Entertainment

With every presidential election cycle comes Saturday Night Live’s infamous political impressions. Past cycles have thrown stars like Alec Baldwin into the spotlight as Donald Trump, Jim Carrey as Joe Biden and Maya Rudolph as his vice president, Kamala Harris. That’s why Rudolph’s name began trending on social media when Biden announced he would drop out of the race and endorsed his VP as presidential nominee.

Fans immediately speculated that Rudolph would return to the role that won her an Emmy last election cycle. In an interview with Variety, Rudolph said she received many encouraging messages upon the announcement, leaving her speechless.

“It was wild!” Rudolph told Variety. “On top of the excitement I felt, I received so many GIFs that had me laughing. … My phone hasn’t stopped blowing up.”

It’s been an exciting time for Rudolph, who was nominated for four Emmy awards in the days leading up to Biden dropping out. She’s been part of several projects this year, including her Apple TV+ show, Loot, and Nick Kroll’s Big Mouth.

And fans can expect more from Rudolph this year. The comedian is expected to return to SNL as Harris for the show’s 50th season, premiering on Sept. 28.

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He’s the biggest heartthrob in the land of Oz and now he’s got his own trailer to prove it. Jonathan Bailey stars as Fiyero in the official Wicked movie.

In a brand new teaser shared on Instagram, we see Prince Fiyero making waves at Shiz University, where he seems to have caught the eye of Glinda, played by Ariana Grande, among other classmates.

“Meet Fiyero, Oz’s most eligible bachelor,” the caption reads.

Bailey’s castmates were quick to show their support. Grande, quoting her own character, wrote, “oh Oz,” while co-star Bowen Yang wrote, “i think i have a chance with him… .”

Wicked: Part One hits theaters on Nov. 22.

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Based on Carl Hiaasen‘s New York Times bestselling novel of the same name, the mystery comedy series Bad Monkey hits Apple TV+ on Wednesday.

In it, Vince Vaughn plays Andrew Yancy, a one-time detective demoted to restaurant inspector in Southern Florida who finds himself trying to unravel the mystery of a severed arm that was found by a tourist.  

The series was created by Ted Lasso‘s Bill Lawrence and also stars Michelle Monaghan, who starred in Shane Black‘s 2005 cult comedy classic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. 

The film that also starred Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer shares a pulpy sensibility with Bad Monkey, says Michelle, who plays Bonnie, a mysterious woman with whom Vaughn’s character has an affair. 

“Yes. I couldn’t agree with you more,” she said to ABC Audio. “Comedy was something that I wanted to revisit. … I was really looking forward to finding something funny and finding material that I could dig my comedic chops into once again. And who better to do it with than Bill Lawrence?”

In Bad Monkey, Vaughn brings his trademark motormouthed improv style for which he’s known — and again, Monaghan says, Kiss Kiss came in handy. 

“I improved for the first time with Robert Downey [Jr.] … and that was daunting, of course.”

She adds, “And also doing it with Vince Vaughn is daunting because he is … so fast on his feet. The guy is so quick. He’s so bright. He’s a really smart actor.”

Michelle adds, “You know, when you’re working with that level of talent … even if whatever you say isn’t that clever or funny, they’ll make it funny.”

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When the final episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones was released five years ago, many viewers found themselves distraught about the conclusion of the series and disappointed with the ending. Series star Kit Harington recently opened up to GQ Hype about his thoughts on the final season, the backlash and the future of his character, Jon Snow, within the franchise.

During that final season of GOT, Harington said he believes “mistakes were made” within the story.

“Some people thought it was rushed and I might agree with them,” he said. When asked specifically about the finale episode, he said, “I think there were some interesting choices that didn’t quite work.”

Regardless, Harington isn’t sure there was an alternative to what he called a rushed ending.

“I look at pictures of me in that final season, and I look exhausted. I look spent. I didn’t have another season in me,” he told GQ.

Upon the conclusion of the series, Harington said he was contacted by HBO about a potential spin-off titled Snow. Initially he rejected the proposition, but later reconsidered.

“I thought there could be an interesting and important story about the soldier after the war,” he said. “I felt that there might be something left to say and a story left to tell in a pretty limited way.”

The spin-off has since been called off, mainly because in coming up with a storyline, Harington found himself uninspired.

“I kind of backed out and said, ‘I think if we push this any further and keep developing it we could end up with something that’s not good. And that’s the last thing we all want.’”

Although the franchise propelled his career, Harington also feared being pigeonholed into the character of Jon Snow.

Now you can catch Harington in a new role on HBO’s Industry, where he’s found himself as Sir Henry Muck, a wealthy green-tech CEO. The first episode of season 3 is available to stream on Max.

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Before there was Wednesday, there was director Barry Sonnenfeld‘s hit Addams Family movies, starring the late Raul Julia as Gomez, Anjelica Huston as Morticia and Christina Ricci as Wednesday.

Incidentally, the latter’s addition to the Wednesday cast — as one of Jenna Ortega‘s teachers on the Netflix phenomenon — was a nod to her pitch-perfect performances in the movies, which kicked off in 1991 with The Addams Family.

The second hit movie of the series, 1993’s Addams Family Values, however, has never made it onto Blu-ray or HD Digital — until now.

Just in time for Halloween, on Oct. 29, to be precise, the comedy will make its debut on both formats in a fully remastered form.

Also, there’s a new director’s commentary from Sonnenfeld and screenwriter Paul Rudnick, as well as newly unearthed interviews from the cast, which also starred Christopher Lloyd, Joan Cusack and Carol Kane.

The movie will also haunt theaters for a limited run on Nov. 10 and Nov. 13, as part of Paramount Home Entertainment and Fangoria’s “Scream Greats” series.

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While much has been made of Robert Downey Jr.‘s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the villain Dr. Doom, it was recently announced at D23 that he is returning to the role he made famous: Tony Stark aka Iron Man. 

Stark will be back in a pair of attractions at Disney’s California Adventure Park. 

The Stark Flight Lab is described as a “thrill ride” that will have patrons whizzing and spinning in robotic pods, meant to simulate flight.

But Avengers Infinity Defense will pit Stark and the other Avengers against King Thanos, a version of the baddie who beat the Avengers at the end of Avengers: Endgame, instead of the other way around.

The ride will have park patrons jumping into various worlds made famous in the Marvel movies, from Asgard and Wakanda to New York City. 

Disney’s California Adventure Park is also home to the Avengers Campus attraction, as well as the Marvel rebrand of Tower of Terror called Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout. 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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In a new teaser that debuted at the D23 expo in Anaheim, California, Disney+ showed off scenes from the second season of the hit series Percy Jackson.

Looking and sounding much more mature than the season prior, The Adam Project‘s Walker Scobell returns as Percy, a young man who discovered he’s the titular son of the Greek god Poseidon. “I am a demigod. Monsters come at me. So do the gods.”

As he takes the reins of a chariot, he continues, “Last year, I had to stop a war. But that is just the beginning.”

The sophomore season is based on the second installment in Rick Riordan‘s bestselling Percy Jackson books, The Sea of Monsters, and has Percy undergoing a dangerous mission to save Camp Half-Blood from a Titan’s attack.

Season 2 adds three very funny women — Sandra Bernhard, Kristen Schaal and Margaret Cho — to the cast, which also includes Aryan Simhadri, Leah Sava Jeffries and new addition Daniel Diemer.

The new season streams in 2025.

The first episode of Percy Jackson and the Olympians debuted on Disney+ on Dec. 19, 2023, and by Christmas Day had drawn an audience of some 13.3 million viewers across Disney+ and Hulu.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Colin Jost has shared a news report/update about the foot he injured as a “surfing correspondent” for NBC during the Olympics.

He also shared texts from his friends, who evidently half-read the headlines about his situation and texted their concern. “Dude, are you OK?” began one. “Heard ur foot fell off.”

“I’m actually fine,” Colin said, “despite what Big Media conspiracies would have you believe, I wasn’t sent home from the Olympics. NBC simply looked at my foot, declared me legally a leper, and exiled me here: The Island of Malta.”

Jost scraped his foot on a coral reef, and the wound got infected. He then suffered an ear infection before leaving the Games.

He said, “Now Malta doesn’t have many Olympians competing this year. But it does have thousands of 15-year-old British kids competing to see who can black out the fastest. And somehow, they’re all winning.”

He continued, “But the real reason I’m in Malta of course is because it was the site of 10 separate bubonic plague outbreaks, so they thought I would fit right in.”

Jost said he caught NBC’s coverage of the Olympics on Peacock and still covered the surfing event’s big winners.

He also thanked the people of Tahiti for their warmth and hospitality and for “only occasionally looking at my foot and whispering ‘Chupacabra!'”

Jost said he foot is “pretty much totally fine,” but declined showing it off. As a proof “I’m still alive,” he showed off today’s paper, which read, “O.J. Simpson Found Not Guilty.”

He signed off: “I’ll see you at the next Olympics in Los Angeles, where they have me reporting from Catalina Island.”

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The 35th season of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie is heading to Disney+ on Oct. 2 with some brand-new surprises. At Disney’s D23 fan event this past weekend, The Simpsons creators shared the news that four exclusive new episodes of the long running hit will be available on Disney+ in the months ahead. Two of the brand-new episodes of The Simpsons are part of a two-part Christmas special titled “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” that will hit the streaming service on Dec. 17, dated for the 35th anniversary of the original Simpsons Christmas special that aired on Dec. 17, 1989. Season 35 of The Simpsons originally aired on Fox in October 2023, with the 18th and final episode of the season airing in May 2024. Disney is the parent company of ABC News …

Deadline reports M3GAN‘s Allison Williams has been tapped to star in Regretting You, an adaptation of the 2019 novel from It Ends with Us writer Colleen Hoover. Regretting You follows “the complex relationship between Morgan Grant — played by Williams — and her daughter, Clara,” whom Morgan had a “at a young age,” forcing her to put her own dreams on hold, per the outlet. “As Clara grows into a teenager, their relationship becomes strained, especially after a tragic accident claims the life of Chris, Morgan’s husband and Clara’s father” …

Actress and sitcom writer Mitzi McCall, who played the dry cleaner’s wife who wears a fur coat owned by Jerry’s mom on the Seinfeld episode “The Secretary,” died Aug. 8 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, her family announced, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 93. McCall was also a writer on shows such as Eight Is Enough, One Day at a Time, ALF, Mr. Belvedere and Charles in Charge. She’s also remembered for partnering with her husband, Charlie Brill, for a comedy act that performed between The Beatles‘ sets on The Ed Sullivan Show and famously bombed …

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Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool & Wolverine barely beat out his wife Blake Lively‘s It Ends with Us, topping the North American box office with an estimated $54 million in its third week of release. That brings its total domestic gross to $494 million

The Marvel film, also starring Hugh Jackman, has now become the second film of 2024 to top the $1 billion mark worldwide, joining Pixar’s Inside Out 2.

Marvel and Pixar are both owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Meanwhile, It Ends with Us also had an impressive weekend, exceeding expectations with an estimated $50 million for a second place finish in its opening weekend. Internationally, the film, starring Lively, Justin Baldoni, and Jenny Slate, collected an an estimated $30 million, bring its worldwide tally to $80 million.

Third place went to the disaster film Twisters, which delivered an estimated $15 million at the domestic box office, bringing its four-week tally to $222 million. It’s worldwide total currently stands at $310 million.

The weekend’s second new major release, Borderlands, starring Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart and Jack Black, disappointed in its theatrical debut, earning an estimated $8.8 million at the North American box office and $16.5 million globally.

Rounding out the top 5 was Despicable Me 4, grabbing an estimated $8 million. It’s four-week total now stands at $330 million domestically and $807 worldwide.

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