Entertainment

Netflix celebrated the halfway point of production on Stranger Things‘ fifth season — and the eight-year anniversary of the debut of the first — with a behind-the-scenes compilation video Monday. 

Starting with the first day of production back in January, the sneak peek shows cast members Noah Schnapp,  Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown and more as they go back to Hawkins, Indiana, for the last time. 

“I started on this when I was 10,” Millie says in voice-over as she drives herself to set, noting, “I’m now turning 20 years old. It feels very weird.”

As she rifles through her wardrobe, Sadie Sink, who plays Max, says wistfully of the last chapter, “We’re just kind of savoring every single moment.”

Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Vecna, teases that while season 4 “was big, season 5 definitely feels bigger.”

McLaughlin promises “100% the wait will be worth it” for the strike-delayed fifth season, while show co-creator Matt Duffer promises, “This is the season the fans have been waiting for, and we hope you’re as excited as we are to get to tell the final chapter in this story.” 

The fifth and final season is expected to drop on the streaming service in 2025.

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Netflix has announced that production on Thursday Murder Club, a movie adaptation of Richard Osman‘s bestseller of the same name, has gotten underway — and a killer cast of senior stars are aboard the whodunnit.

Academy Award winners Helen Mirren and Ben Kingsley, as well as Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce, and Pierce Brosnan are starring in the project, which the streamer teases is about “a group of friends in a retirement home who gather to solve murders for fun but find themselves caught in a real case.”

The senior sleuths include ex-spy Elizabeth, played by Mirren; retired psychiatrist Ibrahim, portrayed by Kingsley; former union activist Ron, played by Brosnan; and former nurse Joyce, played by The Diplomat‘s Celia Imrie.

Thursday Murder Club was written and is being directed by Harry Potter franchise and The Help veteran Chris Columbus. The movie’s cast also includes Doctor Who‘s David Tennant, Raiders of the Lost Ark‘s Paul Freeman, and Logan‘s Richard E. Grant.

A release date has yet to be announced.

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Kate, the Princess of Wales, attended the men’s singles final at Wimbledon on Sunday, July 14, amid her ongoing treatment for cancer, and was honored with a standing ovation.

Kate, a longtime tennis fan and royal patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club sat in the Royal Box at center court with daughter Princess Charlotte to watch Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic face off in the final for the second year in a row.

The Princess of Wales later presented Alcaraz of Spain his trophy after he defeated Djokovic.

Leading up to Sunday’s championship match, it was not known whether Kate would attend this year’s tournament. In March, the 42-year-old wife of Prince William, announced she had been diagnosed with cancer.

The type of cancer has not been disclosed.

In a written update shared by Kensington Palace in June, Kate said she is “making good progress” as she undergoes chemotherapy after her diagnosis but is not “out of the woods yet,” adding that her treatment will continue “for a few more months.”

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Comedy Central’s The Daily Show has scrapped its plan to film from Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention as a result of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13. “The Daily Show will not broadcast Monday (tomorrow) but we’ll be back up Tuesday through Thursday from our NYC studio,” the satirical news show wrote on social media. “Our apologies for the inconvenience, but due to logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee, we need to reschedule our events on the ground in Wisconsin and will look to make those up in the coming weeks.” The Daily Show had planned on broadcasting from the Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee. Stewart is scheduled to host the Thursday, July 18 show, which is the closing night of the RNC …

The Television Critics Association announced the winners of the organization’s 40th Annual TCA Awards, honoring outstanding programming from the 2023-2024 television season. FX’s Shōgun led the pack with four wins, including Outstanding Achievement in Drama and Outstanding New Program, along with Individual Achievement in Drama for star Anna Sawai. HBO/Max’s Hacks, took both comedy categories with wins for Jean Smart, including her second Individual Achievement in Comedy Award. Additionally, Twin Peaks‘ David Lynch and Mark Frost were honored with the Heritage Award in recognition of the show’s enduring significance and impact. The full list of winners can be found on the TCA website …

James B. Sikking, best known for playing Hill Street Blues‘ SWAT leader Lt. Howard Hunter and the father of Doogie Howser M.D., died peacefully at his Los Angeles home, of complications from Dementia, on July 13, according to TV Line. He was 90. Sikking’s TV credits also included Brooklyn South, Invasion America, Curb Your Enthusiasm and, most recently, a 2012 episode of The Closer …

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Despicable Me 4 topped the North American box office for the second straight week with an estimated $44.6 million weekend, bringing its two week total to $211 million.

Overseas, the movie earned an estimated $88.9 million, bringing its worldwide tally to $437.8 million.

The Despicable Me films are now the first animated franchise in history to top the $5 billion mark, according to Variety.

Longlegs, the mystery horror film starring Nicolas Cage, took second place, delivering an estimated $22.6 million at the domestic box office and $25.7 million globally in its opening weekend.

Inside Out 2 settled in third place, grabbing an estimated $20.8 million in its fifth week of release. The animated sequel has earned an estimated $572.6 million at the North American box office and $1.3 billion worldwide.

Landing in fourth place was A Quiet Place: Day One, adding an estimated $11.8 million to its domestic total, which now stands at $116.2 million. The latest installment in the A Quiet Place franchise has now crossed the $200 million mark worldwide.

Rounding out the top five was the second of this week’s two new major releases, Fly Me to the Moon, the rom-com starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson. The film earned an estimated $10 million at the North American box office and $9 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $19 million.

Elsewhere, Sing Sing, the buzzy prison drama starring Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin, drew an estimated $137,119 million in limited release. It expands nationwide in August.

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Actress Shannen Doherty, best-known for her roles on TV’s original Beverly Hills 90210 and on Charmed, has died at 53.

In a statement to ABC News, her publicist said, “It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of actress Shannen Doherty. On Saturday, July 13, she lost her battle with cancer after many years of fighting the disease. The devoted daughter, sister, aunt and friend was surrounded by her loved ones as well as her dog, Bowie. The family asks for their privacy at this time so they can grieve in peace.”

Doherty revealed in August 2015 that she had breast cancer, diagnosed the previous February. She filed a lawsuit against her former business managers, whom she says “blundered” her insurance payments, causing them to lapse and resulting in a late diagnosis after the cancer had spread. The parties settled the suit the following year for undisclosed terms.

Doherty documented her cancer treatment on her social media, including when friends and family helped shave her head in late July, 2016, as she underwent chemotherapy and her hair began to fall out. After her illness went into remission, Doherty revealed to ABC’s Good Morning America in 2020 that her cancer had returned and was Stage 4.

“The unknown is always the scariest part,” Doherty told ET.  “Everything else is manageable. Pain is manageable, you know, living without a breast is manageable.  It’s the worry of your future and how your future is going to affect the people that you love.”

Born in Memphis, TN, Doherty’s acting career was marked by both starring TV roles and accusations she was difficult to work with.  She was written off of Beverly Hills 90210 during the show’s fourth season in 1994, and left Charmed after three seasons amid rumored tensions between her and co-star Alyssa Milano. 

She continued to work steadily, including with her former Charmed co-star Holly Marie Combs on the GAC reality series Off the Map with Shannen & Holly. In 2019, following the death of Luke Perry, she reprised her 90210 role of Brenda Walsh in the Fox limited series BH90210, alongside former co-stars Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Brian Austin Green and Jason Priestley.

Doherty was married to photographer Kurt Iswarienko, her third husband, for 11 years before filing for divorce in April 2023.

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Richard Simmons, the exercise guru who became a pop culture icon, has died, his rep confirmed to ABC News. He had just celebrated his 76th birthday on July 12.

LAPD sources tell ABC News that they went to Simmons’ home after a 911 call from his housekeeper. He was found dead, apparently of natural causes. No foul play is suspected, and there’s nothing that would prompt an investigation, sources said.

In March of 2024, Simmons clarified he was “not dying” following a cryptic Facebook post that seemed to intimate the opposite. The reclusive Simmons took to Facebook again a day later to say he’d had a cancerous growth removed from his face.

Simmons, born Milton Teagle Simmons in New Orleans, built a fitness empire after losing more than 100 pounds. He started by opening exercise studios and gyms. After his success in that area led to a TV appearance, he drew media attention and began landing guest roles on multiple shows, including Win, Lose or Draw, Match Game and Hollywood Squares. He also had a recurring role as himself on General Hospital for four years.

With his energetic, flamboyant personality, curly hair and signature wardrobe of super-short shorts and tank top, Simmons soon became a pop culture icon, hosting TV shows, authoring multiple books, hosting fan cruises and making exercise videos and DVDs. These were especially popular, especially the Sweatin’ to the Oldies series.

Simmons continued to appear in multiple TV shows, talk shows and commercials until 2014, when he dropped out of public view. His exercise studio in Beverly Hills closed in 2016.

Simmons’ absence from the public eye inspired the 2017 podcast Missing Richard Simmons, produced by a former friend. In early 2024, Pauly Shore announced that he’d be playing Simmons in an upcoming biopic, which prompted Simmons to write Facebook, “I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read. I no longer have a manager, and I no longer have a publicist. I just try to live a quiet life and be peaceful.”

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Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the pioneering sex therapist, author and talk show host, has died, her publicist announced. She was 96.

“It is with immense personal sorrow that I announce the passing of the iconic Dr. Ruth K Westheimer at the age of 96, whose ‘Minister of Communications’ I’ve been since 1981,” publicist Pierre Lehu said in a statement to WABC.

Her family added: “The children of Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer are sad to announce the passing of their mother, the internationally-celebrated sex therapist, author, talk show host, professor, and orphan of the Holocaust. She died peacefully at her home in New York City on July 12th surrounded by her loving family, just over a month after celebrating her 96th birthday.”

Known as “Dr. Ruth,” she first gained fame in 1980 when she hosted a New York City radio program called Sexually Speaking, which featured her answering listeners’ questions about sex and relationships.  The novelty of a tiny, grandmotherly woman with a heavy German accent speaking frankly about sex proved to be irresistible: The popularity of Sexually Speaking led to a media empire that included nationally syndicated radio and TV shows, books, computer games, speaking engagements and appearances in commercials.

Dr. Ruth was born Karola Ruth Siegel to an Orthodox Jewish family in 1928. An only child, her mother was able to have her sent to Switzerland after her father was taken by the Nazis; she never saw her family again. Following the war, she moved to what was then Palestine and fought in the war for Israeli independence.

She then moved to Paris, where she got a degree in psychology from the Sorbonne.  She relocated to New York City in the 1950s, and after two failed marriages, wed her third husband, Manfred Westheimer.

In New York, Westheimer received a master’s degree, and then a doctorate from Columbia.  She did postdoctoral work in sex therapy and then taught at several colleges.  After the community affairs manager at a local radio station heard one of her lectures on sexual literacy, she hired Dr. Ruth for Sexually Speaking.

In 2019, she was the subject of a documentary, Ask Dr. Ruth. In 2023, Westheimer was named New York State’s first honorary “ambassador to loneliness” by Gov. Kathy Hochul — a position Westheimer suggested — to “help New Yorkers … address the growing issue of social isolation.”

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In a stunning turn of events, a New Mexico judge dismissed Alec Baldwin‘s Rust case on Friday. The dismissal came on day three of Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter trial in connection with the deadly on-set shooting.

The judge granted the defense’s motion to dismiss the case, in which they claimed that live ammunition related the investigation, which came into the hands of local law enforcement, was “concealed” from them.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said the state’s discovery violation — the late disclosure of a supplemental report on the ammunition evidence — “injected needless delay into the proceedings,” approached “bad faith” and was “highly prejudicial to the defendant.”

“There is no way for the court to right this wrong,” Sommer said in granting the motion to dismiss with prejudice, meaning Baldwin cannot be tried again on the charge.

Baldwin reacted emotionally as the judge explained her ruling.

The decision followed a day-long motion hearing at the trial over the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. She was fatally shot by Baldwin on the Santa Fe set of the western in October 2021 when his revolver fired a live round.

The court discussed the defense’s motion in the absence of the jury. In an unexpected move, the special prosecutor on the case, Kari Morrissey, also called herself to testify on the matter.

During cross-examination of Morrissey, it was revealed that the other prosecutor in the case, Erlinda Ocampo Johnson, resigned from the case on Friday. Morrissey said it was because Johnson “didn’t agree with the decision to have a public hearing.”

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Alec Baldwin‘s manslaughter trial took a surprising turn on Friday as the jury was dismissed for the day while the court discusses a motion filed by the defense.

Baldwin’s legal team claims live ammunition that came into the hands of local law enforcement officials related to the investigation into the deadly on-set Rust shooting was “concealed” from them.

In an expedited motion filed late Thursday, the defense argued the case should be dismissed over the handling of the ammunition evidence. During court on Friday, the state argued the evidence has no exculpatory value and is not relevant to Baldwin’s case.

The matter was initially raised during court on Thursday, the second day of the actor’s involuntary manslaughter trial over the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by Baldwin on the Santa Fe set of the Western in October 2021 when his revolver discharged a live round.

Defense attorney Alex Spiro asked state’s witness Marissa Poppell, a crime scene technician with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office who collected evidence in the case, about a “good Samaritan” who handed over ammunition to the Sheriff’s Office in March — at the conclusion of Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez‘s trial. 

That ammunition had reportedly ended up with Seth Kenney, who supplied the film with firearms, blanks and inert dummy rounds that are supposed to be used for closeups.

Gutierrez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death, with prosecutors arguing the armorer was the source of the live bullet that killed her and saying Gutierrez failed to follow safety protocols meant to protect the crew while handling the firearms.

Defense attorney Luke Nikas charged that the evidence was “concealed,” adding prosecutor Kari Morrissey “does not get to determine what has evidentiary value and what doesn’t.”

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