Entertainment

On Monday, Lucasfilm officially announced that the forthcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte just got underway in the United Kingdom and shared who will be joining Amandla Stenberg in the show bound for Disney+.

Lucasfilm also released a behind-the-scenes snap of Stenberg on set with just-revealed co-star Lee Jung-jae, Emmy winner from Squid Game, and writer and executive producer Leslye Headland.

Alongside the The Hate U Give star and Lee will be The Matrix series veteran Carrie-Ann Moss; Logan and His Dark Materials‘ Dafne Keen; Queen & Slim‘s Jodie Turner-Smith; Charlie Barnett from Russian Doll; 1917‘s Dean-Charles Chapman; and Inventing Anna‘s Rebecca Henderson.

According to Lucasfilm, “The Acolyte is a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era” — the latter referring to about 200 years before the start of the Skywalker saga.

The studio continues, “A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.”

Headland is both writing and executive producing the show, in addition to directing the series pilot.

The Acolyte‘s release date is not yet known.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Netflix announced Monday that it’s turning the bestselling video game series Gears of War into not one but two original shows.

The streaming service will begin production on both a live-action film set in the world of the sci-fi shooter and an adult animated series set in the same universe.

Calling the Gears of War series “one of gaming’s richest and most acclaimed sagas,” the streaming service sets the scene for the uninitiated. “A society divided and on the brink of collapse faces total extinction by the Locust, a monstrous threat from below. Delta Squad, a ragtag fireteam led by disgraced sergeant Marcus Fenix, is now charged with leading humanity’s last stand.”

The series has won critical acclaim and a legion of fans; to date, more than 40 million copies have been sold.

Incidentally, there’s no word on whether Dave Bautista, a superfan who once called Fenix “a dream role” — and whose face and voice could be swapped for the original star, John DiMaggio, in Gears 5 thanks to fan demand — is involved.

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Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds took to Instagram to try to tamp down fans’ expectations for the pair’s forthcoming holiday movie, Spirited.

In trying to promote the film, Reynolds opened by grousing, “Ugh. This sucks. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be in a Will Ferrell Christmas movie that’s not Elf?”

He disagrees with Ferrell that people will be expecting the 2003 Jon Favreau-directed classic. “Instead, they’re getting a musical movie from two guys with questionable pitch.”

Ferrell continued, “Some simple disclaimers: Hey, everyone: Spirited is not Elf. It’s not Deadpool either. It is a musical. It is funny. Anything else?” he asks his dejected co-star.

Reynolds replies, “It’s on Apple TV+.”

“Where the hell is that?!” Ferrell exclaims.

Spirited debuts in theaters November 11 and on the streaming network November 18.

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On social media Monday, Chris Evans and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson teased the start of production on their upcoming Amazon Studios holiday movie Red One.

“Callum Drift and Jack O’Malley, Evans said of Rock and his respective characters. “We’re already having WAY too much fun on this one,” the Marvel movie veteran said, adding in parentheses, “I can’t believe I’m finally doing a Christmas movie!”

Johnson is decked out in a red-and-black leather, superhero-like get up, and Evans is dressed more casually as they pose in what looks like a museum gift shop.

For his part, The Rock posted the same photo, explaining, “Chris and I have been waiting to make a Christmas movie our entire careers and now finally, the trouble begins…Our director, Jake Kasdan has been in inspired form to deliver a very special, one of a kind CHRISTMAS franchise for you and your families around the world to enjoy,” adding Kasdan directed him in both the Jumanji reboot and its hit sequel. “Let’s get to work,” Johnson concluded.

The plot of the film is still under wraps, but was born from an idea from Hiram Garcia, one of Johnson’s partners at his Seven Bucks production company.

Red One will also star Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka and Nick Kroll, with JK Simmons and Bonnie Hunt just added, respectively, as Santa and Mrs. Claus.

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In a wide-ranging conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Sylvester Stallone reveals some mistakes he made in his career and in his life.

The 76-year-old star admitted, “I feel very immature… The older I get, the more I try to embrace my inner kid.”

Stallone noted, “In the beginning of my career, I was celebrating the fact that I had made it to the point of obnoxiousness….When I look back on my quotes, I think, ‘God, a little humility would’ve been nice’…”

The Rocky icon admitted to career missteps in the 1990s, most notably, the infamous action comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! He told the trade, “I felt as though I wasted a lot of time….When you’re young, you’re just haphazardly shooting wildly and hope you hit something. Now you don’t have the luxury of missing – especially with the family and the kids.”

Stallone added, “I find that to be my biggest regret. Everyone goes, ‘I wish I’d shown love more’ or ‘I wish I’d spent more time with the kids.’ I’m riding that boat.”

The star also referenced his recent breakup — and subsequent make-up — with his wife of 25 years, Jennifer Flavin Stallone, speaking on, “how rare a real good relationship is.” He said, “Sometimes I put the work ahead of [my family], and that is a tragic mistake which won’t happen again.”

Stallone also mentioned those big projects that he could have done, including Arthur and Pulp Fiction. “Witness killed me,” he said of the 1985 movie that starred Harrison Ford in the lead instead.

He said of turning down a Rambo IV — a follow-up to the 1988 third film, a $34 million paycheck at the time, “Oh boy, what an idiot. Now I think about that and … wow.”

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With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hitting theaters Friday, ABC Audio is taking a deep dive into the lore of the MCU character, with some trivia. The questions range in difficulty from Casual to Super Fan, so if you’re ready, imbibe of the Heart-Shaped Herb and give it your best!

Casual Fan
Q: In what Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film did Chadwick Boseman make his debut as T’Challa/Black Panther?
A: Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Average Fan
Q: Prior to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in how many MCU films does the Black Panther character appear?
A: Four: Captain America: Civil War (2016); Black Panther (2018); Avengers: Infinity War (2018); and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Super Fan
Q: How much money has Black Panther grossed worldwide, to date?
A: $1.347 billion.

Bonus Question

Q: Where does Black Panther rank on the list of all-time highest-grossing films in North America, not adjusted for inflation?
A: Sixth, with $700,426,566 (according to BoxOfficeMojo.com).

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

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As many Twitter users are calling foul on Elon Musk‘s plan to charge $8 a month for a blue “verified” checkmark, the company’s new CEO showed Kathy Griffin that nobody is above the company’s “terms and conditions.”

Kathy — and other users, including for a short time Valerie Bertinelli — thought it snarky to protest the new charge by turning their Twitter handles to “Elon Musk.” However, impersonating somebody on Twitter has always been a ban-worthy move, so Musk, in turn, switched off Griffin’s access to her account.

When Benny Johnson, an anchor for Newsmax took note of this, Musk responded to him Sunday by dropping a now-viral diss. “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian,” Elon wrote, earning more than 400,000 likes. One user even posted a picture of Griffin from her infamous Trump decapitation photo, but instead of a bloody head, she’s holding a bloody “checkmark” picture.

Elon then added, “But if she really wants to have her account back, she can,” before adding the cheeky caveat, “For $8.”

He later posted, “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” and that anyone who violates will lose their coveted tick.

Critics in the past have accused Twitter of withholding — or in some cases deleting — checkmarks from conservative voices on the platform.

Musk claims that by monetizing the symbol, he’s trying to democratize the process to steer it away from the “lords and peasants” former system.

Griffin returned to Twitter later Sunday evening using her “dead mother’s account,” saying Maggie Griffin “would not mind.” However, that, too, is a violation of the impersonation rules.

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With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hitting theaters this Friday, ABC Audio is looking back at the 2018 original film that started it all.

Black Panther‘s impact on both the culture and the entertainment world cannot be overstated. In an industry that incorrectly held onto the belief that a Black-led film couldn’t “open” at the box office, the 2018 Marvel movie, the first stand-alone adventure of the character the late Chadwick Boseman first played in Captain America: Civil War, debuted to $192 million — the fifth highest-grossing opening ever. 

Over the four-day Presidents’ Day weekend on which it opened, the Ryan Coogler-directed movie’s bottom line ballooned to $218 million right out of the gate. 

Black Panther went on to earn more than $1.34 billion worldwide, and currently ranks at #6 of the highest-grossing movies in the U.S. and #14 globally.

Filmmaker and film critic Mike Sargent explained to ABC Audio, “It’s not that this movie made a billion dollars just because Black folks went to see it; it made a billion dollars because everybody wanted to see it.”

It was a lesson for Hollywood, he explains: “There’s nothing wrong with seeing a Black hero….There’s nothing wrong with cultural pride in a superhero movie. It shouldn’t be the first time ever, but it is. So it was a first on an enormous amount of levels.”  

Black Panther went on to win the Outstanding Cast award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2019 — the year it became the first Marvel movie ever to be nominated at the Academy Awards.

The Best Picture-nominated film took home Best Score for Ludwig Göransson, and historic wins for Black women: Costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler both brought to life the secretive, technologically advanced kingdom of Wakanda.

“We knew that we had something special that we wanted to give the world,” Boseman summed up on the podium at the SAG Awards. “…[We knew] that we could create a world that exemplified a world that we wanted to see.”

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Winston Duke will join Ryan Gosling in Universal’s movie adaptation of the 1980s adventure television series The Fall Guy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The original series starred Lee Majors as a stuntman who moonlighted as a bounty hunter. The new take, however, will follow a washed up stuntman, played by Gosling, who finds himself back on a movie with the man for whom he doubled long ago and who later replaced him. A mystery unfolds when the star goes missing. Duke will play the best friend of the stuntman. Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Stephanie Hsu also star…

The CW’s improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? will end with its upcoming 12th season, the series’ longtime star Colin Mochrie announced on Friday. “Hey everyone. Hope you are enjoying the current season of Whose Line. In January, we shoot our final season. Thank you all for the support over the years,” Mochrie wrote on Twitter. The show. an adaptation of the British show of the same name, originally aired on ABC and ABC Family from 1998-2007, before the CW revived it in 2013. Whose Line stars Mochrie, Wayne Brady, Ryan Stiles and Aisha Tyler…

Vivica A. Fox will host the 9th Annual American Reality TV Awards, which recognizes the highest achievers in unscripted TV production. Special guests will include Sofía Vergara, Steve Harvey, Courteney Cox, Jerry O’Connell, Reba McEntire, Trace Adkins and Abbott Elementary’s Lisa Ann Walter, among others. The 9th Annual ARTAs will stream live for free on OUTtv, Monsters and Critics and in VR on ReelMood…

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Jimmy Kimmel will once again emcee the Oscars.

ABC announced Monday morning that the late-night host will report for podium duty for the third time at the 95th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

Kimmel previously hosted both the 89th annual show in 2017, and the 90th in 2018.

In the announcement, Kimmel joked, “Being invited to host the Oscars for a third time is either a great honor or a trap. Either way, I am grateful to the Academy for asking me so quickly after everyone good said ‘no.'”

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang commented, “Jimmy is the perfect host to help us recognize the incredible artists and films of our 95th Oscars. His love of movies, live TV expertise and ability to connect with our global audiences will create an unforgettable experience for our millions of viewers worldwide.” They added that with Jimmy’s help, “…the Oscars will celebrate its rich 95-year history, the collaborative nature of moviemaking, and our diverse, dynamic and deeply creative community of filmmakers.”

Last year’s ceremony saw Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer sharing hosting duties, in a night that was overshadowed by Will Smith‘s infamous on-stage slap of comedian and presenter Chris Rock.

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