Entertainment

The Golden Girls was a classic, and ABC Audio has confirmed its basic premise — roommates of a certain age — is getting a gay twist for Hulu thanks to Matt Bomer and Nathan Lane, and producers Ryan Murphy, Max Mutchnick and David Kohan.

Lane and Bomer will also act as executive producers on the sitcom, called Mid-Century Modern. And while it’s not a remake of Golden Girls, the similarities are there.

According to a press release, the show “follows three best friends — gay gentlemen of a certain age — who, after an unexpected death, decide to spend their golden years living together in Palm Springs where the wealthiest one lives with his mother and a naked Gen Z housekeeper.”

The description concludes, “As a chosen family, they prove that no matter how hard things get, there’s always someone around to remind you it would be better if you got your neck done.”

Mid-Century Modern will have Bomer playing Jerry Frank, described as “pure of heart, hard of body and soft of head” — similar to Betty White‘s good-natured, ditzy Rose.

Lane will play Bunny Schneiderman, a character more in line with Bea Arthur‘s Dorothy. A “successful businessman,” Bunny is “forever in search of love, but he first has to be convinced he’s worthy of it.”

Linda Lavin will play Lane’s mother, Sybil, whose age and matriarch status mean she could be the show’s take on the acerbic Sofia (Estelle Getty).

Of course, The Golden Girls also featured Blanche, the man-eater played by Rue McClanahan — but the “hard body” reference to Bomer’s Jerry might fit that bill, as well.

The series’ pilot will be directed by TV legend James Burrows, who incidentally was also a director on the beloved ’80s sitcom.

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After the success of Bad Boys: Ride or Die re-solidified Will Smith as a box office draw following that infamous Oscar slap, ABC Audio has confirmed that Sony Pictures has lined up its next vehicle for the Academy Award-winning actor. 

Smith is attached to Resistor, an adaptation of Daniel Suarez‘s bestselling cyberthriller Influx.

The script was written by Bullet Train veteran Zak Olkewicz; Oscar-nominated American Hustle and Top Gun: Maverick screenwriter Eric Singer wrote its most recent draft, the studio says. 

The plot is under wraps, but Suarez’s book centers on a particle physicist who unlocks a gravity-defying technological breakthrough, only to find himself the target of a shadowy organization known as the Bureau of Technology Control. 

Smith is also co-producing the project through his company Westbrook, along with Todd Black, with whom he worked on Seven Pounds, The Pursuit of Happyness and Emancipation, via Black’s Escape Artists shingle.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die has made $215.5 million globally in its first 10 days of release, Sony Pictures points out. 

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Peacock has just dropped the trailer to the fourth season of Kevin Hart‘s chat show, Hart to Heart, and as always, he’s giving fans a front row seat to “great conversation” with “some of Hollywood’s biggest names.”

In the fourth season, Hart brings to the table Ben Affleck, Cynthia Erivo, Niecy Nash, Andy Samberg, Judd Apatow and comedian George Lopez. 

In the snippet, Kev reminds People‘s Sexiest Man Alive Affleck that he was the runner-up that year, and also talks regrets with the actor-director; Lopez confesses to befouling a bed at a Hollywood get-together; and Niecy busts Kevin’s chops about the free food on the show. 

Hart also thanks Apatow for giving him a shot in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, leaving the writer-director to joke, “I’m glad I wasn’t wrong about you. What if you were a disaster?”

The fourth season of Hart to Heart premieres Thursday exclusively on Peacock.

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On Live with Kelly and Mark on Monday, America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel shared all the literally gory details of a mishap suffered by his wife, Terry, in their Las Vegas hotel room after she apparently had too much to drink.

“We partied … too much and she was tipsy,” Howie admitted. “I did not know that and in the middle of the night she got up, and I didn’t know where she was headed, but she headed into a wall.” 

Mandel said she fell, hitting the wainscoting with her eye, then fell onto the floor and broke her cheek.

Mandel was apparently sleeping when he heard the crash and a scream, and found her missing from the bed.  

Mandel then showed a photo of Terry’s face after the mishap: She had a gash on her forehead and a blackened left eye that made Kelly exclaim, “Oh my God.”

“There’s blood everywhere,” Mandel described, and “you could actually see her skull” through the cut on her forehead. “So I freaked: This is the love of my life,” he said of his wife since 1980.

Howie called the front desk to get them to call 911, but instead they sent hotel security to the room, who took photographs of the bloody scene, suspicious of what could have happened. 

Mandel showed a photo taken afterward, when his wife was in the hospital holding a towel over the left side of her face. “She said, ‘Doctor: I can’t see out of my left eye!'” Howie recalled. “The doctor said, ‘Just take the sheet off your face.’ That’s how drunk she was,” the comedian said. 

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The streaming giant Netflix is planning to open a pair of giant entertainment centers that will let fans explore their favorite Netflix shows, like Bridgerton, Stranger Things, Squid Game and more.

The first two Netflix Houses will open in 2025 at Texas’ Galleria Dallas and Pennsylvania’s King of Prussia Mall.

According to Netflix’s fan blog Tudum, “Imagine waltzing with your partner to an orchestral cover of a Taylor Swift song on a replica of the Bridgerton set — and then walking around the corner to compete in the Glass Bridge challenge from Squid Game. After pretending to fight for your life, you’ve worked up an appetite and want to get a bite. You see a nearby restaurant with food inspired by Netflix shows from around the world; the meal is memorable, but you still want to buy some Stranger Things merch. Luckily, there’s a shop that sells that Hellfire Club T-shirt you’ve always wanted.”

The entertainment complexes will combine previous pop-up experiences for its shows in a permanent, year-round format, the streaming service promises.

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DiGiorno is offering Deadpool & Wolverine fans some “chaotic good” edible movie promo, with a pizza line celebrating the anticipated superhero team-up.

“This collaboration defies the laws of common decency and will tickle tastebuds of pizza lovers everywhere,” the ad copy snarkily touts.

While this may seem like the usual “slap a logo on a product” kind of advertising, they’ve done their research. In the original movie, Ryan Reynolds‘ Wade Wilson orders a pineapple pizza with black olives — and that’s reflected in DiGiorno’s Wade Special, which bears just those toppings. It’s on you to burn the crust to his liking.

There’s also the Gimme Chimi: “A chimichanga-inspired pizza that is a fiesta for your tastebuds and topped with spicy cumin sauce, beef topping, jalapeno, and cheddar & mozzarella cheeses”; The Spicy Wolvie Pie: “Crafted with Wolverine and other meat lovers in mind … stacked with pepperoni, chorizo and bacon”; and the Maximum Pep: “Made with maximum flavor and zero regrets – just like Deadpool’s decisions – … piled high with sliced and diced pepperoni.”

Each box, save the Wolvie one, comes with “a cut-out Deadpool mask so fans can cosplay as the Merc with a Mouth while their pizza bakes.”

What’s more, the company is also staging a contest: Visit DiGiorno.com/deadpoolandwolverine to enter for a chance to win a trip to Los Angeles, where you and a pal — superpowered or no — will have some quality time with both a private pizza chef and a stunt team to brush up on your katana skills.

There’s also exclusive merch and movie tickets up for grabs.

Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine opens nationwide on July 26. 

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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Legendary actor Ian McKellen is on the mend after a fall he had during a performance of Player Kings in London’s West End on Monday night.

The X-Men and Lord of the Rings star apparently tumbled offstage during a fight scene at the Noël Coward Theatre. A pair of doctors in the audience tended to the actor after the mishap.

Following the fall, the actor is expected to make a full recovery, according to a statement from the venue.

In the statement, the theater announced that it had decided to cancel the Tuesday, June 18, performance of the play “so Ian can rest.”

“Thank you to our audience and the general public for their well wishes following Ian’s fall during this evening’s performance of Player Kings,” the statement began. “Following a scan, the brilliant NHS team have assured us that he will make a speedy and full recovery and Ian is in good spirits.”

“Thank you to doctors Rachel and Lee who were on hand in the audience and to all the venue staff for their support,” the statement continued.

McKellen stars in the production as Sir John Falstaff alongside actors Toheeb Jimoh, Richard Coule, Raphael Akuwudike, Sara Beharrell and more.

The play is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play, Henry IV, parts one and two, and is adapted by the award-winning writer and director Robert Icke.
 

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Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed $120 million sci-fi epic, Megalopolis, will be distributed by Lionsgate Studios in North America, according to Indiewire. The film is described as “a Roman epic fable set in an imagined Modern America.” Adam Driver plays Cesar, “a genius artist who wants to build The City of New Rome into a utopia, all against the will of the city’s mayor played by Giancarlo Esposito — who prefers the status quo. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero — portrayed by Nathalie Emmanuel— the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.” The cast also includes Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar and D.B. Sweeney …

Deadline reports The Lost Boys‘ Jason Patric has joined the cast of Terrifier 3, which is shooting more scenes this month, despite reports that filming officially wrapped in New York. Details on his character are being kept under wraps. The slasher film franchise, which kicked off in 2016, centers on Lauren LaVera‘s Sienna Shaw, a young woman determined to defeat the mysterious Art the Clown, played by David Howard Thornton. The film is set to hit North American theaters on Oct. 11 …

General Hospital star John York, who plays Mac Scorpio, will return to the ABC daytime soap on Wednesday following a battle with cancer, he tells Good Morning America. York, who received a bone marrow transfusion back in November after being diagnosed with two types of blood and bone marrow cancer, is filming episodes of General Hospital now after undergoing cancer treatment. The 65-year-old actor first announced he’d be taking a hiatus from the show in early September, after playing the role since 1991 …

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MGM+’s new show Hotel Cocaine often sees Law & Order veteran Danny Pino skirting both sides of the law. The actor plays Roman Compte, a real-life Cuban exile and CIA asset who became something akin to Humphrey Bogart‘s Rick in Casablanca.

Compte was the general manager of Miami’s infamous Mutiny Hotel, a hotspot for people on all sides of the law, says the actor — who notes he was well acquainted with the hotel’s rep. “You know, being from Miami, you were aware of the history, and it still stands today.”

He continues, “A very dangerous, sexy, volatile place that catered to citizens of Miami who were, you know, very much not involved in any illegality or anything nefarious. Politicians, superstars, celebrities … the cocaine cowboys, the DEA. And we all knew. We all knew that story. We didn’t need Scarface to tell us that.” 

He explains, “I was born and raised in Miami, Cuban-American. Both my parents are Cuban. My grandparents are Cuban. You know, they came over as exiles in the ’60s.” He describes the Mutiny Club as an “indelible part” of the transformation of Miami in the ’70s from a vacation and retirement city to one that is “cosmopolitan, and dynamic and international.”

Pino continues, “That was started with, you know, the infusion of not only Cubans, who came in with a professional work ethic. … But then you also start to add in the more nefarious influences economically with the drug trade and the cocaine wars. And now you have a very volatile mix and blend that is perpetuated at the Mutiny Club.”  

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In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast, Calista Flockhart says she’d “hate to take credit” for her husband Harrison Ford‘s acclaimed turn in Apple TV+’s dramedy series Shrinking, but it appears she’s being modest.

Flockhart was reflecting on how TV changed since she came into our homes as the title character with Fox’s groundbreaking legal comedy Ally McBeal, saying, “I think that Ally McBeal possibly legitimized television in a very cool way.” 

Musing about TV sparked a memory for the Feud actress, recalling with a laugh, “I remember going to an event and George Lucas was there, and he was saying ‘TV is the future, and we can forget about films,’ and I remember saying to my husband, ‘See? Stupid? You’re stupid. I’m not.’ And so that was a really good moment for me.”

As for Shrinking, she said, “Well, I hate to take credit … so I can’t take credit, but we always ask each other for our opinion.”

“He called me, he was in London shooting Indiana Jones and … he said, ‘There’s a show that they want me to do … it’s the people that did something Ted.”

“I said, ‘Ted Lasso?'” Calista recalls replying. “And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, I think that’s it.'”

“And I said, ‘Yes. Just say yes,'” the actress continued.

She added, “And I read the script and I said, ‘You are absolutely going to say yes.'”

Flockhart also expressed of Ford’s portrayal of Dr. Paul Rhoades, “I am so happy for him. It’s such a great part, and he’s so good in it. And it’s really, really wonderful to see. It makes me so happy.”
 

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