chief medical examiner for Orange and Osceola counties had said a preliminary autopsy showed “no evidence of drug use or foul play.”

HIs family said they wanted Saget’s fans to hear the “final conclusions” from the authorities’ investigation “directly from us.”

“As we continue to mourn together, we ask everyone to remember the love and laughter that Bob brought to this world, and the lessons he taught us all: to be kind to everyone, to let the people you love know you love them, and to face difficult times with hugs and laughter,” his family said.

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If you’re looking for a rom-com this Valentine’s Day weekend, then I Want You Back, premiering Friday on Amazon Prime Video, might be for you.

Jenny Slate and Charlie Day star in the movie about two strangers who bond over being unexpectedly dumped by their respective partners on the same weekend. They hatch a desperate plot to win back their exes, who’ve already moved on to new romances. Slate thinks it works because it really focuses on the rom and the com.

“It’s really nice to see a romantic comedy…and be in one, that is just about romance and comedy,” the 39-year-old actress tells ABC Audio. “And, you know, of course, there’s kind of like there’s our interesting plot twist. But the aim of the movie is to be both romantic and funny…And it’s refreshing, and it was really, really fun to do.”

Day agrees, saying, “It’s just a really sweet story about people that just happens to also be very funny. And then, I think I think that’s a winning recipe.”

LetterKenny‘s Clark Backo, who plays the new love interest of Day’s ex, has her own idea about why the film works.

“There are no villains, which is really cool. Like there’s no archetypal characters that we’re supposed to hate,” she explains. “You kind of love everyone, which is really cool because it’s just like a reflection that in life everyone is just trying their best and people get hurt. But what do you do with that? And like, how do you find your way through and then how do you find your own love.”

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“Good news, everyone!” The beloved Fox series Futurama is returning, with an all-new season on Hulu. The cast from Matt Groening‘s futuristic show — including Billy West, who played Fry and Professor Farnsworth; Katey Sagal, who voiced Leela; and Phill LaMarr, who voiced Hermes and other characters — are returning, save one shiny metal exception. 

John DiMaggio, who voiced foul-mouthed robot Bender and other characters, is not coming back for the first 20-episode order, although Deadline reports that he’s open to doing so if his salary request is met, and creators Groening and David X. Cohen want him back.

DiMaggio is a veteran voice-over artist, having played roles in countless hit video games, including Call of Duty, and hit movies like Zootopia, but perhaps most famously followed Futurama by voicing Jake, the shapeshifting pug on the long-running Emmy-winning series Adventure Time.

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On an earnings call Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek revealed that Obi-Wan Kenobi, the newest small-screen Star Wars effort for Disney+, will debut on May 25. 

The release date is most appropriate: May 25th is considered Star Wars Day by fans, commemorating the initial 1977 debut of George Lucas‘ original saga film. 

A new poster for the series that debuted today reveals Ewan McGregor as the titular Jedi Master, walking alone in the sand dunes of Tatooine, apparently with Anakin’s old lightsaber in hand. With the twin suns of the desert planet setting behind him, he’s looking off to his left, possibly to an unseen threat. 

The closing moments of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith showed Kenobi dropping off a newborn Luke Skywalker with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on the Outer Rim planet, and promising Yoda that he’ll watch over Luke from afar while in exile.

As series director Deborah Chow hinted in a preview video, “It’s not safe. There’s Jedi hunters out there.”

For the uninitiated, after his Jedi purge seen in Episode III, The Emperor sends his minions throughout the galaxy to destroy any Jedi who managed to escape.

The most fearsome one of all, of course, is Kenobi’s fallen former student, Anakin Skywalker. While Kenobi thinks he’s dead after their climactic duel on the lava planet Mustafar, fans know that Skywalker-turned-Darth Vader survived, thanks to a fearsome black cybernetic suit. 

Hayden Christensen is reprising that role in the series, the cast of which also includes Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend, and Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse, the latter two reprising their Star Wars prequel roles as Owen and Beru.

Not coincidentally, the final episode of The Book of Boba Fett also dropped today on the streaming service. 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Following two previous Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, Will Smith hopes the third time is the charm as he was nominated Tuesday for his starring role in King Richard. The film received a total of six nominations, including Best Picture.

“This is rarefied air for me,” Smith tells Deadline. “I’ve been nominated two other times, but it’s never been this kind of blanket love…it is artistic nirvana.” Will was nominated for Ali in 2002, and The Pursuit of Happyness in 2007.

The biopic tells the true story of how Richard Williams defied the odds to develop his daughters, Venus and Serena, into tennis superstars.

The two-time Grammy winner loved learning how Williams used reverse psychology to motivate his daughters.

“One of the first things we realized was what Venus called his ‘Jedi mind trick’. He tricked them into pushing him to have them play tennis,” Smith said. “At every turn, he would say, ‘No, you can’t play tennis if you don’t go to Kingdom Hall,’ or, ‘Nope, you can’t play tennis if you don’t do your schoolwork.’ He was pushing against it as much as he was pushing for it.”

In other news, sports fans will have plenty to laugh about watching KEVIN HART’S WINTER OLYMPICS TAILGATE PARTY Friday on Peacock. Featured in the special are several current and past Olympic champions. Kevin will also receive a slapshot lesson from Blake Bolden, the first Black woman to play in the U.S. Women’s Hockey League.

Finally congratulations to Egypt Criss, the daughter of Sandra “Pepa” Denton of Salt-N-Pepa, and Anthony “Treach” Criss of Naughty By Nature, who announced on Instagram she got married last week. The Growing Up Hip Hop star and rapper Samuel Wright tied the knot on January 31 in Las Vegas.

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Gladiator Oscar winner Russell Crowe is jumping into another comic book-based project. The actor, who played Superman’s dad Jor-El in Man of Steel, and who reportedly has a cameo in this summer’s Marvel Studios offering Thor: Love and Thunder, has been tapped for Sony’s Kraven the Hunter. 

The Hollywood Reporter notes it’s not known who Crowe would play in the Sony Pictures film, but it’s suspected he could be the father of Aaron Taylor-Johnson‘s title character, who is a super-powered big game hunter in the Spider-Man universe.

It should be said it’s still far too early to tell if Spider-Man himself will appear in the movie — or which Spidey, for that matter, following the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. So far, Kraven appears to be a stand-alone adventure in the vein of 2018’s Venom.

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Javicia [Ja-VEET-SEE-uh] Leslie took over the cape and cowl for Ruby Rose in the second season of the CW show Batwoman, and as a lifelong comic fan, continuing to play her in season three hasn’t gotten old.

Aside from being a fangirl, Leslie tells ABC Audio the role is particularly meaningful for her as a Black actress.

“We’re at a point now where we kind of get to see ourselves physically in these suits, and what the fandom has shown me is that there is a community of people who have been waiting — who have been waiting — to see themselves.”

She adds, “And it’s not just about racial identity, because as a human, we represent so many things.”

And Leslie recently represented a good cause, partnering with tissue brand Puffs Plus to provide supplies to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center — and virtually visit with its patients — as part of the company’s Puffs Power Pals initiative. 

“I was a kid that watched superhero shows and watched superhero movies, and I wanted to be Storm [from X-Men]. And I can only imagine if any of those characters spoke to me… at one of the most challenging times of my life!” she expressed. 

“[T]o be able to have the opportunity to speak to these kids, to be able to have the opportunity to encourage them to be brave and strong and keep smiling, like that’s a blessing, and that’s an honor.”

Incidentally, ABC Audio wanted to know if Javicia had any Bat-advice for Leslie Grace, recently unveiled as HBO Max’s Batgirl. “A million attagirls,” Javicia says, and honestly, Leslie, I’ve seen her work, she doesn’t need any tips. She’s so bada** and I just cannot wait to see it.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

Batwoman airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on the CW. 

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Kim Kardashian graces March’s cover of Vogue — a fitting choice, according to Demna Gvasalia, creative director for Balenciaga, the fashion house behind Kim’s masked Met Life look.  

“She did something that is very similar to what Marilyn Monroe did back in the day. She redefined our understanding of what beauty is,” says Gvasalia.

And while most people profess “new year, new me” in January, Kim’s turning a page in 2022. 

“For so long, I did what made other people happy, and I think in the last two years I decided, I’m going to make myself happy. And that feels really good,” Kardashian says. “And even if that created changes and caused my divorce, I think it’s important to be honest with yourself about what really makes you happy. I’ve chosen myself.”

Vogue also explores Kim’s divorce from Kanye West last year. The pair are co-parenting their four children:  daughters North, 8, and Chicago, 4, and sons Saint, 6, and Psalm, 2.  

Of late, West has been very vocal on his dissatisfaction with their custody arrangement. Kim insists, “You could be so hurt or angry at your ex, but I think in front of the kids, it always has to be ‘Your dad’s the best.’ Make sure you are your co-parent’s biggest cheerleader, no matter what you’re personally going through.”

Kim, who turned 41 in October, adds, “My 40s are about being Team Me. I’m going to eat well. I’m going to work out. I’m going to have more fun, spend more time with my kids and the people who make me happy.

Ironically, for arguably the most influential influencer in history, Kim vows, “I’m going to put my phone down. Unfollow if I don’t want to see something on Instagram.”

“Post and ghost,” Kim says, quoting sister Khloé.

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Rattlesnakes. Fatal river-crossings. Bandits. And now tornadoes for good measure. Mother Nature dealt a backhand to our brave, if not woefully-unprepared pioneers in the latest episode of 1883 on Paramount+ — the hit prequel to Yellowstone. 

By now, we’re used to seeing the group in constant peril, all under the watchful eyes of Tim McGraw’s James Dutton, Sam Elliott’s Shea Brennan and LaMonica Garrett’s Thomas: A former Buffalo Soldier-turned-Pinkerton Agent. 
 
“He’s a Black cowboy with a badge and a gun,” Garrett tells ABC Audio. “Sign me up to see what that’s about in that time period regardless of what else is going on!”

“We were one-in-four cowboys back in the day and that wasn’t shown in television, film and Hollywood,” Garrett adds. “There’s so many stories, there’s so many legends in the Black cowboy culture that have never seen the light of day.”
 
Garrett, who’s had starring roles in shows like Sons of Anarchy, Designated Survivor and The Flash, was raised on a steady diet of old-school western shoot-em-ups.

“And you don’t realize, growing up that you didn’t really see people that looked like you on these shows,” he says. “So doing the research and you realize the representation that wasn’t there all throughout these years in a genre that I love…It’s huge. Like you see this gaping hole that we weren’t a part of.”
 
Garrett says his 1883 role is one that honors the past, while moving ahead with a newfound sense of representation. “To bring Thomas to life, this strong character with dignity, and pride, and strength…and he has his own code that he lives by and if you cross it, he takes care of it.” (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)
 
New episodes of 1883 are available Sundays on Paramount+.

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