Members of the movie’s A-list cast, as well as other stars, turned out for the first-ever screening of Francis Ford Coppola‘s long-gestating, mostly self-funded movie Megalopolis in Los Angeles Friday.
Deadline‘s Mike Fleming was there, noting the legendary Godfather Oscar winner’s movie played for the likes of Academy Award winners Al Pacino, Anjelica Huston and Nicolas Cage, as well as Iron Man director Jon Favreau, The Whale‘s Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky and more.
Some of the cast, including Shia LaBeouf and Coppola’s sister, Godfather and Rocky franchise star Talia Shire, were also on hand at the Universal CityWalk IMAX Theater for the event, which was designed to get studios interested in bringing the movie to theaters.
Fleming says the film — despite its epic premise, about a New York-like city rebuilding after a disaster — evidently doesn’t have an epic length, à la Killers of the Flower Moon. It runs a “remarkably brief two hours and 13 minutes, not including credits,” according to his article.
As reported, the movie’s cast also includes Oscar winners Forest Whitaker, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman; Oscar nominees Adam Driver and Laurence Fishburne; Emmy nominee Giancarlo Esposito; Licorice Pizza‘s Isabelle Kusman; Saturday Night Live‘s Chloe Fineman; andFast and Furious series star Nathalie Emmanuel.
In Jerry’s directorial debut, Grant plays Thurl Ravenscroft, “which is the real name of the guy who did the voice of Tony the Tiger,” Seinfeld explained.
“And so I imagined a frustrated Shakespearean actor who has to play this embarrassing character to make his car payments, and Hugh Grant is perfect for that,” Jerry joked.
While he admitted, “I love Hugh Grant so much,” he also called him “horrible.”
“We had lots of fights,” Seinfeld says. “He’s a pain in the a** to work with. … He tells you before you work with him, ‘You’re gonna hate this,’ and he’s right.”
Jerry recalled, “We shot for 10 weeks, and [one] night that he and I had dinner — and we got drunk having dinner — that was the greatest night. … He’s so cool.”
Jimmy also revealed how Jerry tapped him to sing “Sweet Morning Heat” for Unfrosted‘s soundtrack — and Fallon said he called Meghan Trainor to duet with him for producer and Barbie soundtrack veteran Mark Ronson.
If one is used to seeing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the affable big dude from the Jumanji movies or Disney’s Moana and Jungle Cruise, they might not recognize him in full “heel” mode.
But that was the case Monday night, when he delivered a literally bloody beatdown of WWE star Cody Rhodes to set up a WrestleMania 40 matchup between Rhodes and Seth Rollins versus The Rock and Roman Reigns.
The wrestling ring was Johnson’s original stage, and he’s fully committed to his villainous turn, even showing an unaired portion of the beatdown — complete with cursing — on his personal Insta, which is usually reserved for workout motivation and cute “girl dad” videos.
In the uncut footage, Johnson repeatedly curses out Rhodes and whips him with a wrestling belt, onto which he’d ceremonially smeared Rhodes’ blood to show to the camera — and “Mama Rhodes,” Cody’s mother, Michelle Rubio — during the show.
“I hate constraints and bulls*** rules – and just because some @wwe producer says … we are no longer live on the air and the show is over … that doesn’t mean I just stop whatever I’m doing …” Johnson captioned the off-air beatdown.
“It f****** p***** me off. I can’t shut my high emotions off just because a script says we’re done.”
While pro-wrestling may be scripted, for what it’s worth, those wallops looked legitimately painful.
WrestleMania 40 takes place April 6 and 7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Two of the OGs of the Scream franchise could be back again if a Varietyreport pans out: The trade says Courteney Cox could reunite with Neve Campbell for her return to the movie series.
As reported, Campbell told fans two weeks ago that she and her alter-ego Sidney Prescott would be back for a seventh movie after she sat out 2023’s Scream VI over a salary dispute.
The sixth film closed with Cox’s Gale Weathers clinging to life after a face-off with the Ghostface killer, telling Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega‘s Sam and Tara Carpenter to give Sidney a message that she didn’t let the killer get her.
It now appears Gale can give that message to Sidney herself if this deal goes through — especially because the Carpenter sisters won’t appear in the seventh movie. As reported, Barerra was reportedly fired for comments the studio Spyglass deemed antisemitic, and Ortega dropped out soon after, blaming a scheduling conflict.
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 New York City(Bravo) RHONY fans rejoice! Bravo announced Thursday that Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassah, Erin Lichy, Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank and Brynn Whitfield will all be returning for season 15. Last season marked an increase in ratings in the 18-49 demo, with the premiere being the most-watched episode of the series in three years. A premiere date for the new season has yet to be announced.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills(Bravo) The RHOBH cast was going viral this week for a hilarious reason. A production designer for the RHOBH reunion show posted a video of the white couches post-taping, stained with remnants of spray tan and body makeup. “What really happens with 8 (can’t leave out the Iconic @kathyhilton) Housewives on 2 rental couches…. Thanks @stanleysteemerofficial,” he wrote.
House of Villains(E!) Get ready for a new cast of reality show baddies.Entertainment Weeklyhas the lineup for season 2 of the competition series. It will feature first-time Survivor winner Richard Hatch, The Challenge’s Wes Bergmann and returning cast member Tiffany “New York” Pollard. Season 2 is set to air on E! sometime this fall.
The fifth installment in Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, stomped into theaters Thursday night and fittingly made quite a dent at the box office.
According to The Wrap, the movie took in $10 million from Thursday sneaks ahead of Friday’s official opening. This easily beats the $6.3 million earned in sneaks in the summer of 2019 by its predecessor, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, the trade points out.
The sneak preview performance means the new offering could beat its highest-end box office estimations for Easter weekend, $53 million.
The last movie featuring the beasts was 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, the first big movie to hit the big screen following theaters being shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This time around, the titular kaiju form an uneasy alliance “against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own,” according to its official synopsis.
In addition to the titular monsters, Godzilla x Kong sees the return of Godzilla vs. Kong‘s humanstars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle.
Louis Gossett Jr., who made history as the first Black man to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, has died. He was 87.
His nephew confirmed to The Associated Press that the groundbreaking actor passed away Thursday night in Santa Monica, California. A cause of death was not yet given.
Gossett, a Brooklyn native, unintentionally got his acting start while a student at Abraham Lincoln High School. Following a sports injury, he was forced to take a break from basketball and enrolled in an acting class that successfully led to his stage debut in the school’s production of You Can’t Take It With You. His performance impressed scouts, as well as a teacher who encouraged him to try out for Broadway’s Take a Giant Step.
He later landed the role and earned the Donaldson Award for best newcomer to theater.
Gossett continued acting, using his earnings to support his family, and eventually attended NYU on a drama and basketball scholarship. He turned down an offer to play on the varsity team, as well as an opportunity to play with the New York Knicks’ rookie camp. Instead he accepted the role of George Murchison in the 1959 Broadway premiere of A Raisin in the Sun, which also featured late acting legend Sidney Poitier. He later appeared in the film adaptation, marking his movie debut.
Gossett’s career went on with a slew of off-Broadway and Broadway plays, films and televisions shows, including The Landlord (1970), The Young Rebels and George Cukor’s Travels with My Aunt (1972). In 1977 he secured one of his most well-known roles to date: Fiddler in the 1977 ABC miniseries Roots, a role he reprised in the 1998 movie Roots: The Gift.
His performance on the television show was rewarded with the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series — one of many awards the actor snagged throughout the years.
Gossett also won an Oscar for his role in An Officer and a Gentleman, making history as the first African American man to take home the award for Best Supporting Actor. His portrayal of Gunnery Sgt. Emil Foley in the film also earned him a Golden Globe.
In the following years, Gossett made appearances in The Josephine Baker Story, for which he won a Golden Globe; the miniseries Return to Lonesome Dove; the movie Lackawanna Blues; the Regina King-led series Watchmen;Boardwalk Empire; and The Batman. Most recently he appeared in the 2023 remake of The Color Purple.
His contributions to Hollywood were honored in 1992 with a star on the Walk of Fame.
While Gossett made a name for himself in the acting world, he spent much of his time fighting against racism, violence and social apathy via his Eracism Foundation, which he founded in 2006. Programs within the nonprofit provided young adults with lessons on cultural diversity, historical enrichment and more.
He also briefly dabbled in the literary world, releasing his autobiography, An Actor and a Gentleman, in 2010.
Gossett survived prostate cancer following his 2010 diagnosis and a bout of COVID-19 in December 2020. He leaves behind sons Satie Gossett and Sharron Gossett, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
FX has announced it has bumped the kickoff of the Emmy-winning Ryan Reynolds/Rob McElhenney docuseries Welcome to Wrexham from April 18 to May 2 at 10 p.m. ET. The series, which streams the next day on Hulu, will start its third season with the first two episodes of the eight-installment season. Subsequent episodes will roll out each following Thursday. The show, about the stars’ purchase of the beloved underdog Welsh football club, recently won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program …
Claire Danes is reuniting with her Homeland producer Howard Gordon for a Netflix series called The Beast in Me, Variety reports. According to the trade, Danes will play acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs, who “has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self” after the death of her son. “But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Sheldon, a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance.” The tease continues, “Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly” …
Heartstopper‘s Kit Connor, Shōgun‘s Cosmo Jarvis, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Will Poulter and True Detective: Night Country‘s Finn Bennett have been added to the cast of Warfare, the second project from Alex Garland and his Civil War collaborator Ray Mendoza, according to Deadline. They join previously announced D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Charles Melton and Joseph Quinn. Plot details have not been revealed …
Olivia Colman will not return for the third season of Netflix’s Heartstopper. “I couldn’t do number three. I couldn’t fit it in. I feel awful about that,” said Colman, who played Sarah Nelson, the mother of Kit Connor‘s Nick Nelson, to Forbes. “I feel like I was part of one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been part of,” she added. Series creator Alice Oseman explained on her Instagram Story that the show “tried absolutely everything we could” to get the Oscar and Emmy winner back for the role, and wished her “the absolute best” …
The life story of celebrated comedian, actor, author, musician and playwright Steve Martin gets the documentary treatment in the new Apple TV+ doc Steve! (martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces, out Friday, March 29. It’s from Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville, who talked to ABC Audio about why he wanted to profile the living legend.
“He’s somebody who does things that can be really silly and stupid or really smart,” Neville explains. “And I kind of love the fact that he does high culture and low culture and kind of can do it all.”
One thing Neville didn’t ever figure on Martin doing was agreeing to make a documentary about himself, since “Steve had turned down the idea of doing a documentary for years and years and years.”
But, says Neville, “I think maybe because of COVID and maybe because he’s happier now, word got out that he maybe would be willing to talk to a documentary filmmaker. And so I went to his house and we had lunch, and we talked about kids and art and New York and, and at the end of it, he was like, OK.”
Whether you know Martin from his standup or movies like The Jerk or Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Neville believes you’ll find the doc relatable, noting, “I feel like a lot of the film isn’t about the celebrity stuff, it’s just about the human stuff.”
“How to figure out your creative voice and how does it connect with the culture and what you’re trying to do, and how to stick to your guns about your originality. And then the emotional questions of like, you know, does success bring happiness? And how do you actually work through your issues with your parents?” he explains.
As March comes to a close, continue celebrating Women’s History Month by learning about someone who helped shape the sexual revolution of the 1960s: Carol Doda.
A new documentary about her life, Carol Doda Topless at the Condor, is playing in theaters now. Directors Jonathan Parker and Marlo McKenzie spoke to ABC Audio about Doda’s impact.
In 1964, Doda became the first dancer in the nation to perform topless. She wore fashion designer Rudi Gernreich‘s monokini swimsuit and danced on top of a white baby grand piano that descended from the ceiling of the Condor Club in San Fransisco’s North Beach.
Her act launched a heated debate around what constituted indecent exposure in a public setting. The ensuing arrests and trials paved the way for a sexual revolution.
“A lot of discussions can be started with her story,” Parker said. “I always just zero in on this moment in the movie where she’s asked if she thought of herself as a feminist pioneer. And she said, ‘No, I don’t think of myself as a feminist pioneer, but I was the first bra burner.’ … Right there you have this weird, ironic coming together of an action that can mean multiple things to different people.”
McKenzie agreed, saying she was drawn to telling the story of a woman in charge of her career when many were not afforded that opportunity.
“It was a time when women were very restricted, and we were just starting to think about what it might mean to be in the world,” McKenzie said. “Carol having this career … where she takes off her top, in that time was a really big deal. And so, I was drawn to her courage where she was totally being her authentic self in a time when that was not really accepted.”
