Entertainment

Variety reports that New Line Cinema is backing a Chris Farley biopic that will star Black Bird actor Paul Walter Hauser as the Saturday Night Live superstar.

Farley died on December 18, 1997, at just 33 years old.

As reported, Frozen‘s Josh Gad will be making his directorial debut on the film that will be produced by SNL icon Lorne Michaels and based on the 2009 bestseller The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts, written by Farley’s brother Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby.

The trade says studios were “highly competitive” trying to snag the project, but Warner Bros. Discovery-owned New Line came out on top.

Before snagging an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award for Black Bird, Hauser logged memorable comedic and dramatic performances in movies including I, Tonya, Queenpins and Cruella.

He’ll next be heard in theaters on June 14 as the voice of Embarrassment in Disney/Pixar’s forthcoming Inside Out 2.

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Michael Richards, the Emmy winner who played Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, has mostly stayed out of the spotlight after an infamous 2006 onstage racist meltdown, but he was back in Los Angeles alongside Jerry Seinfeld Tuesday evening, April 30.

Richards walked the red carpet in support of Jerry’s directorial debut, the Netflix film Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story. The pair warmly embraced for the cameras, posed for photographers and waved to fans assembled at the Egyptian Theatre for the event.

The last time Richards stepped out for such a public event was for a 2015 charity benefit in LA that saw him reunited with Jerry and their former Seinfeld co-star Jason Alexander.

On June 4, Richards’ book, Entrances and Exits, hits stores. The offering from Permuted Press will see the performer examine his life, comedy and the “spiritual journey” he’s been on since that onstage tirade derailed his career.

“Upset and turmoil is with us all the time,” he writes in an excerpt. “It’s at the basis of comedy. It’s the pratfall we all take. It’s the unavoidable mistake we didn’t expect. It’s everywhere I go. It’s in the way that I am, both light and dark, good and not-so-good. It’s my life.”

Seinfeld wrote the foreword to the book.

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The Los Angeles premiere of Ryan Gosling’s latest movie, The Fall Guy on Tuesday, April 30, featured a couple of surprise guests: Beavis and Butt-Head — aka Gosling and Mikey Day, reprising their live-action depictions of the classic cartoon characters they debuted in April on Saturday Night Live.

The original sketch featured Heidi Gardner playing a journalist interviewing an artificial intelligence expert, played by Kenan Thompson. Thompson’s character was distracted by two men — played by Gosling and Day — who bore a striking resemblance to the 1990s cartoon characters. Gardner broke character, unable to contain her laughter at the sight of Day.

As previously reported, the sketch went viral immediately, hitting 10 million views on YouTube just days after it was posted. It now stands at 13 million and counting just on that platform, and the reaction the pair got on Tuesday on the red carpet shows folks still can’t get enough.

The Fall Guy — also starring Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu and Winston Duke — opens in theaters May 3.

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Ahead of its series debut, Prime Video has already ordered a second season of its detective series Cross, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series, based on James Patterson’s bestselling books, follows the titular detective and forensic psychologist Alex Cross — played by Aldis Hodge — who uses his unique skills to catch killers. A premiere date for Cross has yet to be announced …

Emily in Paris, the hit Netflix series starring Lily Collins, is headed to Rome to shoot a portion of its upcoming season, the actress shared on Instagram. “When you’re the first ones on the dance floor at the Paris wrap party. Next stop: Rome!…,” Collins wrote, alongside a photo of her and co-star Ashley Park. Lily followed that up with another image of her posing in front of the Colosseum. Emily in Paris season 4 does not yet have a release date …

NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, will complement the network’s coverage of the 2024 Olympics with a humorous take on the games, hosted by comedian Kevin Hart and longtime Saturday Night Live cast member Kenan Thompson. The eight-episode series, Olympic Highlights, will air two to three episodes per week, coinciding with the launch of the Paris Olympic Games on July 26. Hart and Thompson act as “one-of-a-kind guides through the Paris Olympics, covering a mix of Olympic-themed in-studio competitions, conversations, and interviews,” per the streaming service. The 2024 Olympics run through August 11 …

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By now, fans know how Jeremy Renner bounced back from a 2023 snowplow accident that nearly killed him. However, a new Vanity Fair piece on Chris Hemsworth gives a peek at what Renner’s friends — his Marvel movie co-stars — were thinking.

Back in September 2023, the Avengers reassembled for Chris Evans‘ wedding to actress Alba Baptista, and Renner — then just eight months out from his nearly fatal accident on New Year’s Day — was there.

Hemsworth recalled the last time he’d seen Renner prior to that: “He sent us all a sort of a doped out, hospital, beat-up image and said, ‘All good, guys.’ And then I didn’t hear from him for a while as he was in the thick of it.”

At the wedding, however, Hemsworth said, “There was an astounding sense of gratitude from him around just being alive.”

Robert Downey Jr. explained of their superhero troupe, “If there’s one characteristic we’d all agree is paramount, it’s resilience.”

He adds, “To see Renner embody that literally, and in the context of what was basically a Portuguese American wedding, was mind-blowing. Fully recovered and ready to celebrate. So, yes — miracles happen.”

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First-look images for the highly anticipated film It Ends With Us have arrived.

Images from the movie featuring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni were released Tuesday, and show the two stars in a passionate moment in one image and singing karaoke in another.

The photo stack from Sony Pictures and the film also includes behind-the-scenes moments of Baldoni in the director’s seat and another with author Colleen Hoover, who penned the novel of the same name in 2016.

According to a synopsis for the film, the story follows Lily Bloom, played by Lively, “a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life in Boston and chase a lifelong dream of opening her own business.”

“A chance meeting with charming neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) sparks an intense connection, but as the two fall deeply in love, Lily begins to see sides of Ryle that remind her of her parents’ relationship,” the synopsis continues.

“When Lily’s first love, Atlas Corrigan (Brandon Sklenar), suddenly reenters her life, her relationship with Ryle is upended, and Lily realizes she must learn to rely on her own strength to make an impossible choice for her future,” it concludes.

Baldoni is the director and an executive producer for the film, while Alex Saks, Jamey Heath and Christy Hall are co-producers. Hall also wrote the screenplay for the film.

Lively and Hoover serve as co-executive producers; the cast also includes Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj and Amy Morton.

It Ends With Us will arrive in theaters on August 9.

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Don’t Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde and X-Men movie producer Simon Kinberg are teaming up with Barbie star and producer Margot Robbie for a big-screen bow of the comic book Avengelyne.

According to Variety, the project will have Robbie appearing as the heroic avenging angel who was brought to life by Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld and Cathy Christian in 1995; Warner Bros. is reportedly eyeing a seven-figure deal to bring it to theaters.  

Avengelyne will have even more star power behind the scenes: The trade says Oscar-nominated Poor Things screenwriter Tony McNamara will be behind the keyboard.

In an exclusive statement to the trade, Liefeld revealed Kinberg “told me he had a perfect fit for the material and asked me to trust him.”

The artist continues, “Next thing I’m meeting with Margot Robbie and Olivia Wilde and the connection was electric! They told me that they wanted Tony McNamara to write it, and after a pair of meetings Tony is onboard and things could not be more exciting.”

“It’s all a result of Margot, Olivia and Simon working their magic to assemble this incredible team of creatives, all intent on creating a cinematic experience like no other,” Liefeld concluded.

The heavenly heroine from the pages of Image Comics often tangled with supernatural forces of evil, and was tasked with maintaining a balance between Heaven and Hell. 

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In an extensive cover piece, Chris Hemsworth goes deep with Vanity Fair about leaving Hollywood for his native Australia, his disappointment over Thor: Love and Thunder and how — for the last time — he does not have Alzheimer’s.

On the latter point, Hemsworth found out through his 2022 Disney+ show Limitless that his DNA showed a risk for the disease. But that revelation, plus a planned break from making movies — partly to nurse an injured back — had the rumor mill spinning.

“It really kind of p***** me off because it felt like I had been vulnerable with something personal and shared this,” the Marvel movie star admits.

“No matter how much I said, ‘This is not a death sentence,’ the story became that I have dementia and I’m reconsidering life and retiring and so on.”

However, he did allow, “I did read a really funny comment at the bottom of one article: ‘I hope Chris forgets he’s retiring and comes back.'”

The star also looked back at his final film as Thor: 2023’s Love and Thunder, in which the acclaimed humor from director Taika Waititi‘s blockbuster predecessor Thor: Ragnarok went off the rails for both critics and audiences.

“I got caught up in the improv and the wackiness, and I became a parody of myself,” Hemsworth says. “I didn’t stick the landing.”

The actor will next be seen in the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa for one of his filmmaking idols, fellow Aussie George Miller.

The filmmaker explains Hemsworth became unrecognizable as the warlord Dementus. “When I saw Chris many months later, my first instinct was, ‘Wait a minute, this is not Chris Hemsworth. This is a fraud!” Miller says.

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Fallout‘s April 10 debut was so big that Prime Video renewed the sci-fi series for a second season days later, but now, the post-apocalyptic video game adaptation has become the streamer’s most-watched title ever in the 18-34 demographic.

Across all age groups, the series starring Walton Goggins and Ella Purnell is the second-biggest title in the history of the platform, after The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

According to the streaming service, the show from Westworld producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy has had 65 million viewers since it first dropped its eight-episode season, and is now the #1 most-watched title on Prime Video in 170 countries. 

In fact, 60% of that massive audience comes from overseas, Prime Video mentions, with an “outsized” performance in the U.K., France and Brazil.

Amazon explains some 15 licensing partners have jumped into the Fallout frenzy, offering everything from in-universe themed beverages to apparel via a dedicated storefront.

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ABC Audio has confirmed that the celebrated career of two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington will take center stage at a first-of-its-kind retrospective at this year’s American Black Film Festival (ABFF).

The 28th annual festival takes place June 12 through June 16 in Miami Beach.

Debuting Saturday, June 15, The Retrospective: Celebrating the Legacy of Denzel Washington will “take attendees on a journey through Academy Award-winning actor and director Denzel Washington’s cinematic legacy, showcasing his extraordinary talent and enduring impact on the film industry.”

The celebration of the Training Day and Glory Oscar winner’s life on and off screen “will feature themed activations and screenings throughout the festival of some of his most iconic films, including Devil in A Blue Dress,” culminating with “a special tribute/onstage interview with Mr. Washington himself on closing night.”

The festival organizers express, “The conversation will not only celebrate his achievements on screen but also his significant cultural impact off-screen as a director, producer, humanitarian, husband, and father.”

The ABFF bills itself as the “preeminent event of its kind, empowering Black artists and spotlighting a diverse array of entertainment content created by and for individuals of African descent.”

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