Entertainment

For fans of physical media, to quote Darth Vader, “This will be a day long remembered”: Disney has decided to release some of its biggest streaming Star Wars and Marvel Studios shows on Blu-ray/4K UHD for the first time.

Four new Collector’s Editions of high-profile Disney+ shows will be up for grabs, starting on April 30: Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Complete First Season, Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight: The Complete First Season, Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi – The Complete Series and Star Wars: Andor – The Complete First Season.

Each will come packaged in steelbook cases with “concept art cards and some never-before-seen bonus features,” per Disney, which is the parent of ABC News.

All titles will be available to preorder from March 12.

The decision is a win for those who have been holding out on subscribing to the streaming service or have let their subscriptions lapse.

Aficionados of physical media, aside from being completists who like collecting their favorite movies, are growing impatient with the rising cost of streaming services and the provider’s ability to edit or remove content at their will.

While DVD sales took a major dive as streaming services grew, the industry still generates $1.34 billion a year in annual sales, according to the analysts at Next TV.

Quoting the Digital Entertainment Group, The Wrap recently reported 4K Blu-ray sales rose almost 6% at the tail end of 2023 versus 2022 — and jumped 20% overall.

Filmmakers like Oscar-nominated director Christopher Nolan have also expressed their preferences for the Blu-ray/4K format over streaming.

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Five months after they were first spotted together, sparking romance rumors, Lupita Nyong’o and Joshua Jackson seemed to confirm their relationship during her birthday getaway to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on March 3, E! News reports.

The actors were seen holding hands, running into the ocean and passionately kissing each other, E! reports. A source also tells the outlet that Jackson arranged for Nyong’o to receive a big balloon display and bouquet of flowers at their hotel suite on her actual birthday, March 1.

A source told People, “They only had eyes for each other all weekend. They kept kissing, laughing and just had the best time.”

Speculation that the two were dating started in October following Jackson’s split from his wife, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Nyong’o’s breakup with boyfriend Selema Masekela.

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Ted Lasso writer and star Brendan Hunt and his fiancée Shannon Nelson have welcomed their second child together.

Hunt, 51, revealed on Instagram that Archibald Felix Nelson Hunt — Archie, for short — was born at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Friday, March 1, three days before his due date.

“He’s in perfect health, and his weary hero of a mother @snoopshann is recovering peacefully,” Hunt captioned the post, which included a slideshow of the newborn with various family members.

“He looks just like his brother; not sure about hair color yet tho … He’s beautiful and perfect and we are in love,” he added. “I don’t know if he’s our George (youngest Beatle) or our Ringo (last Beatle to join) but we are now a Fabulous Foursome and ready to rock forever.”

Nelson shared the same photos on her Instagram, along with the caption, “Meet Archie Felix Nelson Hunt. Born roaring on Friday 3/1/24 at 11:06pm. 9lbs 3.4oz and 21 inches long.”

“Your mom and dad, big brother Seanie and Lucy are so completely in love and so lucky you decided to join us so our family hugs will only be stronger. I love you my sweet baby,” she added.

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Jake Gyllenhaal paid tribute to the late Patrick Swayze ahead of the release of the Road House remake, which premieres later this month.

In an Instagram post shared Sunday, March 3, featuring a throwback photo of Gyllenhaal and Swayze together, Gyllenhaal, 43, reflected on the time he and Swayze, who died of pancreatic cancer in September 2009, worked together during the filming of their 2001 thriller, Donnie Darko.

“I’ve been thinking back about my time working with Patrick on Donnie Darko, and rewatching this great man in the original Road House plus so many other films. I’ve never stopped being a fan,” he wrote in the caption, noting that Swayze “was such a talent,” and adding, “I continue to have so much respect and admiration for what he put out and into the world.”

“I’ll never forget his kindness to me when I was starting out — he didn’t have to take the time, but he always did,” he continued. “We’ve made a different RH this time around, but hoping it’s one he would’ve had fun watching!”

The tribute comes just weeks prior to the premiere of the 1989 classic remake, in which Gyllenhaal plays the main character, Dalton.

The “reimagined take” follows the story of an ex-UFC fighter who gains employment as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, “but soon discovers that not everything is what it seems in this tropical paradise,” according to Amazon Studios.

The original 1989 Road House saw Swayze playing a smooth talking, hard-hitting bouncer.

In addition to Gyllenhaal, the Douglas Liman-directed movie also stars Billy Magnussen, Daniela Melchior, Gbemisola Ikumelo and UFC icon Conor McGregor.

Road House is available to stream on Prime Video beginning March 21.

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CBS announced on Monday, March 4, that it has renewed Tracker for a second season. The drama series, based on Jeffery Deaver‘s bestselling novel The Never Game, stars Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, “a lone-wolf survivalist who roams the country as a reward seeker, using his expert tracking skills to help private citizens and law enforcement solve all manner of mysteries while contending with his own fractured family,” per the network. Tracker airs Sundays on CBS …

Dune: Part Two actress Rebecca Ferguson has been tapped to star opposite Guardians of the Galaxy franchise star Chris Pratt in the MGM Amazon sci-fi thriller Mercy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The thriller, set in the near future when serious crimes are on the rise, stars Pratt as a detective who finds finds himself accused of a violent crime and having to prove his innocence, per the outlet …

Bridge of Spies actor Austin Stowell has been cast as the younger version of Mark Harmon’s NCIS character Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the upcoming prequel, NCIS: Origins. Set in 1991, the new show “follows a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs … as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks,” per CBS. NCIS: Origins was previously ordered to series for the 2024-25 broadcast season …

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A momentous record was set when the nominations for the 96th annual Academy Awards were announced in January – three films directed by women were nominated for Best Picture, more in the same year than ever before.

Among the films nominated were Celine Song’s Past Lives, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that at least one film directed by a woman has been nominated for Best Picture. There have only ever been four previous years where more than one film directed by a woman has been included in the lineup – and there have never been more than two.

In 2009, Lone Scherfig and Kathryn Bigelow’s films An Education and The Hurt Locker were nominated; 2010 saw Lisa Cholodenko and Debra Granik’s movies The Kids Are All Right and Winter’s Bone get nods; 2020 found Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell’s films Nomadland and Promising Young Woman up for the award, while the following year saw Siân Heder and Jane Campion’s films CODA and The Power of the Dog nominated.

Gerwig also made history by becoming the first director – man or woman – to have all three of their solo-directed films nominated for Best Picture. Her slate includes Lady Bird, Little Women (2019) and Barbie.

Song reflected on her film’s two nominations – she also picked up a nod in the Best Original Screenplay category – with ABC Audio at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon on February 12.

“My favorite kind of feedback around Past Lives is when an audience member or somebody who has just seen the movie … comes up to me and says, ‘I actually I just wanted to tell you that, I needed this movie,'” Song said. “To have made a movie that somebody needs, like, what an incredible gift is that?”

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LeBron James has another reason to smile, days after becoming the first NBA player in history to score 40,000 points in a career on Saturday night.

King James is teaming up with The History Channel for three new documentaries, the network announced on Monday, explaining the projects will “prioritize largely unknown historical stories that put diverse changemakers at the forefront of each narrative.”

The first will be Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics, about the track and field star’s Hitler-shaming four-gold-medal-winning performance at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. It will be narrated by Don Cheadle.

The second has a working title of Jim Thorpe and will center on the “the life and legacy of the United States’ first Native American Olympic gold medalist.” It will “explore what it means to be American through the pivotal intersection of identity and sport.”

The third project has yet to be revealed.

The documentaries will be produced SpringHill, LeBron and Maverick Carter‘s production company.

In the announcement, James said, “The SpringHill Company was created to tell important stories and, through this partnership with The History Channel, we’re able to do that on a whole new level.”

He added, “With these documentaries, we want to share those meaningful moments and figures in history that matter with a whole new generation and continue to empower and inspire through storytelling.”

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Following his health scare last year, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx recently told his fans he’s “got a story to tell,” and will apparently do it in an upcoming special.

On Sunday, when accepting the African American Film Critics Association’s Producer Award, Foxx revealed he will be finally shedding light on exactly what happened to him on April 11 of last year.

According to People, Jamie said, “I had some people in my life that really made sure I was here because it was dire straits.”

He added, “Everybody wants to know what happened and I’m gonna tell you what happened but I got to do it in my way,” and revealed he’ll tell all in a comedy special.

As reported, Foxx was hospitalized in April for what his daughter Corinne only described as a “health complication,” and controversy surrounded his condition for months.

In December of last year, he made his first public appearance at the Critics Choice Movie Awards, and revealed, “I’ve been through some things. You know, it’s crazy I couldn’t do that six months ago, I couldn’t actually walk,” adding it was “almost over” for him.

On Monday, Fox revealed that Jamie will return as host and executive producer of the hit interactive music game show Beat Shazam, again alongside Corinne.

The pair stepped aside from the sixth season of the show while Jamie recuperated, and Nick Cannon subbed as host; Anthony Anderson took over as host of another Foxx-produced Fox game show, We Are Family.

Fox Entertainment’s president of unscripted entertainment, Allison Wallach, called Jamie and Corinne “the heart and soul of Beat Shazam,” adding it’s “wonderful” to have the “undeniably dynamic father-daughter hosting team … back on set this season.”

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Kumail Nanjiani has apparently checked into Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building.

One of the stars of the upcoming Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will play an “integral” part of the fourth season’s investigation, Variety reported exclusively on Monday.

The role the Obi-Wan Kenobi veteran will be playing is still being kept under wraps, according to the trade. Indeed, Hulu is still mum about the development.

His addition to the cast is just the latest from the Emmy-nominated comedy: Recently, Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek co-creator Eugene Levy and Flamin’ Hot director and producer Eva Longoria were announced as new cast members for the series led by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez.

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Get in, loser, we’re going streaming.

The new musical movie adaptation of Mean Girls is coming to Paramount+ on Tuesday, March 5.

The film starring Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Avantika, Jaquel Spivey, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Jon Hamm and Ashley Park, and featuring creator Tina Fey, made more than $102 million worldwide since its theatrical release January 12. 

Incidentally, the film was supposed to be a streaming-only project, but Variety says the studio pushed for a theatrical run after positive test screenings — and it paid off. 

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