Entertainment

After he helped deliver back-to-back blockbusters for the studio with Wonka and Dune: Part Two, Timothée Chalamet is staying in business with Warner Bros.

The Wrap is reporting the studio has signed a first-look deal with the 28-year-old actor; the arrangement allows Chalamet to bring projects to the studio to star in and/or produce.

Since its release on December 6, Wonka has made more than $632 million globally; the Dune sequel was released on March 1 and has generated more than $575 million worldwide to date.

In a statement to the trade, co-chairs and CEOs at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy, said, “Over the last few years, we have admired not only Timothée’s commitment to his craft, which is evident in the range and depth of his varied roles, but also his unwavering dedication to give 100% of his time and attention to every project he has made here at Warner Bros. and elsewhere.”

The execs continued, “His collaboration on the campaigns for Dune and Wonka is something we all enjoyed immensely, and the results speak for themselves.” They said they “are thrilled Timothée has chosen our studio to be his creative home.”

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Fox announced Tuesday that it is renewing Hell’s Kitchen for two more seasons. 

The hit show’s star and producer, hot-tempered chef Gordon Ramsay, commented, “As my very first show on Fox, Hell’s Kitchen holds a very special place in my heart.” He called it “incredibly gratifying to have it renewed for its 23rd and 24th seasons.”

Ramsay adds, “This show just keeps getting better and better, and … you can expect even bigger challenges, stronger talent and more intense competition in Hell’s Kitchen in the years to come.”

After nearly two decades in business with Ramsay, Allison Wallach, the head of the network’s unscripted programming, called Ramsay and his show “mainstays of American television” that helped make Fox “global television’s most powerful cooking brand.”

Hell’s Kitchen debuted on May 30, 2005. Its most recent premiere, for season 22, became the most-streamed season debut ever, according to the network.

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Founded in 1996, The Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation is shutting down, Variety is reporting.

Citing financial data from ProPublica, the trade says the charity, which claims to “connect the Smith family’s distinctive interests to social impact endeavors,” took a major hit in donation ever since Smith’s infamous Oscars slap in 2022.

Donations to the charity went from $2,138,660 in 2021 to just $365,870 in 2022, according to ProPublica data, as former corporate donors apparently distanced themselves from the embattled actor. The most recent tax data Variety flagged shows more than $3,000 in bank overdraft fees for the organization.

Citing a source within the charity, the trade reports the celebrity couple had already been planning to wind down the endeavor even before Smith’s image took a hit with the Oscar night incident, with the source saying they plan to privately donate to various charities instead.

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The animated series X-Men ’97 has become be a Juggernaut-sized hit for Disney+.

Deadline is reporting that the series, which continues the adventures of the beloved 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series, attracted some 4 million views on the streaming service in the first five days since its release on March 20.

According to the trade, that makes it the most-watched first season premiere for an animated series since the premiere of Marvel Studios’ What If…? in 2021.

Also, the trade reports that the new series spurred interest in the original one, which is also available on Disney+. Deadline says views for the five seasons of X-Men: The Animated Series jumped 522% since the trailer for the follow-up debuted on February 15.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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In the wake of the blockbuster news that Kate Middleton has cancer, add Stephen Colbert to the list of people who are backpedaling jokes they made about her.

On Monday night’s The Late Show, Colbert struck a somber tone and apologized for recent zingers he told related to Middleton’s highly-publicized Photoshop fail.

“I tell a lot of jokes,” Colbert said. “And for the last six weeks to two months, everybody has been talking about the mystery of Kate Middleton’s disappearance from public life.”

He explained that two weeks ago, he made some jokes about the situation, intimating Prince William was cheating on her. “When I made those jokes, that upset some people — even before her diagnosis was revealed,” he said.

“I do not make light of someone else’s tragedy,” he continued, adding, “Far too many of us know that any cancer diagnosis of any kind is harrowing for the patient and for their family.”

The Emmy winner closed his comments by saying, “Though I’m sure they don’t need it from me, I and everyone here at The Late Show, would like to extend our well wishes and heartfelt hope that her recovery is swift and thorough.”

When Middleton revealed to the world that she was undergoing cancer treatment, other celebs took to social media to make similar apologies for joking about the Princess Kate headlines, including Blake Lively, and Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin from The View.

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Sony Pictures dropped the trailer to Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the fourquel starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, on Tuesday.

In the clip, Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett gets carsick from Mike Lowry’s (Smith) driving to a black-tie event, and the boys quickly find themselves in action again when Lawrence finds himself in the middle of a convenience store hold-up. 

The pair later learn their beloved, potty-mouthed late Captain Howard, played by Joe Pantoliano, who was killed off in the third film, has been accused postmortem of working with drug cartels. 

However, a video text soon pops up from him “from the other side,” warning them that there’s corruption in the ranks. “Don’t trust anybody,” he says. “You’re my bad boys. Now clear my name.”

The pair find themselves on a prisoner transfer mission aboard a military Chinook helicopter when the inmate aboard warns them: “You’re being set up, detectives.” On cue, all hell breaks loose, with the “guards” on the aircraft turning their guns on them, kicking off a set-piece fight scene on the crashing chopper. 

Mike and Marcus survive but find themselves accused of trying to spring the prisoner themselves. The pair only have themselves to rely on to clear their names — and not get killed in the process — whether it be from the cops, the bad guys or a pair of Reba McEntire fans whose clothes they steal while on the lam.

Also starring Vanessa Hudgens, Eric Dane and featuring Tiffany Haddish, Bad Boys: Ride or Die hits theaters June 7. 

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On Tuesday night, NBC wraps the second season of the reboot of Night Court, and as fans know, it centers on the wedding of an old-school Night Court vet, Marsha Warfield‘s Roz. 

The actress returned to the reboot at the end of the first season, when the show’s former bailiff reunited with fellow original cast member John Larroquette‘s Dan Fielding.

Melissa Rauch, who plays Judge Abby Stone — the daughter of Night Court‘s Judge Harry Stone, who was played by the late Harry Anderson — tells ABC Audio the reunion was amazing to watch. 

“When she came back at the end of our first season and had that wonderful cliffhanger with John, it was one of my most favorite moments in front of a live studio audience,” the Big Bang Theory alumna says. 

“I was very fortunate enough to have a front row seat to it, I wasn’t in the scene,” she explains. “Watching the audience watch that moment was really spectacular. There was just such an electricity in the air that night.”

Rauch calls Warfield “not only an extraordinary actress and a comedic laser,” but “just a really phenomenal person.” 

Rauch adds she’s “so over the moon about” Tuesday night’s finale.

“I’ve got to say, there’s a bit of a fine line between the two of us as far as this episode goes. Because Abby is so excited to have Roz getting married at night court. And I myself am just so excited to have Roz married at night court.”  

Night Court airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.

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Scarlett Johansson is in talks to join Universal’s upcoming Jurassic World movie, currently eyeing a July 2, 2025, release, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story helmer Gareth Edwards is directing the new Jurassic World movie, from a script by Jurassic Park writer David Koepp. The 30-year-old dinosaur franchise began with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, based on Michael Crichton’s novel. It spawned a pair of sequels, including 1997’s The Lost World and 2001’s Jurassic Park III. Universal revived the franchise with 2015’s Jurassic World, and its sequels Fallen Kingdom and Dominion in 2018 and 2022, respectively …

Pitch Perfect‘s Elizabeth Banks and Succession‘s Matthew Macfadyen have been tapped to star in The Miniature Wife, headed to Peacock. The series, per the streaming service, is “a high-concept marital dramedy examining the power (im)balances between spouses, Lindy and Les — played respectively by Banks and Macfadyen — who battle each other for supremacy after a technological accident induces the ultimate relationship crisis” …

Hulu has dropped the trailer for Under the Bridge, a limited series based on acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey’s book about the 1997 true story of 14-year-old Reena Virk — played by Vritika Gupta — who joined her friends at a party and never came home. Through the eyes of Godfrey and a local police officer — played respectively by Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone — the series “takes us into the hidden world of the young girls accused of the murder, revealing startling truths about the unlikely killer.” The series also stars Chloe Guidry, Javon “Wanna” Walton, Izzy G., Aiyana Goodfellow, Ezra Faroque Khan and Archie Panjabi. Under the Bridge premieres April 17 …

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After her journey with Joey Graziadei ended on season 28 of The Bachelor, Jenn Tran was named the new Bachelorette.

During the “After the Final Rose” ceremony, host Jesse Palmer brought out last season’s The Bachelorette, Charity Lawson, to make the announcement.

“It feels so surreal to be sitting here,” Tran said. “It’s so surreal to be passed the baton from Charity who is sitting here today with her person she found in all of this, and it’s honestly so inspiring.”

“I watched her season and I know I have some really big. shoes to fill,” she added.

Tran said that she’s hoping to find her person on the show, “someone that I truly feel like is 100% my perfect match and someone that I’m compatible with.”

“What that means right now, I don’t know,” she said. “I think I’ll know when I find him.”

Tran is also the first Asian American Bachelorette in the Bachelor franchise.

“Growing up, I’ve always wanted to see Asian representation on TV,” Tran said. “And I feel like any time Asians were in the media, it was a supporting character role, to fulfill some kind of stereotype and I always felt boxed in by that, because I was like, I don’t see myself on screen, I don’t see myself as the main character.”

“And now to be here today sitting in this position, being like, I am going to lead my own love story, I am going to be the main character of my story, I just can’t help but think of how many people I am inspiring,” she added.

Tran’s season of The Bachelorette will premiere in July.

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Joey Graziadei‘s journey to find love on The Bachelor ended with a proposal to Kelsey Anderson, a junior project manager from New Orleans, Louisiana, during the season 28 finale of The Bachelor.

The episode also saw the 28-year-old tennis pro saying goodbye to Daisy Kent, an account executive from Becker, Minnesota.

Season 28 kicked off in January with Graziadei meeting 32 women searching for a connection.

Graziadei and Anderson connected during their one-on-one date in Spain over their love for travel as well as over the importance of family.

During their date, Anderson opened up to Graziadei about the impact that her mom, who died from breast cancer, has had on her life. With the possibility of an engagement at the end of her journey on the show, Anderson told Graziadei at the time that being on The Bachelor was “hard sometimes to think about my mom not being there at my wedding.”

But Anderson told Graziadei that leading up to The Bachelor, her mom had sent her “signs” in the form of butterflies, which she said was her mom’s way of “reassuring” her to embark on this journey to find love. Anderson added that her dad also said that finding love this way was something her mom would do.

Graziadei was touched by Anderson’s story and their love continued to blossom thereafter.

Graziadei, who was the runner-up on Charity Lawson‘s season of The Bachelorette, said he felt like his story “wasn’t finished” and was “excited” to find his person as the Bachelor.

“These last couple years have been really big for me and I’ve been working on myself and I think that’s most important in being able to find your person, is to be ready yourself, and I feel good,” he said.

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