Entertainment

The organizers of the upcoming Rome Film Fest will honor Johnny Depp with a lifetime achievement award, Deadline is reporting.

The 19th edition of the festival will be held from Oct. 16 to Oct. 27 and will also screen Depp’s directorial effort Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness, which co-stars Al Pacino. 

The film is a World War I-era project centering on the life of Italian artist Amedeo “Modi” Modigliani. Riccardo Scamarcio, who played the heavy in John Wick: Chapter 2, portrays the titular artist.

Pacino, for his part, plays art collector Maurice Gangnat in the film. The legendary actor, at least according to Depp, was the inspiration for him to get behind the camera. 

When he wrapped principal photography back in January, Depp said on an Instagram Story, “To Al, who requested that I make this film — how could I refuse Pacino? A sincere acknowledgement for generously contributing his talent and dedication to this project.”

Johnny also called Modi “an incredibly fulfilling and transformative experience.”

Incidentally, actor/director Viggo Mortensen will also be given a lifetime achievement honor from the festival, and his recent film, The Dead Don’t Hurt, will also screen there. 

The Rome Film Fest will host a “pre-opening” screening of Francis Ford Coppola‘s Megalopolis on Oct. 14, and the city itself will fete the Oscar-winning Italian American filmmaker later in the week.

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Ahead of its official opening September 20, the animated prequel film Transformers One revved up $3.3 million in sneak previews on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Deadline. 

The Paramount Pictures release, which stars the voices of Chris Hemsworth as the voice of Orion Pax, the robot who will become Autobot leader Optimus Prime, and Brian Tyree Henry as D-16, who will become Optimus’ nemesis, Megatron, could be on its way to a $40 million opening weekend, the trade speculates. 

So far, the film has fans excited: As reported, a preview of footage at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France ended with a standing ovation, and it’s Certified Fresh by the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, at 88%. 

Deadline also cites exit polling from Screen Engine/PostTrak from those who saw the movie early, and Transformers One earned 5 out of 5 stars and a 75% “definite” recommend.

Transformers One also stars the voices of Hemsworth’s fellow Avenger Scarlett Johansson as the bot Elita-1, Steve Buscemi as the classic baddie Starscream, Jon Hamm as Sentinel Prime and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion. 

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Tori Spelling has fans all around the world cheering for her on Dancing with the Stars season 33 — but her kids are her biggest supporters.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, 51, took to Instagram on Thursday to share a photo of her five children — Liam, Stella, Hattie, Finn and Beau — showing up to support her for the DWTS premiere on Tuesday.

“Here’s my WHY… my 5 babies coming to see me perform LIVE on DWTS!” she wrote in the caption. “Showing my kids that at any point or age you can push past your fears and believe in yourself!”

Spelling called her time so far on DWTS the “hardest, yet one of the most rewarding experiences of my life” and shouted out her “amazing” pro partner Pasha Pashkov.

“I’ve never had any dance experience, training, or lessons. I do not workout (except hustling and taking care of 5 kiddos), and I have a huge fear of performing in front of an audience,” she explained. “But, I’m doing it! I’m putting my heart and soul into this journey. I’m finding ME!”

Spelling called her time in the ballroom “my therapy” and said she’s “having the time of my life.”

“So proud of that young version of myself who was shy, fearful, insecure, and didn’t feel worthy,” she reflected. “Finding your worth is POWERFUL! Thank you @dancingwiththestars for this opportunity to do this for myself, my kids, and everyone out there who has ever felt this way about themselves.”

During the DWTS season premiere, Spelling and Pashkov performed a foxtrot to “Trustfall” by Pink and earned a score of 17 out of a possible 30.

Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+; episodes streaming on Hulu the next day.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News. 

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During Netflix’s live Geeked Week send-off event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday night, host — and out and proud geek — Joe Manganiello announced he has stepped up his nerd cred even more. 

The Magic Mike star will be joining the cast of One Piece, Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the beloved and bestselling manga, for its second season. 

The actor will play the iconic villain Mr. 0; also joining the show will be Bumper in Berlin alumna Lera Abova playing Miss Sunday.

The series stars Iñaki Godoy as straw hat-wearing swashbuckler Monkey D. Luffy, who sets off with his crew —Mackenyu as Roronoa Zoro, Emily Rudd as Nami, Jacob Romero as Usopp and Taz Skylar as Sanji — to find the fabled article of treasure that shares the series’ title.

One Piece managed to avoid the pitfalls of other adaptations, like Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, by becoming a smash out of the gate. 

The live-action version of Eiichiro Oda‘s pirate saga debuted on Aug. 31, 2023, at #1 on the streaming service’s English language TV chart and the top 10 in 93 countries. In its first four days, it racked up 140.1 million hours of viewing time, right up there with the debuts of massive hits like Stranger Things season 4 and Wednesday.

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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 Bachelorette (ABC)
Bachelor Nation, it seems we’re not done talking about Devin Strader just yet. The man who was briefly engaged to Bachelorette Jenn Trann has spoken out about his 2017 arrest on accusations of burglary and the restraining order his ex-girlfriend filed against him. The same ex also accused him of verbal and physical abuse. In a statement shared to his social media, Strader says, “The accusations are simply not true. … That restraining order was never granted, and fully dismissed. My college ex-girlfriend and I ended up reconciling and eventually ended our relationship on good terms.”

Love is Blind (Netflix)
It’s almost time for season 7 of Love is Blind. The trailer for the new season of the show has arrived, and it shows off the 19 singles from Washington, D.C. Over the course of 12 episodes, the cast, which includes a lawyer, a journalist and the show’s first-ever set of sisters, will take to the pods and attempt to find their forever partner. The first six episodes of the season drop on Oct. 2.

Survivor (CBS)
If you were excited about Pod Save America host Jon Lovett competing on season 47 of Survivor, well, at least you have the premiere episode. Lovett was the first person voted off the island, and he says he wishes he’d gotten the full experience of the show. “I didn’t really fully get the experience. And that disappointment is the part that’s important to me. And honestly, in terms of the unimportant public reaction, I’ve just been genuinely pleasantly surprised. I expected people to be a little bit harsher,” he told Entertainment Weekly.

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While 22% of Americans say they have a home theater, far fewer have a pickleball court.

But integrating the hot new sport into the moviegoing experience is just one perk of a $2.2 billion upgrade to the country’s major theater chains that has been announced by the National Association of Theatre Owners.

The upgrades include amenities you might expect — everything from upgraded seats to sound systems; laser projectors to air conditioning; and more offerings at the concession stand — but also ones you may not, like pickleball courts, arcades and suspended rope courses.

All of it is designed to get you off your couch and back to the movies, says the association’s president and CEO, Michael O’Leary, in a statement — well, not in so many words: “This investment reflects that commitment in a tangible way that every moviegoer will see and enjoy.”

He adds, “The competition for consumers’ hard-earned dollars is fiercer than ever. Going to the theatre is an unparalleled entertainment experience, and exhibitors are dedicated to making every visit to their theatres memorable.”

As an example, the B&B Theatres location in Red Oak, Texas, has been refurbished into a full-on entertainment center, that not only has 12 theaters, but a performance space, bowling lanes, an outdoor bar and, yes, two pickleball courts.

The eight largest theater chains in the U.S. and Canada are taking part in the efforts, including AMC Entertainment, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas.

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The bombshell Prince Andrew interview about Jeffrey Epstein that caused Andrew to step back from his royal duties is the subject of the limited series A Very Royal Scandal, which started streaming Thursday on Prime Video.

Michael Sheen plays the prince, opposite Ruth Wilson as Emily Maitlis, the former BBC Newsnight anchor whose hard-hitting questions sent shock waves through the U.K. and beyond. Wilson remembers that interview vividly and tells ABC Audio that like the rest of the nation, she was left “gobsmacked.”

“My takeaway from that was, ‘How on earth did this happen? … Why did he put himself in that scenario?’ And now, you know, having done this drama, we’ve interrogated that and we’ve got all the answers on that. Or not,” she laughs.

The fallout came as no surprise to Sheen, who tells ABC Audio that the interview checked a lot of boxes when it comes to the kinds of things that fascinate the British people.

“There’s both the kind of media frenzy, the tabloid fodder kind of nature of it. … And then also, of course, underlying it all was this much darker, more serious, more disturbing issue that it was dealing with about, you know, the exploitation of young women and the relationship with Epstein and all that kind of stuff.”

Sheen had to gain a bit of weight for the role and tried to portray Andrew as this former military stud who was far removed from his glory days.

“The aging process, losing your looks, putting on a bit of weight, all of that stuff, the media no longer being interested in you as being kind of, you know, tabloid fodder. … It’s getting, moving further and further away from the center of power and all that kind of stuff. … It was that sort of trajectory.”

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Starz has revealed the premiere date for its new dark comedy Sweatpea, along with the official trailer. The six-part series stars Yellowjackets‘ Ella Purnell as Rhiannon, “a quiet wallflower who develops a vengeful and intoxicatingly liberating taste for murder.” Almost invisible to people at first, Rhiannon’s “killer secret” turns everything around and she becomes “a young woman capable of anything,” according to the official synopsis. Sweatpea launches Oct. 10 on Starz …

The trailer for season 2 of the Paramount+ spy thriller Lioness dropped on Thursday. Based on a real-life CIA program, Taylor Sheridan‘s espionage thriller follows Laysla De Oliveira as a new Lioness operative helping bring down a terrorist organization from within, according to the streaming service. Genesis Rodriguez and Morgan Freeman have been added to the season 2 cast, joining returning stars Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman and Michael Kelly. The second season of Lioness premieres with two episodes on Oct. 27 …

Ahead of Industry‘s penultimate episode of season 3, airing Sunday, HBO announced it has given the drama series a fourth season. In season 3, Yasmin, Robert and Eric — played respectively by Marisa Abela, Harry Lawtey and Ken Leung — are “front and center in the splashy IPO of Lumi,” a green tech energy company, led by Kit Harington‘s Sir Henry Muck, per the premium cable channel. Meanwhile, Myha’la‘s Harper “is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig” — played by Sarah Goldberg. Industry‘s third season concludes Sept. 29 …

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Halle Berry hasn’t been seen in a horror film since 2003’s Gothika, but that changes on Friday with the release of the thriller Never Let Go.

In the film, she plays the mother of two young boys who’s trying to keep them safe in their remote home after an unseen evil takes over the world. The trio is all alone against this threat, bonded by blood and a rope they keep tethered to their home, and themselves, when they venture outdoors.

While Halle hasn’t scared moviegoers in a while, she tells ABC Audio, “I love this genre … And I liked this script because it represented something that I had never seen.”

The Oscar winner continues, “While it’s… got some similarities to other movies, I had never seen a family like this, a mother and two sons in the middle of nowhere having to, you know, figure their way through this predicament that they’re in.”

Regarding that “middle of nowhere,” they shot in “an old, abandoned house” in very rural Oregon, not a soundstage.

Halle says it was everything for her and her young co-stars, Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins. “I loved it because … it kept us all in the reality of this world,” the actress said, adding “being out in the elements” meant the occasional danger of bear encounters, helping show them how quickly that “beautiful place would turn into a horrific place.”

Halle says she made sure the movie’s heavy subject matter didn’t take a toll on the young performers. “Being a mother, that’s one of the things I worried about. And I … wanted to send them back home the way they came,” she adds with a laugh. “And I think they did. So I think that’s a huge accomplishment.”  

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There has been a rallying cry in this country to pay our educators more, and Warner Bros. Television has apparently listened — even though the Abbott Elementary cast only pretends to be teachers on ABC. 

Deadline is reporting the cast of the show created by producer and co-star Quinta Brunson has gotten “major salary increases” for the fast-approaching fourth season of the series. 

According to the trade, the six regular cast members of the series — Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti and Lisa Ann Walter — have been given “big” per-episode bumps, in the “triple digit” percentage compared to the last season, in fact. 

William Stanford Davis, who plays the wise-cracking janitor Mr. Johnson, was also given a “generous raise,” according to the trade. He only became a series regular in the second season, but according to the trade, he will be pulling in $100,000 an episode.

School is back in session for the fourth season of Abbott Elementary on Oct. 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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