Entertainment

Welcome to the renaissance of Lindsay Lohan.

After taking a break from acting, Lohan is returning to screens in the holiday film Falling for Christmas, which will be available for streaming Nov. 10 on Netflix.

“It’s a great movie,” the Mean Girls actress, 36, told Good Morning America on Tuesday. “I wanted to make this movie because I missed being on set and I really miss bringing characters to life, and this was just the perfect script full of love and family and romance and joy all in one.”

Lohan continued, “And it has a great message, which is that you don’t really need all of the material things in life. It’s good to just focus on the simple things, and I really love that.”

The logline of the film reads, “A newly engaged, spoiled hotel heiress [Lohan] gets into a skiing accident, suffers from total amnesia and finds herself in the care of a handsome, blue-collar lodge owner [Glee alum Chord Overstreet] and his precocious daughter in the days leading up to Christmas.”

Lohan said she “wanted to get to the point where I was craving being on set,” and doing so for Falling for Christmas felt “really refreshingly exciting.”

In addition to taking on new acting projects, Lohan has taken on a new role in her personal life: wife.

The “Parent Trap” actress announced her engagement to Bader Shammas in November 2021 and referred to him as “husband” in a heartfelt Instagram post in July.

As for how she’s enjoying married life, Lohan gushed, “It’s amazing. I’m really lucky. I found my partner and he’s an amazing man and we’re a great team.”

She continued, “He’s the best. I love him so much.”

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Brendan Fraser is nearly unrecognizable in the new trailer to Darren Aronofsky‘s The Whale. Despite extensive prosthetics and a fat suit that turned The Mummy movie star into the morbidly obese, gay college professor he plays in the film, Fraser’s performance shines through, and many believe it will lead him to Oscar gold this year.

“Do you ever get the feeling people are incapable of caring?” Fraser’s Charlie says, tears in his eyes and an oxygen tube under his nose.

As he watches the world from his window and flashes back to memories of his estranged daughter when she was a child, his terminally ill character continues, “People are amazing.”

The trailer intercuts scenes from the Black Swan director’s film with glowing review blurbs on Fraser’s “utter triumph” on screen. The movie has already earned him a marathon-standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival and awards from the Toronto and Santa Barbara International Film Festivals.

Sadie Sink stars as Charlie’s now-adult daughter Ellie, with whom he’s trying to make amends. The film, which also stars Samantha Morton, Hong Chau, and Ty Simpkins, hits theaters December 9.

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In anticipation of the November 11 release of the sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, ABC Audio is doing a deep dive into the lore of the Marvel favorite — and here, the man who played him, Chadwick Boseman.

The Oscar nominee died in 2020 at the age of 43, following a years-long, private battle with colon cancer.

After Boseman’s passing, some of his Marvel movie co-stars appeared on a special ABC tribute in his honor. Robert Downey Jr., who played Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, noted, “Always, always humble, always working, always a smile on his face. And then now, looking back, all the more I realized just what an incredibly graceful human being he was.”

Speaking to Whoopi Goldberg, his widow, Simone Ledward Boseman, recalled how his health took a turn for the worse during the pandemic — but it made it easier to hide his condition from the public.

“It was COVID when things were really starting to spiral. And that meant that everybody was in their house and there was no pressure for anybody to go outside.” She added, “It seemed like, ‘Is this a crazy coincidence that we get to actually be inside?’ We get to be here with family, with, you know, together. And everybody in the world is also experiencing this togetherness in the midst of this awful, scary, unpredictable time. We kept that circle real [small] — the circle was basically a dot.”

The interview, part of ABC’s recent Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda, also saw Simone talking about her grief in losing the actor. “Some days I’m doing worse than I’m really willing to acknowledge, and other days I’m doing better than I feel comfortable admitting,” she expressed.

Simone explained, “I can’t believe that I was so lucky. I can’t believe that I got to love this person. And I also got them to love me, too.”

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The ABC drama A Million Little Things will end with its upcoming fifth season. “We can’t believe this incredible journey is coming to an end. But as we’ve always said from the beginning, we would end this journey when the time was right. And as hard as it is to say it, now feels like the right time to say goodbye,” the show’s stars, Grace Park, David Giuntoli, Christina Moses, James Roday Rodriguez, Stephanie Szostak and Romany Malco shared in a video released on Monday. The show, which debuted in 2018, follows a tight-knit group of friends who become motivated to live fuller lives after the unexpected death of a close friend. A Million Little Things returns for its fifth and final season February 8…

Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya has joined the voice cast of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — a sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, according to Entertainment Weekly. The Oscar-winning actor will be voicing Hobart “Hobie” Brown, a.k.a. Spider-Punk, who “gains spider powers and declares himself Spider-Punk, fighting for freedom and defeating his enemies with the power of punk-rock.” He joins Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 and Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy. Across the Spider-Verse is set to hit theaters in June 2023, with a second, Beyond the Spider-Verse, slated for a March 2024 release. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…

Jimmy Kimmel‘s ABC late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will literally air live on Election night, Tuesday Novemeber 8. He’ll be joined by Bill Maher, host of HBO’s Real Time, and George Conway, a lawyer, co-founder of anti-Donald Trump activist group The Lincoln Project and husband of Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway. Kimmel joins Stephen Colbert, who’ll also be hosting CBS’ Late Show live. Kimmel’s show, which airs at 11:35am ET on ABC, will be sandwiched between ABC News coverage of the midterm elections. The last time the show went live was for the 2018 midterm elections. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Corden will be pre-empted for news coverage…

There’s bad and good news for The Wonder Years fans. The ABC comedy has been left off of the network’s fall schedule, but will air in the summer of 2023. Season two of The Wonder Years, starring Dulé Hill and and narrated by Don Cheadle, will feature guest stars including Patti LaBelle, Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Donald Faison, Phoebe Robinson and Bradley Whitford. A premiere date has yet to be announced…

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It’s official! People‘s magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” 2022 is Chris Evans. 

The news was announced on Monday night’s episode on ” href=”https://digital.abcaudio.com/www.youtube.com/embed/erlZXAHuECI” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen>” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Although Evans, wasn’t able to appear live in studio, a short skit played featuring 2016’s “Sexiest Man Live” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson delivering the exciting news to the Capitan America star. 

In the clip, Johnson seems perplexed by the idea that he had to give up the title after his year, stating “I never gave the title up… I’m sexiest man alive in perpetuity.”

After agreeing that Johnson is both still alive and sexy, the two agree to share the title. Prompted to then “say something sexy,” Evans says, “Go vote tomorrow.”

In an interview with People, the 41-year-old actor joked that the title “is tough to be interviewed about.”

“It feels like a weird form of humble bragging,” he said.

However, one person that will be excited to boast about Evans’ new title is his mother Lisa. 

“My mom will be so happy,” he shared. “She’s proud of everything I do, but this is something she can really brag about.”

When it comes to the Boston native’s friends, though, he’s prepping for some kindhearted teasing, telling the magazine, “Really this will just be a point of bullying. It’s ripe for harassment.”

Nonetheless, Evans is sure this moment is one that he’ll look back on warmly. 

“It’s something that as I become old and saggy I can look back on and say ‘I remember then…’ ” he said. “I’m lucky to be in the discussion in any capacity.”

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EGOT winner and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has jumped aboard another Disney project. Disney+ announced on Monday that the Mary Poppins Returns star will play the messenger god Hermes in the Disney+ project Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Miranda was shown smiling on set, standing next to a director-style chair with both the title of the show and his character name.

Disney+ says of the guest role, “The messenger god who looks out for travelers and thieves and is a bit of a trickster himself. He is charismatic & boisterous, the life of the party. Unfortunately, his charm does not do much to heal his strained relationship with his son, Luke. He’s hesitant to help Percy and his friends on their quest as sometimes getting involved is more trouble than it’s worth.”

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, based on Rick Riordan‘s bestselling Percy Jackson books, stars The Adam Project‘s Walker Scobell as a yong man who discovers he’s the titular son of the Greek god Poseidon.

Adam Copeland — best known as WWE Hall of Famer Edge, Silicon Valley‘s Suzanne Cryer and The Flash‘s Jessica Parker Kennedy were recently added to the series, with Copeland recurring as Ares, the god of war. Cryer will guest star as Echidna, the mother of monsters, and Kennedy will guest star as Medusa, the infamous gorgon. Megan Mullally, Jason Mantzoukas, Virginia Kull, Glynn Turman and Timm Sharp will also star.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Following Dahmer: Monster‘s success of becoming one of the biggest hits in Netflix’s history, the streaming service wants more. ABC Audio has confirmed that there are two more Monster shows in the works, produced again by Ryan Murphy.

The future installments of Monster “will tell the stories of other monstrous figures who have impacted society,” according to the streamer.

Additionally, the American Horror Story veteran’s other Netflix show, the thriller The Watcher, has been re-upped. That series follows a family that moves into a home in a peaceful New Jersey neighborhood that turns out to be anything but.

In a statement, Bela Bajaria, head of global TV for Netflix, said, “Audiences can’t take their eyes off Monster and The Watcher. The creative team of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan on Monster along with Eric Newman on The Watcher are masterful storytellers who captivated audiences all over the world. The back-to-back force of these two series is due to Ryan’s distinct original voice which created cultural sensations and we are thrilled to continue telling stories in the Monster and Watcher universes.”

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Rebel Wilson is a mom.

The Pitch Perfect star shared a photo of her newborn daughter, Royce Lillian, on Instagram Monday, writing that the baby is a “beautiful miracle.”

“Beyond proud to announce the birth of my first child, Royce Lillian, born this past week via surrogate,” Wilson wrote in the post’s caption, alongside a snap of the newborn. “I can’t even describe the love I have for her.”

“I am forever grateful to everyone who has been involved, (you know who you are), this has been years in the making,” she added. “But particularly wanted to thank my gorgeous surrogate who carried her and birthed her with such grace and care. Thank you for helping me start my own family, it’s an amazing gift. The BEST gift!!”

Last year, Wilson opened up about her struggle with fertility, telling fans on Instagram that she feels for women who are also struggling with having children.

“The universe works in mysterious ways and sometimes it all doesn’t make sense,” she said at the time. “But I hope there’s light about to shine through all the dark clouds.”

In her Instagram post on Monday, the actress is embracing motherhood and said she is “ready to give little Roycie all the love imaginable.”

“I am learning quickly,” she added. “Much respect to all the Mums out there! Proud to be in your club.”

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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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