The popular franchise Chick-fil-A is reportedly cooking up plans for its own streaming platform.
ABC Audio’s request for comment has yet to be answered, but Deadline says the company is investing in family-friendly programming with the intention of using it to populate its own streaming service.
The trade notes the company has tapped Top Gear and The X Factor veteran Brian Gibson to acquire programming, including a gameshow and other unscripted programming — but scripted fare and animation are also on the table.
It took a bit, but Ryan Reynolds has finally opened up about cutting his “darling friend” Rob McElhenney from one of the biggest movies of the year.
McElhenney filmed his sequence in Deadpool & Wolverine as a Time Variance Authority foot soldier who meets his end at the mouth of the vaporous monster Alioth. But alas, the scene was cut.
Ryan posted photos from the set on Instagram, noting, “While editing a movie, they say you ‘sometimes have to kill your darlings.’ And with a heavy heart (and through great outside intervention) I had to kill a darling with this cameo.”
“The sequence wasn’t working the way we’d originally constructed it,” Reynolds continued. “Rob was the only reason it stayed in the cut for as long as it did, because even under a TVA mask and helmet, you can feel him smoldering with a raw and almost infinite reservoir of talent, writerly wit and ‘I create hit tv shows’ swagger.”
He continued, “Anyway, I loved making this movie but it wasn’t without stress. … And when you do stressful stuff, it feels good when friends are nearby. And even though I’m mortified he flew all the way to London for a cameo that wasn’t meant to be, I’m grateful my friend was there with me on that set,” Ryan said. “When I see Rob, my heart-rate [sic] slows and my nervous system stops yelling at me.”
Ryan revealed McElhenney’s character “begged for his life before Alioth snatched his unsuspecting body into the air, swallowing him whole, eventually digesting and converting him into Alioth-poo,” adding it will “hopefully live on in the digital extras.”
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
As reported, Lucasfilm’s Disney+ series Star Wars: The Acolyte will not return for a second season, despite creator Leslye Headland‘s publicly planning for a sophomore frame.
Viewership dropped off for the divisive, reportedly $180 million, series after its debut in June. Many elements of the show, from its straying from Star Wars canon on, were flamed by some fans.
One bright spot even many critics could agree on was Squid Game Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae‘s presence as Jedi Master Sol. Now he tells Entertainment Weekly, “To hear the [cancellation] news, I was quite surprised personally.”
Spoiler: His character was killed at the end of the season, “So I wouldn’t have appeared in the second season if there was one anyway,” he adds.
“But personally speaking, I really loved Leslye’s writing. I thought that she was a great writer and director who was very talented in the storytelling, as well as creating characters and creating meaningful structures within the story. So I was actually personally really looking forward to watching a season 2 with her at the helm.”
Meanwhile, Manny Jacinto, who played the nefarious Qimir, posted a photo from the show’s season — and now, series — finale with him and co-star Amandla Stenberg. The pair are shown from behind, holding hands, looking off into the distance. He simply added a heart emoji.
His post was liked by Simu Liu, who said, “justice for manny!! bro you were so effing good in this show and the dedication was so apparent. bigger and brighter things ahead. rooting for you always.”
Lucasfilm is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Vision, the spin-off from WandaVision starring Paul Bettany reprising as the titular Avenger android, will also feature a throwback star from the Marvel Cinematic Universe: James Spader.
That’s according to The Hollywood Reporter, which says the former Blacklist star will be reprising as Ultron, the killer robot from whose consciousness Vision was partially spawned in 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Ultron was an A.I. created by Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark as a peacekeeper, but it went amok and turned itself into a “murder bot,” as Mark Ruffalo‘s Bruce Banner later put it.
According to the film, Ultron was essentially one of the Vision’s “fathers,” along with Stark, Banner and JARVIS, Stark’s A.I. assistant.
While Vision was killed by Thanos in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, he was brought back to life by his grieving wife, Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), in WandaVision — first as a magical projection from her grief-addled mind and later in a physical white form built from the original’s corpse by a government agency.
The Vision series reportedly centers on this reborn Vision version, and according to the trade, Terry Matalas is calling the shots on the Disney+-bound Marvel Studios show.
The first WandaVision spin-off, the witchy Agatha All Along, debuts on the streaming service in September.
Have no fear, your reality roundup is here! Here’s a look at what happened in the world of reality television this week:
Love Island USA(Peacock) JaNa Craig came prepared with four pages of receipts to the Love Island USA season 6 reunion, which aired Monday on Peacock. Unfortunately, she feels as though the cast did not get the closure they needed from the experience. “I personally don’t like the way it ended. Lots of emotion, lots of tears, lots of yelling, lots of hurt,” she told US Weekly. “I don’t think it left off on a good note. I wish other people could get closure and we just used to be a really big happy family. It doesn’t feel like that anymore, so it sucks.”
Speaking of Love Island USA season 6, islanders Kendall Washington and Nicole Jacky called their relationship quits after the reunion episode aired. They made the announcement in separate Instagram Stories posted on Tuesday night. “It reached a point where it was not healthy for us to continue the relationship,” Kendall shared in his post.
House of Villains (E!) Get ready for more from your favorite reality show villains very shortly. The trailer for season 2 of House of Villains is available to watch now. This season starts with a 75-minute premiere episode on Oct. 9 that’ll air on E!, Bravo, Syfy and USA simultaneously.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City(Bravo) Receipts, proof, timeline, new season! The women of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City are returning to TV screens oh so soon. Bravo released the season 5 trailer for the reality show, which returns on Sep. 18 and promises lots of drama between cast members Lisa Barlow, Heather Gay, Angie Katsanevas, Meredith Marks Whitney Rose and Mary Cosby.
With the 2024 election just months away, Turner Classic Movies has announced it will be showcasing the best examples of where politics and filmmaking have collided.
The network’s “Making Change: The Most Significant Political Films of All Time” campaign will kick off on Sept. 6, with multiple films running through each day for nine consecutive Fridays, wrapping up on Nov. 1 — four days before Election Day on Nov. 5.
Along the way, TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz will converse with stars from the realms of Hollywood, politics, music and journalism. Directors like Steven Spielberg and Spike Lee will take part, as will performers like Sally Field, John Tuturro and Andy Garcia, and those in the know in D.C., like Bill Maher, Maureen Dowd, former Georgia state Democrat Rep. Stacey Abrams and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
In a statement, Mankiewicz notes in part, “This series brings an eclectic mix of filmmakers, actors, political figures and journalists to TCM to discuss a varied selection of brilliant movies. Along the way, we’ll discuss how great films have managed to predict political culture, to reflect it and to challenge it.”
The offerings begin with 1966’s The Battle for Algiers at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 6.
Spielberg sits down with TCM for the first time with the film that follows, 1949’s All the King’s Men, at 10:15 p.m. ET.
Other classics include 1975’s Three Days of the Condor, 1991’s JFK, 1941’s Citizen Kane and 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate.
Check out the full schedule of movies and special guests here.
A first look at Glen Powell starring in the new half-hour comedy series Chad Powers was released on Thursday, featuring a photo of Powell with a mop-top haircut decked out in football gear.
The series coming to Hulu, which has officially started production, has an executive producing team that includes former NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning, Powell and Loki veteran writer Michael Waldron.
The release also noted that the show is based on a sketch that originally aired on ESPN+’s Eli’s Places series, in which Eli explored various college football scenes across the country.
Powell, who has been featured in a streak of several high-budget films in recent years, including Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, Twisters and Hit Man, co-wrote the pilot with Waldron.
The Manning brothers are no strangers to entertainment, hosting ESPN’s Manningcast, a Monday Night Football broadcast of Peyton and Eli Manning.
Disney, the parent company of ABC News, is the majority owner of Hulu.
Martin Short has earned another Emmy nomination for his role as Oliver Putnam, the ambitious but financially struggling Broadway director on Only Murders in the Building, opposite Selena Gomez and his buddy and longtime comedy partner Steve Martin.
The 74-year-old actor and comedian discussed his six-decade career in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, including how long he’d continue appearing in the Hulu comedy.
Says Short, “In the ’70s, I remember watching Tony Randall on Johnny Carson, and The Odd Couple had been going for four years, and Johnny said, ‘Tony, how long will you stay with this show?’ And Tony just looked at him and said, ‘John, that’s the dumbest question I’ve ever been asked. I will stay with the show as long as it exists because it’s a hit, and a hit is a fluke. In show business, there are singles, there are doubles, there are triples, and there are strikeouts. But a home run is very, very rare.'”
“I totally agree with that,” he tells the outlet.
Short also seemed to dispel rumors of an offscreen romance between him and Only Murders in the Building guest star Meryl Streep, saying they’re just friends.
Only Murders in the Building returns for its fourth season Aug. 27 on Hulu.
Hulu is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
The Oscar nominee caught up with ABC Audio at the Disney Upfront event in May, where she said the film is about lifelong friendships between women.
“It’s about [this] group of women who save themselves through their relationships,” Ellis-Taylor said. “They have this life when they’re younger, and then when they grow up, they have to save each other. It’s a great story about sisterhood and women friendships, which are the best.”
Ellis-Taylor said that not only is the film about wonderful women, it stars “some really wonderful women,” too.
“The iconic Sanaa Lathan and the Emmy Award winner Uzo Aduba and a bunch of other young women who are – I think this is some of their first movies,” Ellis-Taylor said.
The sisterhood and strong connections extended outside of the characters they played. Ellis-Taylor said she holds all of her co-stars in high regard, but that she’s always “had a tremendous amount of respect for” Lathan in particular.
“Sanaa and I graduated from graduate school at the same time,” Ellis-Taylor said. “Even if we weren’t friends, I felt a connection to her because we kind of had similar journeys in that way. But I just have such respect for them because they’re just all so brilliant.”
Paramount+ has dropped the trailer for season 2 of its Frasier revival, premiering Sept. 19. The upcoming season will feature a return to his old radio station, KACL, and the trailer gives us a peek at his reunion with characters from the original series, including Dan Butler as Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe, Harriet Sansom Harris as Frasier’s agent and Peri Gilpin as Roz. Kelsey’s real-life daughter Greer Grammer also shows up as Roz’s daughter, Alice Doyle, along with Amy Sedaris in an undisclosed role. Patricia Heaton joins season 1 regulars Jack Cutmore-Scott, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Toks Olagundoye for season 2 …
Ahead of its fifth season premiere on Sept. 9, CBS Media Ventures has renewed The Drew Barrymore Show through the 2025-26 season. “Drew is a one-of-a-kind talent who is an integral part of the CBS and Paramount family,” Wendy McMahon, president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, said in a statement. The Drew Barrymore Show is averaging 1.1 million viewers, with nearly 6 billion minutes watched this season, according to CBS Media Ventures …
The Television Academy has announced Greg Berlanti as the 2024 Governors Award recipient. “Greg is an extraordinary creator who consistently delivers characters and stories that are in dialogue with the real world,” Television Academy Chair Cris Abrego said in a statement. “His commitment to representing three-dimensional LGBTQ+ characters in particular has paved the way for greater cultural understanding and acceptance of a community that is often under attack in both social and political discourse.” Berlanti will receive his Emmy statuette during the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, held live from Los Angeles on Sept. 15 …
