TV viewing choices ran the gamut in 2021, from the wholesome Ted Lasso to the brutal Squid Game. Here are some of the highlights:
— Red light, green light — if you didn’t watch Squid Game this year, really, what were you doing with your life? The addictive Korean Netflix series — in which needy people were kidnapped and forced to compete in children’s games for money, with death the punishment for losing — was all anyone was talking about following its September release.
— Disney+’s Marvel series offerings also had a big year, starting with the release of WandaVision, followed by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, then Loki, the animated What If…?, and then the Christmas-themed Hawkeye closing out the year.
— The Crown and The Queen’s Gambit won big at the 73rd Annual Emmy Awards in September, with each series earning 11 awards. Saturday Night Live followed behind with eight trophies, while Ted Lasso and The Mandalorian won seven. Kate Winslet’s buzzy HBO miniseries Mare of Easttown picked up four awards.
The Emmys weren’t without controversy, however. #EmmySoWhite began trending after the winners were counted, and not a single Black, Brown or Asian actor won an acting award. This, despite heading into the night with the most diverse nomination field in the show’s history, with 49 people of color up for acting and reality competition awards.
— After tons of hype, Friends: The Reunion Special aired on HBO Max in May, featuring the entire core cast and special guests including Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.
— The Sex and the City sequel, And Just Like That…, debuted on HBO Max in December and pretty much immediately sparked fan ire for how it handled the absence of Kim Cattrall’s Samantha, and for killing off Chris Noth’s Mr. Big. Following his departure from the show, Noth was soon after accused of sexual assault by multiple women and was dropped from his other show, CBS’ The Equalizer.
As Michael B. Jordan prepares to make his directorial debut with the next Creed film, he’s drawing upon lessons he learned from Denzel Washington.
Denzel directed Michael in Journal for Jordan, which premiered on Christmas. Jordan says he will apply lessons he learned from the revered actor in Creed III.
“He’s full of quotes and advice and a lot of gems,” Jordan tells Variety, describing Washington’s rehearsals as “spot-on and intense.”
“I think we did three weeks before we started filming, which I think is incredible,” Michael continued. “I’ve always done rehearsals before, but I think on [Creed], I’m going to make sure I get enough rehearsals to really massage the scenes that I feel like are the biggest days for my cast, once we actually start production.”
In other news, Nick Cannon celebrated Christmas by posting Instagram photos with all seven of his children, including his late 5-month-old-son, Zen, who passed away December 5. “Merry Christmas to All and to All Goodnight!” Nick wrote. “Love The Cannons!!”
In one photo, Cannon poses with Golden “Sagon” Cannon, 4, and Powerful Queen Cannon, 1, whom he shares with Brittany Bell, as well as 10-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe Cannon, whom he shares with ex-wife Mariah Carey.
In yet another pic, the talk show host sits in front of the fireplace in matching pajamas with his 5-month-old twins, Zion Mixolydian and Zillion Heir, whom he shares with Abby De La Rosa.The final shot captures Nick holding Zen.
Finally, the trailer for the third season of Atlanta has dropped. In the clip, Earn, Paper Boi, Darius and Van travel through Europe and navigate the obstacles of new languages and cultures. The FX series is set to premiere with two episodes on March 24, 2022.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the most-anticipated blockbuster of 2022, according to a new survey by Fandango.
The survey of more than 6,000 moviegoers put the Black Panther sequel — due out November 11, 2022 — in the top spot, followed by the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) at number two and the Robert Pattinson-starring The Batman at number three.
Other movies in the top 10 include Thor: Love and Thunder, Jurassic World: Dominion, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Avatar 2.
The Fandango survey also found that 94% want to go to the theater more often in 2022 than they did in 2021.
Here are Fandango’s top 10 most-anticipated blockbusters of 2022:
1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One)
3. The Batman
4. Thor: Love and Thunder
5. Jurassic World: Dominion
6. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
7. Avatar 2
8. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
9. Top Gun: Maverick
10. Mission: Impossible 7
Netflix has released the season six trailer for the show, which finds the Fab 5 bringing their makeover magic to Austin, Texas.
This season, Tan France, Bobby Berk, Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski and Karamo Brown transform the lives of a honky tonk dance instructor, a trans weightlifter and more. They even bring their flair to a high school prom.
Season six of Queer Eye premieres December 31 on Netflix.
Warner Bros. just dropped a surprise Christmas present for Batman fans: a brand-new trailer for The Batman.
Titled “The Bat and The Cat,” the two-and-a-half-minute trailer is less moody and atmospheric than the first two, focusing instead on the relationship between Robert Pattinson‘s Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Zoë Kravitz‘s Selina Kyle/Catwoman. After an initial meeting during which kicks and punches fly, the pair appear to team up to do battle, with lots of action to show for it.
“The bat and the cat,” says Selina. “It’s got a nice ring to it.”
There are also suggestions that The Batman‘s main villain, The Riddler, played by Paul Dano, may know what Bruce Wayne does at night, as well as hints of a Wayne family secret that even Bruce was unaware of, based on a glimpse of a scene between Pattinson and Andy Serkis, who plays Alfred.
The new trailer comes barely two months after the second trailer dropped October 16 during DC FanDome.
The Batman, also starring Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, John Turturro and Peter Sarsgaard, premieres March 4.
Bridgerton fans got the ultimate Christmas gift over the weekend: a season-two premiere date.
In a video featuring both returning and new cast members, Netflix announced that the period piece will debut its sophomore season on March 25. The announcement was made on the one-year anniversary of season one’s premiere.
Season two will focus on Jonathan Bailey’s Anthony Bridgerton and his new romance with Simone Ashley’s Kate Sharma.
Bridgerton also stars Phoebe Dynevor, Nicola Coughlan, Adjoa Andoh, Claudia Jessie, Luke Newton and Luke Thompson, and Julie Andrews as the voice of Lady Whistledown.
Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée has died at age 58, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
His longtime producing partner Nathan Ross confirmed his passing to THR. Vallée reportedly passed away suddenly at his cabin outside Quebec City. A cause of death is not yet known.
The filmmaker was known for directing the Matthew McConaughey film Dallas Buyers Club, for which McConaughey won the Best Actor Oscar, as well as HBO’s critically acclaimed series Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects.
Vallée, who also executive produced Big Little Lies, won two Emmys for the series in 2017: Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series.
“Jean-Marc Vallée was a brilliant, fiercely dedicated filmmaker, a truly phenomenal talent who infused every scene with a deeply visceral, emotional truth,” HBO said in a statement to THR. “He was also a hugely caring man who invested his whole self alongside every actor he directed.”
The COVID-19 pandemic eased its grip on theaters all over the world for much of the year, allowing box office returns to be much more generous than in 2020 — though still light-years from the Avengers: Endgame heights of 2019.
However, with the Omicron variant in the air, literally, it appears Spider-Man may be the first superhero truly immune from COVID-19. Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s debut spun a staggering web at the box office, scoring the biggest opening weekend ever for Sony and earning an estimated 587.2 million dollars worldwide — the third-biggest global opening of all time. An estimated $253 million of that global tally came from domestic ticket sales, making Spider-Man: No Way Home also the third-biggest domestic opening in history and the biggest-ever December debut. It was also the first pandemic-era film to bow with more than $100 million.
As of December 26, Spider-Man: No Way Home also topped the worldwide box office list, earning 1.05 billion dollars worldwide after a little more than a week in theaters, making it the biggest box office smash of the year and the first film to earn more than a billion dollars globally since 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Elsewhere on the yearly chart, some other films that were theater-only releases in the U.S. performed better than expected, like Sony’s Spider-verse adjacent Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Ryan Reynolds‘ pandemic-delayed Free Guy. The flicks earned the #3 and #9 slots on 2021’s top ten highest-grossing films list domestically
Movies like Black Widow, Disney’s Jungle Cruise and A Quiet Place Part II performed decently, but likely saw their movie ticket take trimmed by the films’ being available simultaneously on streaming services. Black Widow star Scarlett Johansson sued Disney, claiming her movie’s box office — and her bottom line as a producer — was affected by Disney+’s streaming strategy. The suit was eventually settled, apparently amicably, and ScarJo mentioned she’d stay in the Marvel Studios family by producing future content, even though her Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow perished in Avengers: Endgame. Disney is the parent company of Marvel and ABC News.
Overseas, some weaker domestic performers like the pandemic-delayed James Bond adventure No Time to Die performed well; foreign theater-goers were more comfortable getting back to the theaters throughout the summer and fall, prior to the emergence of Omicron. Daniel Craig‘s last outing as 007 made more than $612 million from overseas audiences. Likewise, Marvel Studios’ Eternals added more than $236 million to its total take from overseas audiences; F9 made more than $553 million overseas; and Black Widow earned an additional $183 million from the foreign box office.
China, meanwhile, minted its own blockbuster with The Battle at Lake Changjin, a nationalistic war film about China’s defeat of U.S. soldiers in a battle of the Korean War. The film earned more than $902 million on China and Asia, second only to Spider-Man: No Way Home for the year.
2021’s top ten movies in the U.S. (as of 12/26/2021)
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home — $467,331,855 U.S. gross earnings
2. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — $224,543,292
3. Venom: Let There Be Carnage — $212,527,511
4. Black Widow — $183,651,655
5. F9: The Fast Saga — $173,005,945
6. Eternals — $164,508,664
7. No Time to Die — $160,772,007
8. A Quiet Place Part II — $160,072,261
9. Free Guy — $121,626,598
10. Ghostbusters: Afterlife — $120,460,060
2021’s top ten movies internationally (as of 12/26/2021)
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home — $587,100,000 overseas gross earnings
2. The Battle at Lake Changjin — $902,196,534
3. Hi, Mom — $822,009,764
4. No Time to Die — $613,262,000
5. F9: The Fast Saga — $553,223,556
6. Detective Chinatown 3 — $686,257,563
7. Venom: Let There Be Carnage — $288,500,000
8. Godzilla vs. Kong — $367,300,000
9. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings — $207,686,762
10. Eternals — $236,181,075
After Common recently explained that he broke up with Tiffany Haddish because of their busy schedules, the Night School star is now responding to his comments.
“I miss him from time to time,” Tiffany admitted, adding, “But that’s with, I think, any intimate relationship that you might have, you miss them.”
In other news, Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson are feeling sentimental as the end of ABC’s black-ish approaches.
Ross posted an Instagram video of them watching their audition for the series, and Anderson began to fight back tears. He said, “Now I’m getting emotional. We always talk about never being afraid to fall, and I’ve always said if we are afraid to fall, we’ll never take that leap.” He added, “I will take this leap with you anywhere, anyplace, anytime.”
Ross captioned the post, “What a delight it’s been to leap, stretch and grow with you these past 8 years, @anthonyanderson. The rapport we have as Mr & Mrs. Johnson was apparent from the start. Most importantly, we’ve never let each other fall. You are the absolute best TV husband a gal could ever ask for.” The farewell season of black-ish premieres Tuesday, January 4 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Finally, Tyrese Gibson and Courtney B. Vance will be among the honorees at the 30th anniversary Bounce Trumpet Awards. Tyrese will receive the Luminary Award, and Vance will be presented with the Excellence in Entertainment Award. The event will air on Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 17 at 8 p.m. on the Bounce network.
If you’ve been feeling the pain of being separated from your friends during the pandemic, Kate Winslet is right there with you.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the actress says she recently reunited with her Titanic and Revolutionary Road co-star Leonardo DiCaprio for the first time in three years — and it was an emotional moment for the two old pals.
“I couldn’t stop crying,” she says. “I’ve known him for half my life!”
The Mare of Easttown star adds that because Leo’s been in New York and she’s been in London, they hadn’t had a chance to get together and catch up.
“We haven’t been able to leave our countries,” she says. “Like so many friendships globally, we’ve missed each other because of COVID. He’s my friend, my really close friend. We’re bonded for life.”
