Entertainment

Have no fear, your reality roundup is here! Here’s a look at what happened in the world of reality television this week:

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (Bravo)
Monica Garcia, the controversial RHOSLC cast member who only lasted one season, is pregnant with her fifth child. She revealed the news on The Viall Files podcast Thursday, saying that she is expecting a baby with a man she met while filming the reality show. The 40-year-old called the pregnancy a shock, saying she was “on birth control” when she found out. She shares four children with ex-husband Mike Fowler. Garcia left RHOSLC after she was outed as the creator of the troll Instagram account Reality Von Tease.

BravoCon
Sorry, Bravo fans. There will be no BravoCon this year. The network announced this week that the event is taking a pause in 2024 and will return to Las Vegas in 2025. The good news is fans will be getting a new event series called Watch Party by Bravo, starting this spring in NYC and LA. It’ll give fans the chance to enjoy advance screenings and exclusive sneak peeks of some of their favorite shows.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation (MTV)
It was the moment Jersey Shore fans have been waiting for. Thursday night’s episode saw exes Ronnie and Sammi reuniting for the first time in years and it was … awkward. When Ronnie arrived to join the roommates in Nashville, Sammi opted not to greet him and everyone could feel the tension. “I wasn’t expecting anything,” Sammi later tells the group. “I feel nothing. You guys are working on friendships, I have no need to work on a friendship.”

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Linda Hamilton will forever be remembered as the woman who saved humanity from the machines as Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise.

But to The Hollywood Reporter — and after the drubbed 2019 film Terminator: Dark Fate — she says she’s done.

While she admits its been “years” since she watched 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day — still thought to be among the best sci-fi films ever made — she feels warmly about her tour of duty. “Terminator, that’s still going to be the big trump card for most everything. That fan base is fantastic, because they actually treat me like I saved the world,” she expresses.

That said, when asked what would be more likely, her returning to the role or artificial intelligence writing the next Terminator film, Hamilton chose the latter, adding, “And they kill me off before we start. That’s the best scenario.”

The actress, now on SyFy’s beloved Resident Alien, said of Dark Fate, “I’m very glad I went back. I loved [director Tim Miller], I love my ladies [co-stars Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes].”

She described it as “the greatest time of my life, and the worst time of my life, all rolled into one film.”

Hamilton says, “I was 63 or whatever I was, and it was the hardest shoot. Every day it was like a triathlon.”

“[T]ired of being tough,” she was considering retirement when Stranger Things came calling for the phenomenon’s final season. She added, “I’m really happy with the work I’m getting now. I’m getting some good movie roles that allow me to not be the military person.”

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At the 2024 CinemaCon Convention in Las Vegas Thursday, ABC News’ parent company, Disney, teased the forthcoming offerings from its bench of properties, including Marvel Studios and 20th Century Studios.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the presentation began with a video message from Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, both in their respective Deadpool & Wolverine costumes, warning people to silence their cellphones. They also showed off their forthcoming movie’s R rating — a Marvel Studios first — when a ringing phone caused Wolvie to lose his cool and drop some f-bombs.

20th Century Studios officially kicked things off by playing 13 minutes of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, opening nationwide on May 10.

Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Amy Poehler, the voice of Joy, introduced 35 minutes of Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2, opening June 14. 

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige then welcomed Cap himself, Anthony Mackie, to talk up Captain America: Brave New World, opening February 14, 2025. Attendees saw an action scene featuring Mackie and Harrison Ford, who plays President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross.

Feige then welcomed Shawn Levy to introduce an exclusive look at his Deadpool & Wolverine film, coming to theaters July 26.

Searchlight Pictures sneak-peeked Kinds of Kindness, director Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone‘s June 21 follow-up to their Oscar-winning Poor Things.

Other sneak peeks included Alien: Romulus, opening August 16; 2025’s spy thriller The Amateur, starring Oscar winner Rami Malek and Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan; and Mufasa: The Lion King, Disney’s follow-up to Jon Favreau‘s 2019’s blockbuster, introduced by its Oscar-winning director, Barry Jenkins.

Dwayne Johnson closed things out by hyping up Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Moana 2, opening in theaters on November 27.

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The debut of the trailer for Lady Gaga‘s upcoming movie Joker: Folie à Deux was more than Kenough to beat Barbie.

Sources tell Variety that the numbers for the trailer, including social engagement, were bigger than that of the first Barbie trailer, making it the biggest launch for Warner Bros. in recent years. According to the publication, it drew 167 million views in its first 24 hours.

The night it premiered, it was the #1 trending video on YouTube, and in just two days, it’s racked up more than 20 million views on that platform alone. On the social media platform X, 10 terms related to the movie were trending the night of the trailer’s launch, including Lady Gaga and her character, Harley Quinn.

By comparison, the debut of the trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes “only” got 100 million views, while Pixar’s Inside Out 2 got 157 million views. But Joker wasn’t able to beat the current record holder, Marvel’s Deadpool and Wolverine, which set a record earlier this year with 365 million views.

As previously reported, Joker: Folie à Deux, which comes out October 4, stars Joaquin Phoenix as Joker aka Arthur Fleck, who meets and falls for Gaga’s character, Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn. Together they go on a chaotic rampage, but according to the trailer, the mayhem seems to be interspersed with fantastical musical numbers.

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The Golden Bachelor couple Gerry Turner and Theresa Nist are getting divorced — three months after their televised wedding.

The couple, who fell in love on the first season of The Golden Bachelor last fall before tying the knot, broke the news Friday exclusively on Good Morning America.

“Theresa and I have had a number of heart-to-heart conversations, and we’ve looked closely at our situation, our living situation, so forth and — and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion mutually that it’s probably time for us to — dissolve our marriage,” Turner told Juju Chang in an interview for GMA.

“Get a divorce?” Chang clarified. “Yes,” Turner said.

In the new interview, Turner said, “The thing that strikes me the most in our conversations, it’s been how dedicated both of us are to our families … So we look at these situations and I think we just feel like it’s best for the happiness of each of us to, to live apart.”

When asked how this fell apart after both said they were 100% committed to making this work, Nist said “that was the plan.”

“We looked at homes in South Carolina, we considered New Jersey, and we just looked at homes after home, but we never got to the point where we made that decision.”

The pair, holding hands during the interview, reiterated that they did not fall out of love.

“I still love this person,” Turner said. “There’s no doubt in my mind, I still am in love with her. I root for her every day.”

Nist added, “Yeah, I still love him.”

The pair both said separately that they will continue to look for love.

Nist said fans have told them their story, “gave them so much hope,” adding, “We want none of that to change for anybody.”

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Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi film Interstellar will be rereleased in theaters in honor of its 10th anniversary. The film, starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon as a group of astronauts tasked with finding a new planet for humankind to colonize, grossed $731 million worldwide when it debuted in 2014. Interstellar will return to theaters in 70mm IMAX and on digital screens on September 27, 2024 …

Apple TV+ on Thursday dropped the trailer for its new sci-fi thriller Dark Matter. The nine-episode original series, based on the blockbuster book by New York Times bestselling author Blake Crouch, follows a physicist, professor and family man — played by Joel Edgerton — who’s abducted into an alternate version of his life while walking home on the streets of Chicago, per the streaming service. That leads him on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from an unbeatable foe: himself. Dark Matter — also starring Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, as well as Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, Dayo Okeniyi and Oakes Fegley — debuts May 8 on Apple TV+ …

After bringing S.W.A.T. back for what was billed as its seventh and final season back in 2023, CBS has decided to renew the popular show for an eighth season. “Here at CBS, we always ‘stay liquid’ and love a good dramatic twist, especially when it leads to an eighth season of S.W.A.T.!” Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement on Thursday. “The show continues to resonate with viewers thanks to our talented cast led by Shemar Moore and our amazing writers and producers who keep the show relevant and action-packed. We’re very pleased to renew it again and incredibly grateful to our partners at SONY, CBS Studios and Shemar for working so closely with us to bring it back for next season” …

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One of the most hotly anticipated films of the year is out Friday.

Ex Machina and The Beach veteran Alex Garland‘s Civil War depicts a modern-day United States at war with itself, through the lens of several reporters trying to cover the carnage. Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura and Stephen McKinley Henderson play the reporters caught in the middle of the conflict.

London-born writer and director Garland tells ABC Audio there were two specific things he wanted to explore: “One was just to do with this ambient situation that exists in America, but also exists in my country, in lots of European countries and actually globally in the Middle East, Asia, South America, which is just [this] very polarized, populist, divisive space that we found ourselves in.”

He adds, “And the other side of it was to do with journalism. And trying to put journalists as heroes front and center, because journalism has been under attack for a long time.”

He expresses, “You cannot have a society that is functioning properly and safely without journalists. It’s just not possible.”

Garland tells ABC Audio he hopes there’s one lesson people take away from the film, noting, “No country is immune from extremism and violent collapse. Absolutely no country. What you do is you guard against it.”

He adds, “And the guard is your system of checks and balances. And if you erode that system, if you attack or undermine the trust in the media, and undermine the institutions and their ability to create checks and balances, is there a danger of violent extremist collapse? Absolutely.” 

To Good Morning America, Dunst called Civil War “an action film disguised as a real love letter to journalism.”

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On Thursday, Disney+ revealed that Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard‘s tribute to the creator of The Muppets will debut on the streaming service May 31. 

Howard directed Jim Henson: Idea Man, which the streaming service teases “takes us into the mind of this singular creative visionary, from his early years puppeteering on local television to the worldwide success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and beyond.”

Featuring “unprecedented access to Jim‘s personal archives, Howard brings us a fascinating and insightful look at a complex man whose boundless imagination inspired the world,” Disney+ continues. 

Henson died May 16, 1990, at age 53 of bacterial pneumonia, but his legacy lives on in a myriad of characters he brought to life, from Kermit the Frog and Big Bird to the fantasy film The Dark Crystal.

The documentary was also produced by Howard and his longtime Imagine partner Brian Grazer.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News. 

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As Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire continues to leave a huge box office footprint, the rumbling is growing on the small screen, as well. 

On Thursday, Apple TV+ announced its hit show set in Godzilla’s so-called Monsterverse, Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters, is getting a second season. 

What’s more, plans are underway for “multiple spinoffs” of the series, which stars Anna Sawai, Kurt Russell and his real-life son Wyatt. 

Morgan Wandell, head of international development for Apple TV+, praised executive producers Chris Black and Matt Fraction, along with the show’s stars, saying, “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters has left an indelible imprint on the hearts, minds and imaginations of audiences around the world, led by the brilliance of Chris, Matt, Kurt, Wyatt and the incredibly gifted and talented cast and creative team.”

He adds, “We couldn’t be more excited for viewers to not only have the chance to experience even more thrills in season two, but to embark on epic, new journeys in the franchise as we expand [Legendary Entertainment’s] Monsterverse.”

Monarch spans three generations and follows two siblings as they uncover family connections to the titular company that first discovered the monsters in our world decades ago. The Russells play the same character, U.S Army Officer Lee Shaw, in the 1950s and 50 years later, who becomes a key to unraveling the Monarch company’s deepest secrets.

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On Thursday, Paramount Pictures took the stage in Las Vegas at the annual industry expo CinemaCon and revealed its upcoming slate.

The studio played the first footage from Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator sequel — and confirmed he’s directing a Bee Gees biopic — and John Krasinski rolled out the final trailer to his Ryan Reynolds/Steve Carell live-action/animated family movie If.

Paramount also had the corner on ’80s nostalgia with the announcements of a G.I. Joe/Transformers crossover film, executive produced by Steven Spielberg.

Also revealed was the animated Transformers One — the first animated movie from the IP in 40 years — that will tell how robots Orion Pax and D-16 “went from brothers-in-arms to become sworn enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron.” Chris Hemsworth voices Pax and Brian Tyree Henry D-16, with Scarlett Johansson voicing Elita-1, in a film also featuring the voices of Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Jon Hamm.

It was also revealed that Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Waddingham, Sandra Oh, Daniel Levy and John Goodman, among others, will co-star with producer Rihanna in a new Smurfs film due out February 14, 2025.

Another SpongeBob movie was announced, and a third Sonic movie, along with a sequel to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem — and a separate, R-rated TMNT project based on the beloved graphic novel series The Last Ronin.

Paramount also announced Baby Driver‘s Edgar Wright will remake the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi classic The Running Man with Top Gun: Maverick‘s Glen Powell in the lead, and a reboot of Scary Movie, which hits theaters July 4, 2025.

That’s the same date set for an untitled live-action comedy collabo between Kendrick Lamar and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

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