Entertainment

Variety reports HBO is working on a limited series based on Gillian Flynn‘s novel Dark Places. The plot follows Libby Day, the only survivor of a massacre that killed her two sisters and mother. Her testimony against her teenage brother leads to his conviction for the murders. Twenty-five years later, she meets a group of amateur detectives who believe her brother is innocent. The investigation reveals her brother’s secrets and how the murders unfolded that evening. A 2015 big-screen adaptation of Flynn’s Dark Places starring Charlize Theron did poorly at the box office, grossing just $5.1 million worldwide …

Husband-and-wife duo Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are reuniting for the first time in 20 years — on screen, that is — in the upcoming film Connescence, according to Deadline. Bacon plays an underachieving security guard who foils an attempted robbery at the home of a successful urologist, who is married to a brilliant former Watergate prosecutor, portrayed by Sedgwick and Judd Hirsch, respectively. The encounter evolves into a close friendship that shakes the foundation of both their lives, per the outlet. White Lotus star Brittany O’Grady also stars …

Keke Palmer has been tapped to star in the comedy Good Fortune opposite writer-director Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves, according to Variety. Palmer’s role, as well as plot details, are being kept under wraps. Good Fortune marks the second directorial debut for Ansari, whose first attempt, the comedic drama Being Mortal, was suspended over complaints of actor Bill Murray’s inappropriate behavior on set …

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While ABC’s Emmy-winning comedy Abbott Elementary had been donating a portion of its budget to supporting students in need since it first hit the air, the producers are taking it a step further ahead of show’s third season premiere on February 7.

ABC Audio has learned that on Thursday the Lunch Break with Abbott Elementary National Tour gets rolling in New York City.

According to the network, “The tour features a giant, street legal Abbott Elementary lunch box that will hit the road, traveling through 18 states from one side of the country to the other, starting in New York and ending in Los Angeles.”

Along the way, “The tour will be making stops to treat teachers in underserved school districts to a celebratory meal, and other goodies, to help spread joy and show our appreciation.”

At each stop, school staffers will be given special Abbott lunch boxes filled with beverages and food from local businesses, as well as a tote bag filled with school and desk supplies.

In total, the tour will be distributing more than 10,000 school supply items to teachers across the country.

Along the way, the lunchbox on wheels will be stopping by landmarks in some of the bigger cities, so be on the lookout for some Instagram opportunities — and the chance for your snap to be featured on the show’s official social pages using the tag @abbottelemabc.

The Lunch Break with Abbott Elementary National Tour takes off in New York, with stops planned in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Dallas before the tour ends in Los Angeles on February 14.

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Chita Rivera, the Broadway legend and trailblazing Latina actress, has died. She was 91 years old.

Lisa Mordente, Rivera’s daughter, said her mother died peacefully on Tuesday in New York City after a brief illness.

Born Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero in Washington, D.C., on January 23, 1933, Rivera was a trained ballet dancer from a young age and went on to study at the School of American Ballet before heading to Broadway.

Rivera was a triple threat, amassing 10 total Tony nominations and winning twice — the first time for The Rink in 1984 and then for Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993.

She also received nominations for Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Bring Back Birdie, Merlin, Jerry’s Girls, Nine, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life and The Visit.

In 2018, Rivera was awarded a Tony for lifetime achievement in theater, which included originating the roles of Anita in West Side Story, Rose Alvarez in Bye Bye Birdie and Velma Kelly in Chicago.

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On both his Instagram Stories and to People, Robert Downey Jr. has announced he’s gotten into the coffee game.

The Marvel movie star and Oppenheimer Oscar nominee has launched Happy Coffee, an endeavor with entrepreneur Craig Dubitsky, the guy behind the Hello dental care products and EOS lip balm.

On his Story, Downey plays a word association game with an unseen voice, who repeatedly asks him what he thinks of when he hears the word “happy.” Every time he’s prompted, RDJ replies with a different coffee-themed answer, from “latte luxury,” to “barista bliss,” to “filtered fantasy,” among others.

To People, Downey says, “I credit coffee, in part, for my sanity.” The 58-year-old star says he always starts his day with a cup of Joe. “I roll out of bed, I hit my knees. I have one of several prayers, usually of gratitude or just being like, ‘Please let me stay out of my way.’ And then I roll downstairs for coffee.”

His wife and producing partner Susan Downey agrees that Iron Man isn’t fully charged without his joe. “When we have some big day ahead of us, she’s like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, don’t talk to him yet,'” Downey explains.

Dubitsky and Downey have partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness in their effort, to boot. “Coffee sparks conversation,” Dubitsky tells People. “And loneliness is another big, big epidemic in this country. In some ways, we’re not in the coffee business, we’re in the happy business.”

According to the company’s website, the pair have given NAMI an equity stake in the coffee company “to further NAMI’s mission to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by mental health conditions.”

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Larry David, the Emmy-winning co-creator of Seinfeld and star of Curb Your Enthusiasm, is going live for a limited time.

A Conversation With Larry David will be held both at The Anthem venue in Washington, D.C., on March 29 and at Boston’s MGM Music Hall at Fenway on April 1.

Presale tickets are up for grabs starting Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET at Live Nation and Ticketmaster; general ticket sales will start at the same time on February 2.

In a statement to Variety, the acerbic David said, “Hi everyone! It’s Larry. I’m really looking forward to seeing you all. Just so you know, I’ve recently had plastic surgery on my face and the doctor, who everyone raved about, totally botched it, leaving me devoid of all expression.”

He concluded, “So if I seem more sour than usual, that’s the reason, but don’t let it stop you from having fun!”

Incidentally, Larry recently warned fans of a “pronounced lisp” because of a dental mishap blamed on his taking up the “Jew’s harp” when he announced he’d be attending this year’s PaleyFest LA.

Curb Your Enthusiasm‘s 12th and final season kicks off on Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and Max.

New episodes will debut subsequent Sundays at the same time leading up to the series finale on April 7.

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The SXSW Film & TV Festival announced Tuesday that The Idea of You, the forthcoming romantic comedy starring Oscar winner Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, will close this year’s fest, which runs March 8-16 in Austin, Texas.

Based on Robinne Lee‘s bestselling 2017 novel, co-producer and star Hathaway plays Solène, a divorced, 40-year-old single mom who finds herself in a relationship with Hayes, the 24-year-old star of the biggest boy band in the world, August Moon.

Galitzine plays the young singer who hits it off with Hathaway’s character in the film from former SXSW Film & TV Fest winner Michael Showalter.

In the announcement, Claudette Godfrey, VP of SXSW Film & TV, called The Idea of You a “sexy, unexpected masterpiece” that has a “fresh perspective on love, age, attraction, and the timeless nature of human connection.”

She adds, “We can’t wait for our audiences to have fun falling in love with Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine as their irresistible chemistry catches fire!”

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A new sitcom starring Reba McEntire is about to hit the small screens.

The country icon is joining forces once again with Reba executive producers Kevin Abbott, Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis for a new NBC comedy pilot.

According to Deadline, the multi-camera comedy follows Reba’s character who “inherits her father’s restaurant and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister she never knew she had.”

The as-yet-untitled show will be produced by Universal Studio Group’s Universal Television and will also be executive-produced by Julie Abbott.

Coming up, you can catch Reba performing the national anthem on the Super Bowl 58 pregame show February 11 on CBS. She’ll then return as coach on season 25 of The Voice, premiering February 26 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

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If you’re in trouble and if he were real, Americans would call attorney Harvey Specter.

The stylish and skilled law partner played by Gabriel Macht in Suits has topped a new list of the most popular fictional lawyers in America.

The study, conducted by Georgia-based injury lawyers Bader Scott, looked into Google search data for characters from movies and TV who are in the legal profession, and with 140,000 monthly searches, Harvey was the cream of the crop.

In fact, the legal drama-turned-streaming phenomenon birthed three of the list’s top 10 legal eagles.

Coming second was Saul Goodman, Bob Odenkirk‘s character from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, who had 131,411 average monthly searches.

Louis Litt, Rick Hoffman‘s scheming Suits character, ranked third with 85,188 searches.

Fourth place went to Gomez Addams of The Addams Family — yes, he was a man of the law, too. He got 82,070 searches on average.

In fifth place was Harvey Dent/Two-Face, known to Batman fans as Gotham City’s district attorney. He was played by Aaron Eckhart in 2008’s The Dark Knight, by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever in 1995 and by Billy Dee Williams in Tim Burton‘s 1989 Batman.

Sixth place went to Kerry Washington‘s Olivia Pope from Scandal; the seventh slot belonged to Reese Witherspoon‘s Legally Blonde character Elle Woods; Gina Torres‘ Jessica Pearson from Suits was eighth, and finishing the top 10 was Matt Murdock/Daredevil, most recently portrayed by Charlie Cox in Spider-Man: No Way Home on the big screen and Echo on Disney+.

Meanwhile, speaking of Suits, Torres, Hoffman and Sarah Rafferty will appear together in a court-themed Super Bowl ad for e.l.f. cosmetics, according to a sneak peek from People.

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On Location Tours, which take guests to famous sites seen onscreen in TV and movies, has announced its launching a special New York City tour stop to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Nanny.

And on January 31, that tour will be free for nannies and au pairs — style, flair, joie de vivre not required.

The beloved six-season sitcom, of course, starred Fran Drescher in the title role: Fran Fine, a fired bridal shop employee who found herself tending to the family of a wealthy English Broadway producer, played by Charles Shaughnessy.

The tour, which swings by some 60 filming locations in and around New York City, will be making an exclusive stop at The Sheffields’ House from the show for fun photo-ops at 11:30 a.m. ET.

There will also be trivia questions from the show, with prizes for the biggest Fran fan.

“This unique experience invites nannies to step into the world of Fran Fine and the Sheffield family, immersing themselves in the glamour and humor that made the show a beloved classic,” On Locations teases.

Check out the details at onlocationtours.com.

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Sherlock Holmes director Guy Ritchie is back in action with Henry Cavill, Reacher bruiser Alan Ritchson and more in the trailer to the forthcoming action-comedy The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

Based on the WWII-set book of the same name by Damien Lewis and inspired by true events, the movie depicts how the British military set a “motley crew of rogues and mavericks” loose on the Nazi war machine.

Their unconventional — and yes, ungentlemanly — style laid the groundwork for the special forces teams the world over.

“We’re losing the war,” Winston Churchill says in the trailer. “Hitler’s not playing by the rules, so neither will we.”

To that end, the footage shows Cavill as Gus March-Phillipps, who is tapped by a government official, played by Carey Elwes, to undertake an unsanctioned mission to destroy Hitler’s U-boat grip on the North Atlantic.

“If I’m to do this, I’ll need my own team,” March-Phillipps says, adding, “You won’t like them. They’re all mad.”

The team includes Ritchson, Baby Driver‘s Eiza González, In Time‘s Alex Pettyfer, Babs Olusanmokun from Dune and Inglourious Basterds’ Til Schweiger, among others. The coming attraction — set cheekily to Queen‘s “Another One Bites the Dust” — shows them mowing down, blowing up, stabbing and slashing their way through the Third Reich — and looking like they’re having a ball doing it.

Incidentally, in real life, one of the strategists who devised the team was Ian Fleming, the former British Naval Intelligence officer-turned-author who created James Bond.

There’s no release date yet for the movie, which was produced by Top Gun’s Jerry Bruckheimer.

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