Entertainment

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the fifth film in the Monsterverse franchise, raked in an estimated $31 million at the domestic box office, bringing its tally up to $135 million. Worldwide, the film — starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens and Brian Tyree Henry — has glommed a total of $361 million worldwide.

Dev Patel‘s directorial debut, Monkey Man, finished a distant second, earning an estimated $10.1 million in its opening weekend. The thriller grabbed an estimated $2.6 million overseas, for a worldwide tally of $12.7 million.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire took third place, grossing an estimated $9 million in its third week of release. Frozen Empire, the sequel to 2021’s Afterlife, has collected $138 million globally.

Debuting in fourth place was The First Omen, the prequel to the 1976 horror film The Omen, delivering an estimated $8 million at the North American box office. The film added an estimated $9.1 million internationally, bringing its worldwide haul to $17.4 million.

Rounding out the top five was Kung Fu Panda 4, earning an estimated $7.8 million, for a domestic total of $166 million in its sixth week of release. The fourth film in the Kung Fu Panda franchise has grossed a total of $410 million worldwide.

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On Friday, Disney announced release dates for a collection of forthcoming movies, including the anticipated big-screen bow of its small-screen property The Mandalorian, as well as the next Tron film and the fifth Toy Story movie.

The spy thriller The Amateur, starring Oscar winner Rami Malek and Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan, once slated for November 8, will now open April 11, 2025.

The animated Moana 2 will open November 27, while on December 6, Disney subsidiary Searchlight Pictures will release the Amy Adams horror comedy Nightb**** to limited theaters.

In 2025, four Marvel movies appear on the slate: February 14 is marked for Captain America: Brave New World; May 2 will see the release of Marvel Studios’ team-up Thunderbolts; and July 25 has been earmarked for The Fantastic Four.

Tron: Ares, starring Academy Award winner and 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto, will open October 10, 2025.

Marvel Studios’ Blade appears on the schedule for November 7, 2025, but due to multiple delays on the movie, it’s possible it won’t stay there.

A live-action version of Moana starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been bumped from 2025 to July 10, 2026.

2026 appears pretty stacked: May 22 will see the first new Star Wars movie to hit theaters since Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker — The Mandalorian & Grogu.

Toy Story 5 will hit theaters June 19, 2026.

There are four Marvel movies scheduled for 2026, with three of them being “untitled.” The only named offering, May 1’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, could reportedly see a name change in the wake of the Jonathan Majors controversy.

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Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher announced on their respective Instagram Stories on Friday that they’ve called it quits.

To a photo of both of them wearing tennis gear, their message read, “After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our racquets down. In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage.”

The pair were married in 2010 and have three children, whom they’ve kept out of the spotlight.

“We have always prioritized our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change,” the message continued. “We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”

This is the second time Borat star Baron Cohen has been in the headlines for less-than-positive news.

As reported, in her new book Rebel Rising, Rebel Wilson accused the writer and actor of misconduct on the set of the 2016 comedy The Brothers Grimsby, in which she played his girlfriend.

Baron Cohen has vehemently denied the allegations, calling them “demonstrably false.”

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On Friday, HBO announced its two leads are set for the Game of Thrones prequel series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.

The forthcoming drama will be based on the characters Ser Duncan the Tall and his young squire, Egg, featured in George R.R. Martin‘s Tales of Dunk and Egg books. Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell will play the respective characters in the show.

HBO teases, “A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros: A young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall (Claffey), and his diminutive squire, Egg (Ansell).”

The network continues, “Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”

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Appearing on Drew Barrymore‘s chat show, Adam Sandler confirmed there will indeed be a sequel to his hit 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore. 

On Friday’s episode, a sneak of which was dropped online, Drew gave the audience of her eponymous talk show the backstory of the anticipated follow-up, explaining how actor Christopher McDonald, who played scheming golfer Shooter McGavin in the film, had been shown a draft of a sequel script by Sandler. 

Explaining she sent Adam a video of her and her daughter watching Billy Madison, Drew said, “I’m waiting for Adam to confirm” McDonald’s claims. 

A short time later, Drew looked at her phone. “This just in: I have breaking news. I’ll just say this, from my source, that it is in process,” she said, to cheers from the studio audience.

She continued, quoting her “source” Sandler but not naming him, “There is a process, and that process is in process.”

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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire star Paul Rudd will narrate the third installment of National Geographic’s Emmy-winning Secrets of… nature documentary series: the James Cameron-produced Secrets of the Octopus.

It will premiere in celebration of Earth Day on April 21 and stream the next day on Hulu and Disney+.

Rudd follows fellow Marvel movie stars who contributed to the nature channel’s specials: Jeremy Renner voiced Incredible Animal Journeys; Angela Bassett narrated the forthcoming Queens, and Awkwafina‘s voice was heard in A Real Bug’s Life.

Renner and Awkwafina’s docs are now on Hulu and Disney+.

In its announcement, Nat Geo says, “Octopuses are like aliens on Earth: three hearts, blue blood, and the ability to squeeze through a space the size of their eyeball. But there is so much more to these weird and wonderful animals.”

It continues, “Highly intelligent, octopuses can use tools, transform their bodies to mimic other animals and even communicate with different species, including us. The secrets of the octopus are more extraordinary than ever imagined.”

Ant-Man franchise star Rudd says, “It’s been an incredible journey learning about these mysterious creatures and their interconnected lives. I can’t imagine audiences won’t be as blown away with the secret lives of octopuses as I was working on this series.”

He adds, “If you’re going to dive deep into natural history, you have to do it with National Geographic. I’m thrilled to be working with James Cameron and the Nat Geo team to deepen our connection with the ocean and all of its creatures and curiosities.”

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

The Bachelor (ABC)
Daisy Kent opened up about rejecting the opportunity to become the next bachelorette. While guesting on Thursday’s episode of The Viall Files, she said she turned it down two weeks before After the Final Rose aired post-The Bachelor finale. “So, I thought really long and hard about all of it. It wasn’t an easy decision. I was wondering, like, after it got announced how I would feel … but I’m, like, so happy right now that I didn’t. So, it feels good [and] like I made the right decision for me,” Kent said.

The Circle (Netflix)
The cast for the upcoming sixth season of Netflix’s The Circle is here — and this season two cast members aren’t human. That’s right, for the first time ever an artificial intelligence bot will play that game, masquerading as a human named Max. Additionally, a dog named Deuce will participate, playing with his human owner, Kyle. Season 6 of The Circle premieres April 17.

American Idol (ABC)
Tori Kelly and Jelly Roll are joining American Idol as mentors to this season’s top 24. The pair reflected on their experiences mentoring the contestants. “When I got the call from American Idol to be a mentor, I was so excited because I just remember being 16 years old auditioning for this very show. So it was a very full circle moment for me to realize, ‘Oh, you have something to give now,'” Kelly told People. Jelly Roll added, “I bring a lot of experience in the form of failure to the table. I think that’s something they’re going to have to be familiar with because that’s what it takes to get good.”

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“History’s hottest affair” comes to life in the new limited series Mary & George, which premieres its first episode Friday on Starz.

The show follows Mary and George Villiers, played by Julianne Moore and heartthrob Nicholas Galitzine, as they manipulate King James I into falling for the latter to boost their status and power.

Tony Curran plays the English monarch, who spoke to ABC Audio about developing chemistry with Galitzine before shooting their romantic scenes.

“For the first few weeks, we were in the same hotel. And he was prepping, I was prepping. We started texting each other, and I think it was quite apparent by the corresponding text messages that both of us had a very fun sense of humor,” Curran said.

Mary & George may take place during the 17th century, but Curran says it feels as fresh as now.

“The first thing I thought was so interesting and fascinating about it was how character driven the story was and how it was about this Jacobean period, [the] little known 23-year reign of King James, that we haven’t heard too much about in television or film, and how contemporary it felt,” Curran said. “The very fruity vernacular language, it’s very uncompromising in its delivery.”

While the series shows King James having many male lovers, Curran says he doesn’t believe it to be the focus of the project.

“I think the story has queer elements to it but it’s not, like, a story, per se, about a queer king. It is, obviously. But I think there’s a more human story as well,” Curran said.

The actor continued, saying King James “was deeply trying to find some sort of meaning” in life.

“When you can’t find meaning, you’ll find distraction,” Curran said. “I think he definitely found meaning in George Villiers.”

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Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine production company, along with Amazon MGM Studios, are developing a Legally Blonde spinoff series based on the popular film in which she starred, according to Deadline. Legally Blonde, released in 2001, followed sorority queen Elle Woods — played by Witherspoon — who’s dumped by her boyfriend (Matthew Davis) and decides to follow him to law school. It was followed by Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde in 2003 and the 2009 direct-to-video spinoff Legally Blondes. Legally Blonde 3, co-written by Mindy Kaling, has been in the works for several years …

Variety reports Dune: Part Two helmer Denis Villeneuve is circling his next project, an adaptation of Annie Jacobsen’s book Nuclear War: A Scenario. Villeneuve is reportedly in talks with Legendary Studios to produce, adapt and/or direct. The book, per the outlet, “explores a ticking-clock scenario about what would happen in the event of a nuclear war, based on dozens of exclusive new interviews with military and civilian experts who built the weapons and have been privy to the response plans and have been responsible for those decisions should they have needed to be made.” Legendary also confirmed a third Dune film with Villeneuve is in the works …

Don’t Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde is teaming up with Margot Robbie‘s Lucky Chap production company for a feature adaptation of Avengelyne, the 1990s comic book character from Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Avengelyne, per THR, “centered on a fallen angel cast to Earth. She is entrusted to find and protect The One, a person who is the key to protecting humanity from demons and other monsters.” Robbie is not attached to star in the film …

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It was one of the biggest “gets” in news in the past five years when the BBC show Newsnight scored a sit-down interview with Prince Andrew to talk about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

How that interview happened is the premise behind the new Netflix movie Scoop, out Friday. The Man in the High Castle veteran Rufus Sewell plays the prince, and he tells ABC Audio as soon as he read the script, he knew he wanted in.

The actor explains, “The fact that something that we all think we know could be rendered in such a way as still a nailbiter, and the fact that it didn’t claim any more knowledge about anyone’s motivations than we know from watching the interview — I had to say yes.”

Sewell says he clearly remembers watching that interview on TV. “Like everyone else, I had my own judgments,” he comments. 

The actor continues, “But at the same time, you know, I think you develop a habit of mind of trying to work out why he was behaving the way he was, what his version of the events were, did he somehow see himself as a victim of this as well as other things, because it seemed to me that he did. And that was what was so fascinating.”

Gillian Anderson plays Emily Maitlis, the journalist who conducted the interview, and she explains the bombshell sit-down with the prince was shot on her first day on set. “[You] can’t really change it up too much,” she explains of the interview itself, adding, “But there were certain incremental things that you can do to … you know, make it a little bit more tense.” She concluded, “All of that was fun. It was like theater.”  

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