Entertainment

The producers of the upcoming 96th Academy Awards have announced the first round of presenters for this year’s telecast, which airs live on ABC on Sunday, March 10.

The previous year’s Academy Award winners traditionally present the trophies to their successors in their respective categories, and to that end, the stars of last year’s biggest winner, Everything Everywhere All at Once, will be on hand. That film’s Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actress Jamie Lee Curtis and Best Supporting Actor Ke Huy Quan were among the first round of presenters named.

Similarly, Brendan Fraser, who won the Best Actor trophy last year for The Whale, will be taking the stage this year.

Oscar winners Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Al Pacino, Mahershala Ali, Lupita Nyong’o, Jessica Lange and Matthew McConaughey will have their time at the podium this year, as will three-time nominee Michelle Pfeiffer and two-time Emmy winner Zendaya.

More presenters will be announced as the awards show approaches.

Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the 96th Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide from Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. This year, the show will begin at 7 p.m. ET.

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The movie 8 Mile turned 20 years old back in 2022, and co-star Mekhi Phifer tells ABC Audio he still can’t get over that.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been this long,” the star of the new thriller Lights Out says.

“When you start out with these projects, you never know how impactful it’s going to be, if it’s going to last or stand the test of time.” Calling it a “classic,” Mekhi now says, “I can’t imagine a world where I didn’t do 8 Mile, where initially I was going to turn it down.”

Mekhi said he had thought the project was “a joke,” explaining, “even though I loved Eminem‘s music and everything … I thought that Hollywood or the powers that be was just riding off his success, and not that he was a very passionate artist, which I found out once we got together.”

Of course, one of the most enduring legacies of the Curtis Hanson-directed film is “Lose Yourself,” Em’s Oscar-winning song.

Phifer still can’t get over the fact that he’s personally name-dropped in the track. “Oh my God. I mean — nobody could write that script,” the actor says with a laugh.

“We were shooting late night in Detroit. It was maybe, I don’t know, 2 in the morning. And [Eminem] was like, ‘Yo, man, I put your name in the song … come listen to it.'”

Mekhi recalls with a laugh, “I didn’t ask for anything. Obviously, you can’t ask Eminem to do anything … You know, though, he’s his own man. So for him to do that, it was, it was very cool.” 

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In December, Prime Video’s action series Reacher was renewed for a third season even before its second season dropped, but star Alan Ritchson admitted to ABC Audio he was still worried about the fate of his show.

“When season one came out, I got a call on Saturday morning about how the numbers were already sort of at a record setting level, and I expected that same call [for] season two,” he recalls while promoting his new movie with Hilary Swank, Ordinary Angels.

“So when I didn’t get a call Saturday, Sunday, I’m back at work Monday. Nobody’s talking about [it]. And I was like, ‘Oh, we’re going to get canceled.’ Like, It’s like the numbers aren’t the same. Like nobody wants to talk about it. This is bad news.”

He explained he even phoned his wife, Catherine, and told her he was preparing “for us to be out of a job.”

Ritchson says, “She’s like, ‘It’s okay, babe. Like, you know, We could be plumbers. Like, We got each other … We’ll find a way to make it.'”

Of course, the star was relieved to find his fears were unfounded. “I found out later that day that … we’d grown … by over 50%,” he explains.

Ritchson adds, “But I’m, you know, I’m always nervous that we’re … resting on our laurels. So it’s been refreshing to know that … we’ve got an audience.” 

As reported, season 3 of Reacher is now in production.

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Ricki Lake is feeling proud.

The former talk show host shared results from her and her husband Ross Burningham‘s recent weight loss journey, telling fans via Instagram Saturday that they each lost over 30 pounds.

Alongside some before and after transformation photos, Lake wrote in the caption about what she has “been up to these last 4 months.”

“On October 26th, 2023 I made a commitment to myself to get healthier,” she wrote, adding Ross joined her. “Together we have each lost 30+ lbs.”

Lake continued, “I really want to share, because we did this without relying on a pharmaceutical. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.) But neither of us were pre diabetic and both of us felt like we wanted to at least try and do it on our own.”

In the note, Lake shared her initial concern before beginning the weight loss journey, writing, “Being 55 and in perimenopause, I … would not drop the lbs like it had in the past.”

“I am so so proud of us. I feel amazing. I feel strong,” she added, explaining she will “go in depth in another post of what I did exactly.” “This is the healthiest way I’ve lost weight in all of my years,” she said.

Lake and Burningham celebrated their third anniversary together earlier this month.

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Past Lives was named best feature and Celine Song best director for her work on the film at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, handed out on Sunday, February 25 in Santa Monica. Da’Vine Joy Randolph took home best supporting performance honors for her role in The Holdovers, and her co-star, Dominic Sessa, won the trophy for best breakthrough performance. American Fiction‘s Cord Jefferson and Jeffrey Wright won Spirit Awards for best screenplay and lead performance, respectively. On the TV side, Beef was named best new scripted series, with Ali Wong copping best lead performance for her role in the show. Finally, Nick Offerman grabbed best supporting performance in a new scripted series for The Last of Us, with the show’s Keivonn Montreal Woodard nabbing best breakthrough performance for HBO’s heralded video game adaptation. The complete list of winners can be found at the Film Independent Spirit Awards website …

Kenneth Mitchell, best known for playing multiple roles in Star Trek: Discovery, as well as Carol Danvers‘ dad in Captain Marvel, died Saturday, February 24, after a five-year battle with ALS, his family shared on social media. He was 49. Mitchell played four characters over three seasons of Star Trek: Discovery: Kol, Kol-Sha, Tenavik and Aurellio. He also played World War II flyer Deke Slayton in ABC’s series The Astronaut Wives Club …

Once Upon a Time alum Chris Gauthier died Friday, February 23, at the age of 48, according to a statement obtained by TVLine. Gauthier died “after a short illness,” his manager tells the outlet. Gauthier’s film credits included 40 Days and 40 Nights, Agent Cody Banks and Freddy vs. Jason …

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Bob Marley: One Love spent its second week atop the domestic box office with an estimated $13.5 million domestic haul. The biopic, starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the legendary reggae artist, has delivered $71.1 million in North America and $49.4 million internationally, to bring its worldwide tally to $120.5 million.

Second place went to Sony’s animated feature Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — to the Hashira Training, grabbing an estimated $11.6 million in North America.

Ordinary Angels, the faith-based film starring Hilary Swank, opened in third place, collecting an estimated $6.5 million at the domestic box office, edging past Sony/Marvel’s Madame Web, which took in an estimated $6 million. After two weeks, the Dakota Johnson-led film, has earned a total of $35.4 million.

Rounding out the top five was Migration. The animated feature, in its fifth week of release, grabbed an estimated $3 million, for a 10-week total of $120 million.

The Ethan Coen-helmed Drive-Away Dolls opened in eighth place with an estimated $2.4 million.

Elsewhere, the Sydney Sweeney/Glen Powell-led rom-com Anyone but You, crossed the $200 million threshold at the global box office.

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The 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards took place on Saturday, February 24, in Los Angeles. Among the big winners were Oppenheimer, The Bear and Beef.

Other highlights included a reunion of The Devil Wears Prada stars Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, Billie Eilish autographing superfan Melissa McCarthy‘s forehead, and Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper presenting Barbra Streisand with the SAG Life Achievement Award. Viewers also heard some uncensored swearing, since the ceremony streamed live on Netflix.

Here are all the winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Oppenheimer

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Steven Yeun – Beef

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Ali Wong – Beef

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Pedro Pascal – The Last of Us

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Succession

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
The Bear

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
The Last of Us
 

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The new drama Ordinary Angels is now in theaters, starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank and Reacher lead Alan Ritchson.

Based on a true story, Ritchson plays Ed Schmitt, a blue-collar widower who lost his wife to a rare liver disease that was passed on to their two daughters. Crushed by his loss, and the medical debt from his wife and his daughters’ illnesses, he needs a miracle.

Enter Swank’s Sharon Stevens, a small-town hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to save his youngest daughter’s life when she desperately needs a liver transplant.

As in real life, Stevens doesn’t take “no” for an answer. “She was so much fun to play,” Swank said. “She’s just a ball of life. I love her.”

“There’s such a responsibility, I think, to play a real-life person. … because you want to do justice to that person,” Swank adds. “But Sharon was just so gracious about, you know, about ‘Just play it how you like,’ you know, ‘Just do your thing. You just shine your own light and do it.’ Which was very gracious.”

Apparently, it worked: Ritchson ran into the real Sharon at the movie’s recent premiere and said she gushed, “‘Hilary nailed it!'”

The movie centers on Ed’s crisis of faith and how prayers can be answered by, as the title suggests, ordinary angels among us. But Ritchson says it’s not a “faith-based film,” per se.

“It just … seemed like a great story,” Ritchson says.

“And I think that’s where we should be approaching any story that we tell, faith-based or otherwise. ‘Is this an excellent story? And are we … striving for excellence in how we relate to this?'”  

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Ballerina, a spinoff set in the John Wick universe, was supposed to be coming out in June. However, Lionsgate bumped the Ana De Armas-led action movie by a whole year.

And thanks to Wick mainstay Ian McShane, we now know why.

Appearing on the BBC chat program The One Show, McShane spilled that the movie apparently wasn’t up to snuff and “not reshoots, but new shoots” were ordered by Wick series director Chad Stahelski, producer of the Len Wiseman-directed film.

The interview has yet to be available on the network’s website, but a Twitter user posted the conversation.

“You know, it’s like they’ve got to protect the franchise,” explained the actor, who plays The Continental’s manager Winston Scott in the Wick films.

“We did [Ballerina] about a year ago … and Chad’s come in, the guy who directed all the John Wick movies, and they want to make it better. Because they have to protect it.”

McShane also revealed that the Man in Black himself, Keanu Reeves, also appears in the movie, as Ballerina “takes place between John Wick 3 and John Wick 4.”

And incidentally, while McShane seemed to regard Ballerina kindly, he didn’t have much to say about The Continental, the prequel series about his character’s younger days.

McShane seemed to recoil when One Show co-host Ant McPartlin mentioned he’d watched it. McShane, however, did not. “Why would I?” he asked.

“They never asked anybody about it. They just went and did it,” he continued. “Somebody asked Keanu and me about it. We both went, ‘I don’t know. Nobody ever asked us about it.'”

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While not every celebrity uses their social media to sell products, the Australian online casino guide BestAUCasinoSites looked into the Instagram profiles for top celebrity power couples to determine how much potential earning power they have.

With more than 431 million followers between them, Timothée Chalamet and his new squeeze Kylie Jenner were deemed the most potentially influential. Indeed, People recently said a single post from Kylie is the equivalent of $1 million worth of traditional advertising.

Coming in second was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his wife since 2019, Lauren Hashian. They boast some 397.4 million combined followers. However, as in the gym, The Rock does the heavy lifting here. The wrestler-turned-movie star plugs his many entrepreneurial ventures in play on socials, including his Zoa energy drink line. He could potentially make up to $830,000 per sponsored post, the website says.

Third place belongs to newly announced couple Kim Kardashian and Odell Beckham Jr. With a combined 381.9 million followers, Kim’s the big draw; she could earn a maximum of $777,700 per sponsored post, while pro athlete Odell could earn up to $76,200.

Fourth place went to Zendaya and Tom Holland. They have a total of over 251 million followers — though 184.8 million of those are hers.

The Dune franchise star could make $461,600 per post “if she so wished,” the site says. Her Spider-Man co-star boyfriend has an on-again, off-again relationship with social media, though he currently has around 66.2 million followers.

Kevin Hart and wife Eniko round out the top five with 183.5 million followers combined. Hart reportedly makes up to $452,000 per sponsored post, the site says.

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

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