Entertainment

Annette Bening is the latest star to join the Yellowstone franchise.

The five-time Academy Award nominee has joined the Yellowstone spinoff with the working title of The Dutton Ranch, ABC Audio has confirmed.

This new show will also star Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly and Finn Little, who will reprise their roles as Rip Wheeler, Beth Dutton and Carter.

Bening will play Beulah Jackson in the series, who is the powerful, cunning and charming head of a major ranch in Texas.

The new series follows Beth and Rip, who “are grateful for the peace they sought, fought, and nearly died for with their 7,000-acre Dutton Ranch,” according to a press release. “With tough times and stiff competition, Beth and Rip do what they must to survive, all while ensuring Carter becomes the man he’s supposed to be.”

Chad Feehan will serve as showrunner on the new series. Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan executive produces, as do stars Hauser and Reilly.

The Dutton Ranch marks Bening’s first foray into series television, according to a press release. Her next major role is in Maggie Gyllenhaal‘s The Bride, where she stars opposite Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz and Peter Sarsgaard. She’ll also appear in the upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Lucky alongside Anya Taylor-Joy.

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The trio of Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and new judge Carrie Underwood will be returning for another season of ABC’s American Idol — the 24th overall of the pioneering music competition.

Carrie, who won season 4 of American Idol, joined the judging panel for the 2025 edition of the show, replacing the departing Katy Perry. This year’s winner was Jamal Roberts.

Auditions for the new season begin Tuesday with “Idol Across America,” which allows people to audition for the show virtually in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. During these tryouts, contestants audition for American Idol producers for a chance to get in front of the judges. The auditions will continue through Sept. 24. For information on how to sign up, visit americanidol.com/auditions.

American Idol will air on ABC and stream on Hulu in 2026; a premiere date has not yet been announced.

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Chris Columbus is not interested in being involved in HBO’s Harry Potter series.

The director, who launched the film franchise by directing the first two Harry Potter movies, recently told Variety he is done with the wizarding world.

“No, I’ve done it, you saw my version,” Columbus said. “There’s nothing left for me to do in the world of Potter.”

Even though he’s finished his involvement in the franchise, he is not against HBO returning to the source material to make a new series.

“The great thing about it is that with the first and second and third book, we wanted to do it all. We wanted to bring all of that onto the screen, and we didn’t have the opportunity,” Columbus said.

Some of the book details he would have loved to add to his films are the character Peeves, as well as a storyline where Harry and Hermione must drink potions and worry about being poisoned, according to Variety.

“We could never get that incredible scene into the film, and I’m sure it’ll be in the HBO series. So for me, it’s an opportunity to bring all those scenes to life,” Columbus said.

As for his opinion on author J.K. Rowling, who has long been criticized by LGBTQIA+ organizations and members for her repeated rhetoric tied to the TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) movement — a group of people who believe transgender women are not women — Columbus said, “[I]t’s very sad.”

“I like to sometimes separate the artist from the art, I think that’s important to do,” Columbus said. “It’s unfortunate, what’s happened. I certainly don’t agree with what she’s talking about. But it’s just sad, it’s very sad.”

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Kumail Nanjiani expected his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to lead to many more jobs.

The actor portrayed Kingo in the 2021 Chloé Zhao film Eternals, for which he underwent a major physical transformation. Nanjiani spoke about his experience after the film was released during a recent appearance on the Working It Out podcast.

“It came out, it got really bad reviews, and it didn’t do that well. It shattered me too much,” Nanjiani said. “That’s when I was like, ‘Oh, I need to go to therapy to figure this out.’”

One of the things he had to understand “was just realizing too much of my self-esteem was tied up in other people’s reaction to my work,” he said.

Nanjiani said he originally signed on for six Marvel films.

“I was like, ‘This is going to be my job for the next 10 years.’ I signed on for six movies. I signed on for a video game. I signed on for a theme park ride. They make you sign on for all this stuff. You’re like, ‘This is the next 10 years of my life. OK, so I’ll be doing Marvel movies every year, and in between, I’ll do my own little things. Whatever I want to do.’”

The star-studded cast of Eternals included Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden and Brian Tyree Henry.

“There were a few too many people in Eternals, if the reviews are to be believed,” Nanjiani said. “I loved the movie. I’m very proud of the movie.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Marvel.

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Dexter: Original Sin is not continuing with a second season. Despite getting a season 2 renewal announcement in April, Paramount has decided not to go forward with more episodes of the prequel show, Variety reports. The show debuted in December 2024 and finished its run in February 2025. This does not mean the Dexter franchise is done, however. Paramount is planning on opening up a writers room for a potential season 2 of Dexter: Resurrection, which debuted its first season on July 11 …

A new comedy film based on an idea from former Daily Show host Trevor Noah has been acquired by Paramount. Deadline reports that Andrew Jay Cohen is adapting the screenplay about a successful businesswoman and a high school math teacher who are the sole survivors of a plane crash on a deserted island …

The Institute has been renewed for season 2 on MGM+. Stephen King made the announcement on his social media. “Sometimes you win just by showing them you’re still willing to fight,” King wrote. “#TheInstitute will return for Season 2 on @MGMplus” …

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KPop Demon Hunters has gone from streaming hit to box office success.

The Netflix animated film, which, as its title suggests, follows a K-pop group that also hunts demons, debuted at #1 during its first week in theaters. According to Box Office Mojo, KPop Demon Hunters led all movies with a total gross of $18 million. 

Horror film Weapons slotted in at #2 following two weeks leading the box office, bringing in another $15.6 million. Freakier Friday followed at #3 with $9.2 million, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps and The Bad Guys 2 rounded out the top five with $5.9 million and $5.1 million, respectively.

The only other new release in the top 10 was Ethan Coen‘s Honey Don’t!, which landed at #9 with $2.95 million.

Here are the top-10 films at the box office:

1. KPop Demon Hunters — $18 million
2. Weapons — $15.6 million
3. Freakier Friday — $9.2 million
4. The Fantastic Four: First Steps — $5.9 million
5. The Bad Guys 2 — $5.1 million
6. Nobody 2 — $3.7 million
7. Superman — $3.43 million
8. The Naked Gun — $2.95 million
9. Honey Don’t! — $2.95 million
10. Jurassic World: Rebirth — $2.1 million

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Diego Borella, an assistant director on Emily in Paris, has died at the age of 47.

“We are deeply saddened to confirm the sudden passing of a member of the Emily in Paris production family,” a Paramount Television Studios spokesperson told ABC News in a statement. “Our hearts go out to the individual’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

Borella collapsed on Thursday, Aug. 21, while filming the Netflix series’ fifth season in Italy, local outlets La Repubblica, Il Messaggero and Corriere della Sera reported.

The incident occurred around 7:00 p.m. local time during preparations for a final scene at Hotel Danieli in Venice.

According to local reports, medical personnel on set attempted to revive Borella, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Production on season five of Emily in Paris was temporarily suspended following Borella’s death, Il Messaggero reported.

Filming resumed on Saturday, Aug. 23.

Netflix recently released a first look at the new season and announced it will premiere on Dec. 18.

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Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels says the upcoming season 51 premiere of the late-night comedy series will come with changes.

No notable cast members announced their departures from the show after the season 50 finale. But in a new interview with Puck, Michaels was asked if he was going to shake things up with a new cast for season 51.

“Yes,” Michaels said, before describing how he wanted former cast members to come back and be part of the 50th season, as it marked such a monumental moment for the show.

“So, when Kate [McKinnon] hosted, Kristen [Wiig] and Maya [Rudolph] came back for it. And that meant there couldn’t be those kind of disruptions [to the cast], or anything that was going to take the focus off [the 50th season],” Michaels said. “And we had an election.”

The producer was also asked if he feels pressured to reinvent SNL for this upcoming season.

“Yeah, for sure. It’ll be announced in a week or so,” Michaels said.

One cast member who won’t be leaving is James Austin Johnson. Michaels confirmed Johnson will play Donald Trump on the program for the foreseeable future.

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It’s almost time to return to the tent.

Netflix has announced that collection 13 of The Great British Baking Show arrives on the platform on Sept. 5. A trailer for the new collection has also been released. One episode will premiere weekly every Friday.

This new batch of episodes will find 12 new bakers, in the age range from 23 to 59, competing against each other for the title of Star Baker, and to escape elimination from judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

The real-life professions of this year’s collection of amateur bakers range from a scientist to an engineer to a medical student. An amateur drag king, two hairdressers and a blue belt in jiujitsu are also part of this season’s cast.

“I feel very honored to be the first Ukrainian here,” office assistant and home baker Nataliia says in the trailer.

We also see a bit of Hollywood’s signature brutal honesty as he stares at a cake gone wrong.

“It looks like it’s been dropped out of a tree,” he says.

Comedian and actor Noel Fielding once again unites with Alison Hammond to serve as the co-hosts of the new season.

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Here’s the inside scoop on A Man on the Inside. Netflix has announced that season 2 of the comedy series created by Mike Schur arrives on Nov. 20. The first-look photos from the new season have also been revealed, showing Ted Danson in character as Charles as he goes undercover on the Wheeler College campus. Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Lilah Richcreek Estrada, Stephanie Beatriz and Stephen McKinley Henderson also return for season 2 …

Blake Lively is set to star in and produce an action rom-com. Deadline reports that Lively will star in The Survival List, which follows a highbrow reality TV producer who—against her wishes—is assigned to a new show hosted by a famous survival expert …

Tramell Tillman is the latest actor to join the cast of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Variety reports that the Severance actor will be part of the ensemble cast led by Tom Holland. While his role remains under wraps (or webs), he’ll join Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal and Mark Ruffalo in the film …

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