Entertainment

Paramount has added a couple of new movies to its release schedule.

A new hybrid live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, as well as a Sonic the Hedgehog movie, will arrive to cinemas in 2028, ABC Audio has learned.

The currently untitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie has grabbed the Nov. 17, 2028, date for its release, while a similarly untitled “Sonic Universe Event Film” has nabbed Dec. 22, 2028.

Additionally, the studio announced it plans to rerelease the original Top Gun in theaters on May 13, 2026, in honor of its 40th anniversary.

Plot details for both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sonic films are being kept under wraps. Producer Neal H. Moritz is set to produce the former. He’s best known for the popular live-action Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy starring Ben Schwartz as the titular hedgehog and Jim Carrey as the mad scientist Dr. Robitnik.

This upcoming Sonic film is different from Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which is set for release on March 19, 2027.

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This Mormon wife is trading in her ballroom shoes for the Broadway stage.

Whitney Leavitt, one of the stars of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and a season 34 Dancing with the Stars contestant, will be making her Broadway debut in the Tony-winning revival of Chicago. Leavitt will star as Roxie Hart in the production, which marks her first-ever professional theatrical role.

The reality TV show personality and dancer made the announcement in a post shared to Instagram on Monday.

“Grateful beyond words to ANNOUNCE that I will be joining @chicagomusical in the iconic role of Roxie Hart,” Leavitt wrote. “See you in New York City! #chicagoonbroadway.”

Leavitt’s fellow DWTS contestant Elaine Hendrix sent support her way in the post’s comment section.

“Congratulations! Getting exactly what you wanted is pure girl fire,” Hendrix wrote alongside a fire emoji and a red heart emoji.

Leavitt will take over the role starting on Feb. 2, 2026. She’ll star for a six-week limited engagement that ends on March 15.

This isn’t her first time publicly dancing to Chicago‘s music. Leavitt performed an Argentine tango to “Cell Block Tango” with her professional dance partner, Mark Ballas, during an episode of DWTS last season.

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Shrek 5 has added two new cast members. DreamWorks announced in a post on the film’s official Instagram page Thursday that comedian and Saturday Night Live cast member Marcello Hernandez and Superman and The Righteous Gemstones actor Skyler Gisondo had joined the movie. The two actors will voice Shrek and Fiona’s sons Fergus and Farkle, according to Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation’s parent company …

British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won the Oscar for best original screenplay for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love, has died at age 88, the Associated Press reported. His agents announced he died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset, England, surrounded by his family …

Pillion was the big winner at the British Independent Film Awards in London Sunday, taking home four awards, including best British independent film. The film stars Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling. Best international independent film went to Joaquim Trier’s Sentimental Value …

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Jazz is known for his unique style and entrepreneurial spirit on Bel-Air — and while that will remain true in the fourth and final season of the Peacock series, Jordan L. Jones says two themes define his character’s journey this time around.

“What you have to look for … [with] my character is obviously more vulnerability,” he tells ABC Audio. “But I also think acceptance is one of the themes that Jazz is going to go through.”

Jordan clarifies that this acceptance isn’t about resignation. “Not acceptance in a bad way, like, ‘Oh, something bad happened, I have to accept it,’ but just accepting whatever comes … being open to whatever. … You learn more about Jazz that he’s actually just OK with acceptance. And he is a very strong individual.”

Regarding Jazz’s relationship with Will, played by Jabari Banks, Jordan says Jazz remains a mentor and steady presence. As the series comes to an end, he notes there’s “not a hard ending” to their friendship.

“It’s not like Will and Jazz and Carlton never see each other again,” he explains. “It’s like that college experience where we have to leave each other, but we still have each other.”

Jimmy Akingbola also talked to ABC Audio about his character Geoffrey’s arc as the Banks family’s estate manager. He says the final season forces Geoffrey to confront his past and his present.

“The final season explores Geoffrey’s past in such a deep and impactful way, to the point where Geoffrey has to stop — I’ll use the word running,” Jimmy says. “For the first time … he doesn’t have the answers. Normally Geoffrey has something handled before someone’s thought about it,” noting that now “his back [is] against the wall.” 

Jimmy adds that Geoffrey is “fractured” this season, unsure whether healing is possible as his past arrives on his doorstep and challenges his loyalty. 

New episodes of Bel-Air premiere Monday on Peacock.

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Zootopia 2, the sequel to the 2016 Disney animated film, was the holiday box office champ, bringing in $156 million during the five-day Thanksgiving day weekend, Box Office Mojo reports.

According to Variety, that holiday take marks the second-best Thanksgiving opening for a film following 2024’s Moana 2, which brought in $225 million.

Wicked: For Good also had a strong Thanksgiving box office, earning $93 million for a second place showing, bringing its total domestic box office to $270.4 million.

The weekend’s only two other new releases to land in the top 10 include the Elizabeth Olsen/Miles Teller film Eternity at #6 with a Thanksgiving weekend box office of $5.23 million, and Hamnet, starring Paul Mescal, at #8 with $1.35 million.

Here are the top 10 films at the box office:

1. Zootopia 2 – $156 million
2. Wicked: For Good – $93 million
3. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t – $10.09 million
4. Predator: Badlands – $6.62 million
5. The Running Man – $5.52 million
6. Eternity – $5.23 million
7. Rental Family – $3.07 million
8. Hamnet – $1.35 million
9. Sisu: Road to Revenge – $1.2 million
10. Regretting You – $710,000

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From BookTok to your TV screen: The much-buzzed-about steamy hockey romance series Heated Rivalry debuts its first two episodes on HBO Max Friday.

The six-episode series, created by Jacob Tierney and based on the popular novels by Rachel Reid, follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two rival hockey players who start a secret relationship in their rookie season that ends up spanning years. Hudson Williams plays wholesome Canadian superstar Shane, opposite Connor Storrie as Russian bad boy Ilya.

Tierney, Williams and Storrie say seeing the fan excitement grow online before the show has even aired feels “surreal” and “crazy.”

“It just makes me so excited for them to see the show,” Storrie tells ABC Audio. “Because if this is the reaction without, I can’t imagine some of the reactions to what we end up actually doing.”

The faithful adaptation has enough heat to melt the ice, thanks to the chemistry between Williams and Storrie, but the characters’ evolving love story against all odds is what has resonated deeply with fans.

“[The emotional scenes] felt like an extension of the physical ones, especially after establishing our relationship as Connor and Hudson,” Williams says. “It helped just allow us to go anywhere as Shane and Ilya with just sort of innate trust in each other.”

Tierney says the characters are “like high school sweethearts” in a way, who just “can’t shake each other.” “I think there’s something so romantic and swoony about that, that I think that’s partly why they stand out from the pack,” he says. 

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Aunt Vivian is putting her mental health first in the fourth and final season of Bel-Air. Cassandra Freeman, who plays Aunt Viv on the Peacock series, tells ABC Audio the season finds her once again balancing family and ambition, but doing so on her own terms.

“I’m really big on this philosophy of the more women center themselves in their life and work, the easier life is, and I feel that a lot with Aunt Viv,” she says. “She could go back to her old ways in season 1 and only center her family, and in this [season] she’s like, ‘No, I’m gonna redo this thing.’ And she’s gonna put her own sanity and mental health in the driver’s seat, which is why she makes a lot of the decisions that she makes.”

Aunt Viv, as fans know, is the matriarch of the Banks family; the other women in the family are Hilary and Ashley, played by Coco Jones and Akira Akbar, respectively.

Coco says fans “will be gagged” by her storyline in the fourth season, especially when it comes to her relationships with LeMarcus and Jazz. 

“I think Hilary has a lot on her shoulders this season. And it does get rocky, I can’t even lie, but it comes out with her finding a purpose and finding a reason behind all of the things,” Coco explains.

And Akira says Ashley becomes “more comfortable with who she is and her identity” while growing up and still going through “teenager problems.”

The first three episodes of Bel-Air‘s fourth season are now streaming on Peacock.

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Toy Story 5 may be headed to big screens next summer, but Tim Allen has a couple of teases to share in the meantime.

The first teaser trailer for the Pixar film arrived on Nov. 11, and it showed how everybody’s favorite toys react to their caretaker, Bonnie, receiving a frog-shaped smart tablet called Lilypad.

Allen, who has voiced Buzz Lightyear in all five Toy Story films, caught up with ABC Audio back in May, where he spoke about what fans of the franchise can expect in the upcoming sequel film.

“Look, I’m a movie buff. I don’t like sequels, and I feel that [Toy Story] 3 was really, really good. [Toy Story] 2 was great. [Toy Story] 1, of course, is my favorite. [Toy Story] 4 was scary and very emotional. And I thought we were done at Toy Story [3]. They resurrected it,” Allen said.

The actor said that Andrew Stanton, who wrote the screenplay for the second film, is directing the fifth installment.

“He pitched this. I think it’s brilliant. And I’ll speak for Tom [Hanks],” Allen said, referencing the actor who voices the toy cowboy, Woody. “Tom did his part about a week ago. I finished the second [recording] series just yesterday, a five-hour session,” Allen said.

“It’s real funny,” Allen says of Toy Story 5. “It’s a big story about Jessie, which is wonderful. We’re all separated now because of time. It’s a real, real, real clever story.”

When asked if Jessie (Joan Cusack) and Buzz Lightyear’s romance factors in to the plot of Toy Story 5, Allen says, “Yes, that’s part of this.”

Allen then went on to tease a scene from the film.

“I’ll give you this. One of the kids that plays with us is giving a wedding with all the other characters. So she puts Buzz and Jessie together. And you know, kids are just doing that. But Buzz takes it very seriously.”

Toy Story 5 rides like the wind into theaters on June 19, 2026.

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Dancing with the Stars has crowned its new Mirrorball champions.

After a high-stakes season 34 finale, wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin and his partner Witney Carson won the coveted Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy after performing their final dance numbers.

Finalists also included Alix Earle and Val Chmerkovskiy; Dylan Efron and Daniella Karagach; Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa; and Elaine Hendrix and Alan Bersten.

When asked by co-host Julianne Hough what winning DWTS meant to him, Irwin said, “My sister said it best: Thank you for changing my life.”

Robert’s sister Bindi Irwin won the trophy in 2015. On Instagram, she wrote, “Words can’t describe how proud I am of you. You EARNED this.”

Carson added, “I’m so grateful for Robert, and I feel like I won already with him as my friend.”

The final dances included one chosen by one of the judges, an “Instant Dance Challenge” for the ultimate test of improvisation and a freestyle round.

The winners of this season were determined by a combination of live viewer votes from the night, plus the scores from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli. More than 72 million votes were cast, the show announced.

The finale kicked off with an electrifying dance number to “Never Can Say Goodbye” by The Communards.

It also saw the return of cast members over the season, including Lauren Jauregui, Andy Richter, Corey Feldman, Danielle Fishel, Hilaria Baldwin, Scott Hoying, Whitney Leavitt and Baron Davis.

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The ladies of MomTok are coming back for more. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been renewed for a fourth season on Hulu. The third season debuted on Nov. 13 as the #1 show on Hulu’s Top 15 Today list. Disney is the parent company of Hulu and ABC News …

Film fans, rejoice! Popular releases and award hopefuls One Battle After Another and Sinners are returning to select IMAX 70mm for one week only, starting Dec. 12. Check your local listings to find a showing at a theater near you …

The Scrubs reboot has released its first teaser. Original Scrubs actors Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke star in the series, along with new faces to Sacred Heart including Vanessa Bayer and Joel Kim Booster. The new series is set to premiere on Feb. 25 on ABC …

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