‘Malcolm in the Middle’ alum Frankie Muniz announces major racing career update

‘Malcolm in the Middle’ alum Frankie Muniz announces major racing career update
‘Malcolm in the Middle’ alum Frankie Muniz announces major racing career update
Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Frankie Muniz is celebrating a milestone in his NASCAR career.

The Malcolm in the Middle alum, 38, announced Tuesday on Instagram that he’s now a full-time driver on the Reaume Brothers Racing team for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

He’ll be behind the wheel of the No. 33 vehicle, a Ford F-150, according to a press release from Reaume Brothers Racing.

“I don’t want to say it’s a long time coming, but this has been a dream of mine forever,” Muniz told People. “I grew up watching NASCAR. I was a huge fan, but it’s not something I necessarily thought that I’d ever get the opportunity to do.”

Muniz also said he hasn’t left acting behind entirely but is “focusing on being a race car driver” these days.

“I hope to just prove to people that I can do both,” he told People.

Grey’s Anatomy alum Patrick Dempsey, a fellow actor and racing driver, reacted to the news in the comments of Muniz’s post, using applause emoji and commenting, “congratulations!!!!”

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘Twisters’ blowing onto Peacock Nov. 15

‘Twisters’ blowing onto Peacock Nov. 15
‘Twisters’ blowing onto Peacock Nov. 15
Universal Pictures

While the hit film has been available to purchase or rent on digital since August, Twisters will be streaming for free on Peacock in November. 

The movie starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones has made more than $370 million worldwide since its release on July 19, and if you have Universal’s sibling streaming service, you’ll be able to catch wind of it on Nov. 15. 

The update of the 1996 hit Twister that starred the late Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt has Powell playing Tyler, a hotshot storm hunter, who finds a reluctant partner in a Edgar-Jones’ Kate, a climate scientist.

“As storm season intensifies with terrifying phenomena unlike anything seen before, Kate and Tyler realize they may need to work together if they are to have any chance of taming, and surviving, an unprecedented outbreak of destructive tornadoes,” according to the movie’s synopsis.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Marvel removes beleaguered ‘Blade’ reboot from release schedule

Marvel removes beleaguered ‘Blade’ reboot from release schedule
Marvel removes beleaguered ‘Blade’ reboot from release schedule
Marvel Studios

In Deadpool & Wolverine, Wesley Snipes confidently declares of himself, “There’s only one Blade. There’s ever only gonna be one Blade.” And a new move from Marvel Studios may prove him right. 

The long-gestating movie was supposed to open on Nov. 7, 2025 — but it has just been quietly removed from the studio’s release schedule, and in its place will bow instead 20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands.

As reported, Marvel announced back in 2019 that Mahershala Ali would be succeeding Snipes in the role of the beloved half-vampire vampire hunter, but a single line of dialogue delivered off camera in the after credits of 2021’s Eternals has been the extent of his work as the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A new Blade movie has suffered repeated delays and script overhauls, as well as the loss of director Bassam Tariq, then Yann Demange, as well as delays from the pandemic and then the twin Hollywood strikes, leaving many to wonder how long Ali would hang on.

Given the overwhelming response Snipes received from his secret role in Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s also not out of the question to wonder if Marvel has plans to work the 62-year-old star into the mix in a new film — if and when it comes out.

A look at Marvel’s newly revamped schedule also saw the addition of three untitled movies, respectively set for Feb. 18, 2028, May 5, 2028, and Nov. 10, 2028.

Marvel Studios and 20th Century Studios are owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘The Man Who Invented “Saturday Night Live”‘: Lorne Michaels” “definitive” biography due in 2025

‘The Man Who Invented “Saturday Night Live”‘: Lorne Michaels” “definitive” biography due in 2025
‘The Man Who Invented “Saturday Night Live”‘: Lorne Michaels” “definitive” biography due in 2025
NBC/Frank Ockenfels

The title of the forthcoming biography of Lorne Michaels says it all: Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live.

The book, from New Yorker veteran Susan Morrison, will hit stores in February 2025, and the Random House release is being teased as the “definitive” biography of the show’s executive producer. 

“Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world,” the publisher teases.

It continues, “Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him.”

Random House adds, “Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes readers behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever.”

The bio has been drawn from hundreds of interviews “with Michaels, his friends, and SNL‘s iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd,” and is “a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life and have a profound impact on American culture.”

The chaotic, minute-by-minute lead-up to Michaels’ very first SNL broadcast back on Oct. 11, 1975, has been dramatized in Saturday Night, the acclaimed film from Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s Jason Reitman, which is now in theaters.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Action-packed trailer for new ‘Yellowstone’ season drops ahead of Nov. 10 premiere

Action-packed trailer for new ‘Yellowstone’ season drops ahead of Nov. 10 premiere
Action-packed trailer for new ‘Yellowstone’ season drops ahead of Nov. 10 premiere
Paramount Network

Yellowstone fans: war is coming. 

That’s the takeaway from the new trailer to the fifth season of the series, teasing scheming, murder, mayhem and more. 

While Kevin Costner did not return for the final episodes, he’s in the trailer and his John Dutton declares defiantly to his son-in-law, Rip (Cole Hauser), “Everyone’s forgotten who runs this valley. It’s time to remind them.”

Kelly Reilly‘s Beth Dutton is also seen telling Rip, “Our family’s legacy needs this ranch.” 

“Then I’ll protect it with my life,” he vows.

We also see her scheming adoptive brother Jamie (Wes Bentley) in the wake of starting impeachment proceedings against his governor dad earlier in season 5. His enabler/handler Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) purrs at him, “Old lions die in the jaws of younger lions. And you are the younger lion.”

Whatever lies ahead, it’s not just politics: John’s loyal son Kayce (Luke Grimes) takes a blood oath with Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), the Native power player. “We are brothers now,” he tells the younger Dutton.

To that end, we see a large gathering of men on horseback, including Rainwater’s right-hand man Mo (Mo Brings Plenty), his face covered in warpaint.

Costner bookends the trailer, saying, “This war is just beginning.”

Beth replies, “The only thing left to do is kill as much as you can before they kill you.”

The new season is set to debut Nov. 10 on Paramount+.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

In brief: Tom Holland circling Christopher Nolan’s latest film and more

In brief: Tom Holland circling Christopher Nolan’s latest film and more
In brief: Tom Holland circling Christopher Nolan’s latest film and more

Tom Holland is in talks to star in Christopher Nolan’s latest yet-to-be-titled feature, alongside Matt Damon, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Plot details are being kept under wraps. While Damon will mark his third appearance in one of Nolan’s films, following Oppenheimer and 2014’s Interstellar, this would be Holland’s first go-round with the filmmaker. The film is slated for a July 2026 release …

A TV series adaptation of Stephen King‘s 1974 horror novel Carrie is in development at Amazon MGM Studios with Mike Flanagan, who directed Netflix’s The Haunting anthology, set as showrunner and executive producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The adaptation is being described as a “bold and timely reimagining” of the story, which centers on high schooler Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom. Should it come to fruition, it will air on Prime Video …

The Big Bang Theory alums Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch will reunite for an upcoming season 3 episode of Rauch’s NBC comedy Night Court, according to Entertainment Weekly. Bialik will play a version of herself and turn up in court as a defendant who befriends Rauch’s Judge Abby Stone, per the outlet. Things get weird, however, after Abby learns that Mayim is stalking her. Season 3 of Night Court premieres Nov. 19 on NBC …

Lily Gladstone and Sharon Stone have been tapped for roles in the upcoming indie film In Memoriam, joining comedian Marc Maron, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Maron plays a veteran Hollywood actor obsessed with securing a spot in the Oscars’ in memoriam montage following a terminal cancer diagnosis, per the outlet. His campaigning leads to a heartfelt journey of self-exploration. Gladstone will play the actor’s therapist and Stone one of the actor’s ex-wives, who was once a major movie star. Judy Greer will play another of the actor’s ex-wives …

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee among the latest National Medal of Arts recipients

Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee among the latest National Medal of Arts recipients
Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee among the latest National Medal of Arts recipients
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

Directors Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee are the latest recipients of the National Medal of Arts, handed out by President Joe Biden on Monday. 

The award is “the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the federal government” and goes to “individuals or groups who are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States.”

The National Medals of Arts were handed out for 2022 and 2023, with documentary filmmaker Ken BurnsIdina MenzelEva Longoria, Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott also being honored, along with the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla.

In addition, actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton, writer Aaron Sorkin and the late chef Anthony Bourdain were honored with the 2023 National Humanities Medal, which “honors an individual or organization whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the human experience, broadened citizens’ engagement with history or literature, or helped preserve and expand Americans’ access to cultural resources.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Warner Bros. TV chief gives updates on ‘Harry Potter’ series, ‘Ted Lasso’ season 4

Warner Bros. TV chief gives updates on ‘Harry Potter’ series, ‘Ted Lasso’ season 4
Warner Bros. TV chief gives updates on ‘Harry Potter’ series, ‘Ted Lasso’ season 4
Kayla Oaddams/WireImage

Harry Potter fans have just gotten an update about Warner Bros.’ planned TV series about the boy wizard.

Variety reports that while speaking at Mipcom in Cannes, Warner Bros. TV Group Chairman and CEO Channing Dungey shared some tidbits about what to expect, and it seems the show plans to delve into the Potter world even more than the movies did.

Dungey said that being part of the series is an “unbelievable dream, honestly … and as somebody who is a huge fan of the books, the opportunity to get to explore them in a little bit more in-depth that you can in just a two-hour film … that’s the whole reason we’re on this journey.”

As for what stage the project is in, Dungey shared that the “writing staff was in place and they’re doing what they need to do, and casting calls have opened up in the U.K. and Ireland, so the process is moving along.” 

Dungey also offered an update on the future of Ted Lasso, noting, “We are in conversations about season four, and they are very exciting conversations, but it’s still early days.” 

Earlier reports said Warner Bros. TV had picked up the options for series regulars Hannah WaddinghamBrett Goldstein and Jeremy Swift, and it sounds like star Jason Sudeikis could be returning as well in some capacity.

“We had always been clear that we there wasn’t going to be more Ted Lasso if Jason [Sudeikis] and team weren’t feeling excited about it,” Dungey said, “and I can tell you firsthand that he’s in a place where he’s feeling really excited and feels good about it”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Leslie Uggams on her “amazing” reinvention thanks to ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Fallout’

Leslie Uggams on her “amazing” reinvention thanks to ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Fallout’
Leslie Uggams on her “amazing” reinvention thanks to ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Fallout’
ABC Audio/Stephen Iervolino

Leslie Uggams was already an entertainment legend before a whole new generation got introduced to her thanks to her role as Deadpool’s potty-mouthed roommate and sidekick Blind Al in 2016’s Deadpool

She reappeared in that blockbuster’s hit sequel in 2018 and entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the most recent installment, the smash Deadpool and Wolverine. In between that, she also snagged a co-starring role in the Prime Video series Fallout

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” she enthused to ABC Audio about her career resurgence.

Uggams took part in an event at New York City Comic Con over the weekend that saw a gaggle of Deadpool costumers board a tour bus and travel through the city. 

“I didn’t get to ride with them. But I tell you, it’s so comforting to see how many people love Deadpool and are willing to get in those outfits because it ain’t easy.” 

Between her role in the hit franchise and Fallout, the 81-year-old singer and actress says, “I’m having so much fun. I can’t tell you the fun I’ve been having.” 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

How ‘Emilia Pérez’ helped Zoe Saldaña find her “spark”

How ‘Emilia Pérez’ helped Zoe Saldaña find her “spark”
How ‘Emilia Pérez’ helped Zoe Saldaña find her “spark”
Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for BFI

Zoe Saldaña has a record-breaking box office track record: Her movies have made more than $14 billion, and she is the only actress to have four movies make more than 2 billion bucks with 2009’s Avatar, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water

That said, she tells Variety that somewhere along the way she lost her “spark” — which she found, along with Oscar buzz, for the musical drama Emilia Pérez

She confesses to the trade, “I felt stuck, in the sense that I was taking things for granted too much. I entered this cycle of doing these sequels, and for some reason I became cavalier with them.”

She also adds, “I wish I could go back and do a better job for [her Marvel character] Gamora and Uhura [in the Star Trek franchise],” commenting, “I think I did enough, but I could have done more. That’s just how I am.”

Although her dyslexia and her own “self-sabotage” make auditioning difficult — and she hadn’t done so in a while, what with all the sequels — she auditioned for French filmmaker Jacques Audiard for Emilia via Zoom. Twice, in fact.

He tells the trade she “constantly dazzled” him as Rita.

“Rita was supposed to be only 25 years old; however, as soon as I had Zoe in front of me, I realized that I’d been mistaken all along,” Audiard says.

The actress now says, “I just have this brand-new little spark. And I feel like Emilia really did that for me.”

Emilia Pérez, which is also generating Oscar buzz for Zoe’s co-star Selena Gomez, opens in select theaters in November and on Netflix Nov. 13.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.