Entertainment

The new movie The Wedding Banquet may share a name with Ang Lee’s queer romantic comedy from the 1990s, but director Andrew Ahn says it isn’t a direct remake.

“I think the term that we’ve landed on is ‘reimagining,’” Ahn tells ABC Audio.

The original The Wedding Banquet tells the story of a gay man who stages an elaborate wedding to a woman in an effort to fool his traditional Taiwanese parents. Ahn says he wanted to preserve Lee’s “themes and storytelling philosophy,” while updating it all for a modern, queer audience.

“We were given the freedom to really create our own characters independently of that original film. And I think that it really helped make this version its own beautiful thing,” says star Kelly Marie Tran.

Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone plays Tran’s partner and says she was drawn to the project because it was a departure from her recent dramatic roles.

“I feel like when you’re doing comedy, when you’re doing ensemble, when you have a ball to keep in the air, that’s where you see the work happen, that’s where you get to see character happen,” Gladstone says.

Saturday Night Live’s Bowen Yang similarly found himself playing against type, but the comedian says he felt at ease.

“Everyone here on this cast has been so patient with me. Andrew [Ahn] is obviously so nurturing as a director,” says Yang.

Ahn says the original The Wedding Banquet was the first gay film he ever saw. He hopes the new version can provide comfort to the queer community in an uncertain time.

“I think that there’s a lot being done to dismantle queer family, [which] is very scary. I wish that we were in better times,” says Ahn. “My hope is that this film can offer audiences a sense of safety, a sense of celebration and a sense of community.”

The Wedding Banquet hits theaters Friday.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Florence Pugh says she doesn’t make it easy to date her.

The actress opened up about her romantic life in a recent cover story for Harper’s Bazaar UK. Pugh said she is currently in love and that she is approaching this relationship differently than she has in the past.

“I’m more sympathetic to the people who are in love with me, because it’s not easy,” Pugh said. “I’m tricky – I’m always busy, I can never make dates.”

Even so, Pugh said she is learning she must work on this part of herself if she wants to have a family one day.

“But it’s not good enough for me to ask someone to just accept that,” Pugh said. “I’ll just end up alone. I don’t want that – I want a family.”

Pugh, who has endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, has also begun the process of freezing her eggs. Though she describes it as “tiring and horrible,” the actress understands she is lucky to be able to afford the medical care.

“There was a clickbait article about me doing it,” Pugh said. “I know you shouldn’t read the comments but … urgh. I wish there was a little more tenderness and understanding.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

If you can’t help but wonder when the season 3 trailer for And Just Like That… will arrive, then you’re in luck.

Max released the trailer and release date for the third season of the original series on Tuesday. It premieres May 29 and will drop new episodes every Thursday. The 12-episode season 3 will conclude on Aug. 14.

The show is a continuation of the popular HBO series Sex and the City. It “follows Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, Seema, and LTW navigating the complicated reality of life, love, sex, and friendship in their 50s in New York City,” according to its official logline.

Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw, and this time around she’s facing something almost every New Yorker has had to deal with.

“There’s nothing like summer in New York City,” Carrie says in her signature voice-over during the trailer. “With its hot days and even hotter nights, something new and unexpected always awaits.”

Cut to: an infestation of rats taking over Carrie’s apartment. “Prancing around like in The Nutcracker,” she jokes.

The new trailer also shows off other developments in Carrie’s life, such as where she stands with her beau, Aidan, and a new career pivot into writing fiction.

“Life is a story we get to write every day,” Carrie says during the trailer. “And when the plot twists, we can choose to embrace a new chapter.”

Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker, Cathy Ang, Mehcad Brooks, Jonathan Cake, Mario Cantone, Niall Cunningham, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler, Christopher Jackson, Logan Marshall-Green, Sebastiano Pigazzi, Alexa Swinton, Dolly Wells and John Corbett also star in season 3.

Michael Patrick King develops and executive produces the show, which follows characters based on the book by Candace Bushnell and made popular in the HBO series from Darren Star.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Chris Columbus regrets including Donald Trump in Home Alone 2.

The U.S. president makes a seven-second cameo in the 1992 holiday sequel film which Columbus directed. The director recently told the San Francisco Chronicle he wishes he could cut the brief appearance out of it.

“It’s become this curse. It’s become this thing that I wish it was not there,” the director said. “It’s become an albatross for me. I just wish it was gone.”

Columbus, who has Italian ancestry, said he fears if he were to cut out the cameo the Trump administration may deport him.

“I can’t cut it,” Columbus said. “If I cut it, I’ll probably be sent out of the country. I’ll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I’ll have to go back to Italy or something.”

The brief appearance happens during a scene in The Plaza Hotel. Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, asks Trump for directions to the lobby. “Down the hall and to the left,” Trump responds.

Columbus said Trump allowed him to shoot the movie in the hotel in exchange for the cameo.

“He said I begged him to be in the movie, but there’s no world I would ever beg a non-actor to be in a movie,” Columbus said. “But we were desperate to get The Plaza Hotel.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Cate Blanchett is preparing her fans for her eventual retirement.

The actress has plans to retire from acting in the near future, as she told Radio Times in a recent interview.

Blanchett told the outlet she wasn’t sure calling herself an actress was an accurate descriptor anymore.

“It’s because I’m giving up,” Blanchett said. “My family roll their eyes every time I say it, but I mean it. I am serious about giving up acting. [There are] a lot of things I want to do with my life.”

The star has wrapped on the upcoming Jim Jarmusch film Father, Mother, Sister, Brother. It is set to be released sometime later in 2025. She is also currently filming the comedy film Alpha Gang, directed by David and Nathan Zellner, of which she also serves as a producer. There is no word on if she will continue acting past those projects.

Blanchett also spoke about how being a celebrity is not something she took to easily.

“I make more sense in motion. It’s been a long time to remotely get comfortable with the idea of being photographed,” Blanchett said. “I’ve always felt like I’m on the periphery of things, so I’m always surprised when I belong anywhere. I go with curiosity into whatever environment that I’m in, not expecting to be accepted or welcomed. I’ve spent a lifetime getting comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

House of the Dragon star Emma D’Arcy is set to star opposite Tom Cruise in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s untitled upcoming film. D’Arcy confirmed the news to Deadline, saying in a statement, “I’m delighted to be working with such extraordinary and exacting artists as Alejandro and Tom. They are the masters of their craft, and witnessing them in combination has been a privilege.” The film is set to premiere Oct. 2, 2026 …

The Oscar-winning film The Brutalist is set to stream on Max starting May 16 and will air on HBO linear May 17 at 8 p.m. ET. The film follows the story of an architect who escapes post-World War II Europe and arrives in America to start a new life. It won three Oscars earlier this year, including best actor for star Adrien Brody …

Ahead of its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May, a teaser trailer has been released for Ari Aster‘s new film, Eddington. The film takes place during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and stars Joaquin Phoenix as a small-town sheriff in Eddington, New Mexico, engaged in a standoff with the town’s mayor, played by Pedro Pascal. It does not yet have a release date …

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Government Cheese, a new Apple TV+ show debuting Wednesday, follows the story of Hampton Chambers, an ex-convict trying to go into business for himself in late 1960s California — while avoiding further tangles with the law. The show’s 10 episodes cover a variety of genres: at times it’s a hardened crime drama, or a quasi-religious journey of discovery, or an offbeat family comedy. For lead actor David Oyelowo, the mix of tones extends to his character.

“The thing that [was] so fun to play is the fact that [Hampton] is equal parts selfish and selfless. And that is where a lot of the drama and therefore conflict in the show comes from,” Oyelowo tells ABC Audio.

Oyelowo’s character must also regain the trust of his wife Astoria, played by Simone Missick, who’s on her own journey to break into the professional world.

“I’ve gotten the benefit to play women who were excellent at everything they did,” says Missick. “I love the flawed nature of Astoria. And the missteps that she has to navigate around in order to pursue her dreams at this time.”

Government Cheese also stars Emmy nominee Bokeem Woodbine. He says it’s a different take on the Black experience in 20th century America.

“What attracted me to the project was the idea that we could have a depiction of a Black family in the late ’60s that wasn’t necessarily mired in the responsibility of telling about our struggle for human rights during the Civil Rights Movement — that was a little bit more lighthearted,” he says.

Woodbine says he also liked that the show isn’t afraid to get weird.

“The kind of surrealist, quirky nature of the show is another aspect that is rarely employed when depicting Black family life. … We just don’t get that opportunity to be that,” says Woodbine.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are facing off in Italy in the latest look at Another Simple Favor.

Kendrick, who plays Stephanie, and Lively, who plays Emily, are back in action in the sequel to the 2018 hit, which ended with Stephanie sending Emily to prison.

The trailer kicks off with Emily confronting Stephanie and inviting her to her wedding in Capri, Italy, much to Stephanie’s confusion.

Once in Italy, the trailer displays several tense exchanges between the two characters, as well as an explosion.

As Kendrick’s character spends the trailer looking to piece together her invitation, Lively’s character provides no clues, offering a cheers “to old friends, new beginnings.”

“Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily’s extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman,” a synopsis for the film reads. “Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square.”

2018’s A Simple Favor revolved around Emily and Stephanie’s friendship gone awry after Emily seemingly disappears and Stephanie discovers her dark past.

Paul Feig, the director of the original, also directs the sequel, which hits Prime Video on May 1.

Along with Kendrick and Lively, the film stars Bashir Salahuddin, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell, Andrew Rannells, Aparna Nancherla, Kelly McCormack, Henry Golding and more.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Johnny Depp is sporting a whole new look in the first image for his upcoming film, Day Drinker.

Lionsgate gave a sneak peek of Depp’s role Monday, and he’s nearly unrecognizable with gray hair, a gray beard and blue colored contacts.

The film, directed by Snow White helmer Marc Webb, reunites Depp with frequent screen partner Penelope Cruz. According to the synopsis, Madelyn Cline plays a private-yacht bartender who encounters Depp’s “mysterious onboard guest.” Cruz plays a criminal figure they both become entangled with.

Depp and Cruz have previously worked together on the films Blow, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Murder on the Orient Express.

Day Drinker marks Depp’s first major role in a Hollywood production following his highly publicized defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The teens of The Breakfast Club are back together, this time all grown up.

Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estèvez and Anthony Michael Hall all reconvened on Saturday in Chicago to discuss their hit film and celebrate the John Hughes project’s 40th anniversary.

The meeting, which took place on a panel at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, marked the first time the five main cast members had reunited in the 40 years since the film’s release.

The group started by acknowledging the four-decade gap since all five had been back together.

“I feel really very emotional and moved to have us all together,” said Ringwald, who played Claire Standish in the coming-of-age film. Ringwald noted it was also the first time Estèvez, who played Andrew Clark in the film, had joined a group reunion.

Estèvez explained, “This just was something that, finally, I felt I needed to do, just for myself.”

“It’s here in Chicago where we made the film, obviously the 40th anniversary,” he continued. “It just felt like it was time.”

The group reminisced about memories from the film’s set, discussed the film’s legacy and recalled what it was like working with Hughes, the legendary director who died in 2009.

The Breakfast Club premiered Feb. 15, 1985, and told the story of five teenagers serving detention at their Chicago high school. Each of the young teenagers brings a different perspective to the group, offering a captivating clash of personalities onscreen.

Sheedy played Allison Reynolds, Nelson played John Bender and Hall played Brian Johnson in the film.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.