Entertainment

Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick are headed to South by Southwest.

The sequel to their film A Simple Favor, called Another Simple Favor, will serve as the opening night premiere film at the SXSW festival. Directed by Paul Feig, the film follows Kendrick’s Stephanie and Lively’s Emily as they head to the island of Capri in Italy. There, Emily is to be married to a rich Italian businessman.

“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,” a press release for the film describes.

Also starring in the film are Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Elizabeth Perkins, Michele Morrone, Alex Newell, Henry Golding and Allison Janney.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be back at my favorite festival in the world where we successfully launched Bridesmaids and Spy, and I cannot begin to say how honored I am to have our film opening it all,” Feig said in a statement. “I’ve avoided making sequels to any of my films but these characters were just too much fun not to revisit.”

The South by Southwest Conference and Festivals will take place from March 7-14 in Austin, Texas.

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A sequel series to Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Sarah Michelle Gellar back in the iconic title role appears to be nearing a pilot order at Hulu, Good Morning America has learned.

The new series, from studios 20th Television and Searchlight Television, is being teased as “the next chapter in the Buffyverse.”

Nora and Lilla Zuckerman are writing and executive producing alongside Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao, who is directing and executive producing.

Gellar is also attached to executive produce, in addition to starring in the new series.

Gail Berman, Fran Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui and Dolly Parton are all attached to executive produce, as well. All four were executive producers on the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer series.

Reps for Hulu and 20th Television had no comment.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise kicked off with the 1992 film of the same name starring Kristy Swanson in the title role.

A television series starring Gellar — as well as Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Stewart Head and more — aired for seven seasons between 1997 and 2003. The show led to the spinoff series Angel.

Disney is the parent company of Hulu, 20th Television, ABC News and Good Morning America.

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The first trailer for Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps has arrived.

The stars of the film, including Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, helped debut the highly anticipated trailer in epic fashion, live from the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, in front of a Saturn V rocket.

The trailer introduces Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Kirby as his partner, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Quinn as Sue’s brother, Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Moss-Bachrach as their close friend Ben Grimm/The Thing.

According to a synopsis for the upcoming film, the Fantastic Four are “forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond” and ultimately “must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner).”

“Before we went up the first time, you couldn’t turn invisible,” Pascal’s Richards tells Kirby’s Storm in the trailer. “Ben wasn’t a rock and Johnny never caught fire.”

Storm replies, “Ben has always been a rock… Johnny is… Johnny. And I am right here. Whatever life throws at us, we’ll face it together — as a family.” We also see a shot of Galactus, in his unmistakable helmet, looming over New York City.

The final scene from the trailer shows a glimpse of the four in their signature Fantastic Four suits.

The film, directed by Matt Shakman, also stars Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich and Sarah Niles.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters July 25.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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Heidi Klum is departing the judges table for the upcoming 20th season of America’s Got Talent. Taking her place is returning judge Mel B, who previously appeared on the show for seasons 8 through 13. She joins Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara. Terry Crews is also set to return as host. This news comes after Klum was announced to be returning to host Project Runway for a new 10-episode season that will air on Freeform, and stream on Disney+ and Hulu sometime in 2025 …

Zac Efron and Will Ferrell are teaming up for a new comedy. Deadline reports that the actors will star in a film for Amazon MGM Studios written and directed by Nicholas Stoller. The story follows a young convict, played by Efron, who blames a reality TV courtroom and its judge, played by Ferrell, for a past ruling that he believes ruined his life …

Lee Joo-Sil, the actress known for Squid Game and Train to Busan, died Sunday at age 81. According to the Korean newspaper JoongAng Daily, Lee’s agency, 1230Culture, said the actress was diagnosed with stomach cancer three months ago. She went into cardiac arrest on Sunday morning and was pronounced dead at St. Mary’s Hospital in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi. Lee made her Squid Game debut in season 2, playing the mother of former detective Hwang Jun-ho …

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When The Last of Us returns to HBO for season 2 in April, it’ll pick up five years after the events of season 1.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, its showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin opened up about how the second season feels different from the first, including the introduction of new a character named Abby.

Little has been said about the character, though she’s described as “a skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved” in press material from HBO. Kaitlyn Dever portrays her, and Druckmann says it’s due to her incredible talent.

“The reason we cast Kaitlyn is because she’s an incredible actor. You look at her body of work and the way she throws herself at that stuff… We value performance over anything else,” Druckmann said.

While fans of the video game may notice that Dever’s physique differs from that of Abby’s in the game — the digital character is a towering, muscled woman while Dever’s Abby closely resembles star Bella Ramsey‘s Ellie — Druckmann says that the show has different priorities than the game.

“There’s not as much violent action moment to moment,” he says. “It’s more about the drama. I’m not saying there’s no action here. It’s just, again, different priorities and how you approach it.”

Going further, Druckmann said Dever has “the spirit of the game in her.”

“For every heroic act, there’s someone who suffers on the other side who may see you reasonably as a villain,” Druckmann said. “When you look at Kaitlyn, there’s just something in her eyes where, even no matter what she’s experiencing, you connect. It was important that we found somebody that we could connect to the way we connect to Bella.”

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Harrison Ford is coming back to the big screen, this time starring in the highly anticipated fourth Captain America film and making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut.

“It’s a Marvel movie for God’s sake. And it’s got all of that smash and grab, running, jumping and falling down stuff,” the 82-year-old Captain America: Brave New World star told Good Morning America in a new interview. “Being in a Marvel film is a privilege. It’s an introduction to a whole new genre.”

The Hollywood legend is stepping into Thaddeus Ross’ shoes for the new movie — taking over for the late William Hurt, who played the political leader in five previous MCU films — which will see the character’s transformation from president of the United States into the long-awaited pseudo-villain Red Hulk.

“He’s complicated — he turns into a hulk on rare occasions,” Ford explained.

Brave New World will be the first movie in the franchise to feature Anthony Mackie as Cap, since his former character, the Falcon, finally took over from Steve Rogers — played by Chris Evans — in the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier after the latter completed his final mission defeating Thanos in Avengers: Endgame.

Audiences have loved Ford for nearly half a century as Han Solo in Star Wars, and more recently in Shrinking, but despite his illustrious resume and opportunities to take a step back from the work, Ford said there’s more that keeps acting interesting.

“I find challenge,” he said. “I find new people to work with.”

Ford said that choosing a favorite role “would be like comparing your children one to the other” because “each film is a different opportunity.”

“It’s kind of a fantastic way to spend your life,” he said.

When reflecting on his career in its entirety, Ford said, “I see it out of the corner of my eye every once in a while. But I don’t reflect on it. I’m looking for something past that point.”

Although his latest onscreen persona may be bursting into hues of crimson, Ford said his favorite color is “green.”

Captain America: Brave New World hits theaters on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

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Actor Milo Ventimiglia and his wife, Jarah Mariano, have welcomed their first child together.

Mariano took to Instagram on Friday and shared the good news just weeks after she and the This is Us actor lost their home in the LA wildfires.

“Houseless, never homeless,” Mariano wrote in the caption of a post, which featured her baby’s feet and her dog’s paw.

“Welcome back Ke’ala Coral Ventimiglia … 1.23.25,” she continued. “Jan 7th my family & I evacuated from the Palisades Fire. We lost our home that we were living in & everything we own, as well as our home under construction that we were about to move into.”

Mariano said that she was 38 weeks pregnant and revealed that evacuating from the Palisades fire was the second time she’s had to evacuate in recent weeks. She said she previously had to evacuate from the Franklin Fire in Malibu in December.

“I take it as a gift that I was able to essentially do a practice run for what was inevitably to come,” she said. “I’m also forever grateful that we were able to evacuate from the Palisades Fire in the daytime, when we could feel more prepared & not caught completely off guard in the middle of the night, for example.”

Mariano continued, “My family & I are together, happy, healthy & safe, which is truly all that matters. We are deeply grateful to all of the heroes who help battle fires, as well as care for everyone affected by the aftermath for years to come.”

“This will be an extended process of rebuilding and grieving for many, but we are feeling optimistic & inspired to welcome all of the exciting newness of our fresh start!” she added.

She ended her post by saying thank you to those who have supported her and Ventimiglia during this time, including her friends, her family, her birthing team and hospital staff.

She added, “Gentle reminder to all, to please allow us this time & space to nest with our newborn in such a delicate phase. We already have everything we need in abundance & will be back around with updates in our own time.”

Ventimiglia and Mariano tied the knot in October 2023.

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Ormund Hightower is making his way to House of the Dragon. James Norton will join the third season of the HBO show as the character, Variety first reported Friday. While the character had been referenced, he had not yet appeared on the Game of Thrones prequel show. The official character description for Ormund says he is “Otto’s (Rhys Ifans) nephew, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Gwayne’s (Freddie Fox) cousin, and the Lord of Oldtown. He is presently leading the Hightower host in a march on King’s Landing to support his house against Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy).” …

Another actor is returning to the Scream franchise. Matthew Lillard, who played Stu in the first Scream movie, will return for Scream 7. The actor confirmed the casting news in a video he shared to Instagram, where he wrote out a famous line from his character: “My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!!” The actor joins other legacy cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Scott Foley and Mark Consuelos in the new film, which hits theaters on Feb. 27, 2026 …

Timothy Olyphant is the latest to join the new limited series Lucky at Apple TV+, Deadline reports. The show, which follows a young woman who has to embrace her darker criminal side one final time to escape her past, also stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Annette Bening. Olyphant will play Lucky’s (Taylor-Joy) father, John, in the show, which is executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Taylor-Joy …

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Dog Man is sitting and staying at the top of the box office.

The animated adaptation of the children’s graphic novel series, starring a police officer with the head of a dog, debuted at #1 in its opening weekend, digging up a total of $36,000, according to Box Office Mojo.

Another new release, the horror film Companion, slid in at #2 with $9.5 million earned over the weekend.

Mufasa: The Lion King took #3 with an added $6.113 million, followed by One of Them Days at #4 with $6 million and Flight Risk at #5 with $5.6 million.

Here are the top 10 films at the box office:
1. Dog Man – $36 million
2. Companion – $9.5 million
3. Mufasa: The Lion King – $6.113 million
4. One of Them Days – $6 million
5. Flight Risk – $5.6 million
6. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – $3.225 million
7. Moana 2 – $2.836 million
8. A Complete Unknown – $2.164 million
9. The Brutalist – $1.866 million
10. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera – $1.6 million

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Married at First Sight is saying “I do” to Peacock.

The popular reality show, which has aired over 200 episodes on the A+E Networks channels, has made a move to the streaming service Peacock.

After launching on FYI in July 2014, Married at First Sight began simulcasting on A&E during season 2. In season 5 it made the jump to Lifetime, where it has aired since. Now the show finds a new home at Peacock, where season 19 of the show will air in 2025.

Married at First Sight follows singles who are ready for lifelong partnerships. They then commit to getting legally married to a stranger the very first moment that they meet.

Over 30 versions of the series exist around the world, making it the most localized relationship format in the world.

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