Thor: Love and Thunder officially opened Friday, but thanks to sneak preview screenings on Thursday, the movie made nearly 30 million bucks. Deadline reports that performance was the second-best sneak preview haul of 2022 behind the $36 million made by another Marvel Studios film: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The all-time sneak preview champ for the MCU was 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which took in $60 million in the U.S. before its official opening date.
Thor: Love and Thunder, which stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, writer-director Taika Waititi, Christian Bale, and Russell Crowe, has made an additional $48.6 million from the foreign box office, totaling up to nearly $78 million worldwide.
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Jennifer Aniston took to her Instagram to urge donations to a fund set up on behalf of a crew member on The Morning Show, who died in a motorcycle crash on July 4.
Erik Gunnar Mortensen, 39, was killed in the accident on a Southern California highway, leaving behind a wife, Keely, and their 2-year-old son Lars.
“This past week we suddenly and tragically lost Gunnar Mortensen,” Aniston posted, calling him, “One of the bright lights on our @themorningshow set.”
She added, “As camera assistant, he was so skilled and dedicated to his job. We are going to miss you, Gunnar.”
The Emmy-nominated actress and producer also pointed her 40.7 million followers to a GoFundMe set up by Mortensen’s union, Local 600, “to help raise funds for his family at this difficult time.” As of Friday, the campaign has raised more than $130,000.
Among those who have kicked in include E.R. director Mimi Leder, who donated $5,000, Mark and Jay Duplass, who directed Uncut Gems and who matched that sum, and The Morning Show‘s Billy Crudup, who donated $3,000.
Netflix’s smash Stranger Things was on the minds — and in the living rooms — of American audiences, according to the latest ranking of streaming service aggregator app Reelgood.
Based on data from the app’s five million users in the U.S., the series topped the competition for the period of June 30 through July 6, besting #2-ranked series The Terminal List, starring Chris Pratt, on Amazon Prime.
Coming in third was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which hit Disney+ on June 22; Jeff Bridges‘ FX series The Old Man came up in fourth place, thanks to its streaming on Hulu.
In fifth place was another Hulu hit, The Only Murders in the Building.
“Robocop” – Orion Pictures Corporation/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
The seminal sci-fi action movie Robocop turns 35 on July 17, and to help celebrate, video game developer Nacon has released a trailer for its upcoming release Robocop: Rogue City.
The film’s original star, Peter Weller, returns to voice his titular character, who was a cop named Alex Murphy until he was “killed” in the line of duty and reborn as the cyborg cop.
The trailer shows the city of Detroit as the crime-infested hellscape it was in the beloved 1987 film and lets players step into the alloy boots of the cybernetic hero to clean up the town.
The footage teases classic Robocop touches like his heads-up-display targeting system and, of course, a tangle with the monstrous ED-209 urban pacification robot.
The trailer ends with Robo approaching the screen and uttering Weller’s classic line, “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.”
The game will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and for download on Steam.
The fourth Thor film from Marvel Studios, Thor: Love and Thunder, lands in theaters today.
The movie sees Chris Hemsworth‘s “space viking” going from “Dad bod to God bod,” shedding the pounds he was carrying in Avengers: Endgame and going on a journey of self-discovery.
Interrupting that is Christian Bale‘s Gorr the God Butcher, a formerly devout man whose god failed him, so he sets about slaying them all — including Thor.
Hemsworth recently admitted he was tiring of the character he’s portrayed onscreen since 2010 — until an infusion of fun came with writer-director Taika Waititi‘s 2017 Thor: Ragnarok. The movie made more than $854 million worldwide and reinvigorated the actor’s passion for the role.
“There was this sort of North Star, is about having fun…not getting bogged down in the serious sort of nature that we can when making films,” the actor said at a recent press event.
Hemsworth says of the director, “He loves it. He loves these stories. He loves these characters. He’s sitting there as a fan, would…telling you…what a fan would want to see…and everyone’s on board for it…”
Taika noted, “I’ve become friends with Chris. And I think just his personality and his energy and who he is the kind of person that I’d want to be on an adventure with,” adding, “I just want to tap into those qualities that he’s got and sort of make Thor more Chris, really.”
Thor: Love and Thunder implies we haven’t seen the last of the hero, about which Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige teases, “If we look at the comics as our guide, there are plenty of other incarnations of Thor that we’ve that we have yet to see.”
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.
Minari actor Steven Yeun has been tapped to star alongside Robert Pattinson in Oscar-winning Parasite filmmaker Bong Joon Ho’s next movie, according to Deadline. The yet-to-be-titled film will be a science fiction story based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, which followed an “expendable” — a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim — who refuses to let his replacement clone, dubbed Mickey8, take his place. Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette also star…
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reports Kazuki Takahashi, best known as the creator of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, was found dead Wednesday in Japan, according to Newsweek. He was 60. Takahashi’s body was found floating off the coast of Nago City in southern Japan’s Okinawa, wearing snorkeling equipment. The Coast Guard is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the death. A statement on the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game’s Twitter on Thursday said it was “shocked and saddened” by the news, adding that “Together with his countless fans,” the company will carry on the Yu-Gi-Oh! legacy “with all the love and care it deserves.” Newsweek reports the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise is estimated to have made some $17.1 billion…
The final season of NBC’s This Is Us leads all nominees in broadcast and cable for the 2nd annual Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards, revealed on Thursday. The show’s 12 nominations include broadcast network drama series, actress, actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, writing and directing. HBO’s Succession came in second place with 11 nominations, including cable drama series and six acting nominations, three directing nominations and one writing nomination. FX’s What We Do in the Shadows received eight nods, while ABC’s Abbott Elementary scored seven. FX’s Atlanta, Showtime’s Yellowjackets, HBO’s Euphoria and TBS’ Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail all landed six, and CBS’ Ghosts picked up five. The HCA’s broadcast network and cable awards will be held at The Beverly Hilton on Saturday, August 13, 2022, and stream the following night…
Black Bird, starring Taron Egerton and the late Ray Liotta, premieres Friday on Apple TV+. It tells the true story of a convicted drug dealer, played by Egerton, who can go free if he gets a confession from a serial killer and finds out where his victims are buried. He tells ABC Audio why the role was hard to pass up.
“It wasn’t something that I had done before and felt like, I guess, you know, the roles that I’m known for are all British roles,” he explains. “And to, I mean there’s a lot more to it than that, but there was certainly an appeal in playing not just the kind of archetypal kind of American hero role, but like a real three dimensional, complex, nuanced character from a very specific part of the country.”
I Tonya‘s Paul Walter Hauser plays the serial killer whose confession Egerton is trying to obtain in the series, and Hauser shares the secret to playing an effectively creepy character.
“You have to be willing to do an improvisational take or try something different without judging yourself because it might be brilliant and the editor might use it, and your self-doubt or your insecurity would stop you from giving your best work,” he shares. “You have to find the brilliance sometimes. You don’t just show up killing it. You got to find it most days.”
Asked whether the role gave him nightmares, Hauser says, “I have nightmares all the time, regardless of the content I’m making. So this is just like an extended nightmare where you get to live it throughout the day.”
Black Bird, starring Taron Egerton and the late Ray Liotta, premieres Friday on Apple TV+. It tells the true story of a convicted drug dealer, played by Egerton, who can go free if he gets a confession from a serial killer and finds out where his victims are buried. Egerton tells ABC Audio why the role was hard to pass up.
“It wasn’t something that I had done before and felt like, I guess, you know, the roles that I’m known for are all British roles,” he explains, adding “there was certainly an appeal in playing not just the kind of archetypal kind of American hero role, but like a real three dimensional, complex, nuanced character from a very specific part of the country.”
I Tonya‘s Paul Walter Hauser plays the serial killer whose confession Egerton is trying to obtain in the series. Hauser shares the secret to playing an effectively creepy character.
“You have to be willing to do an improvisational take or try something different without judging yourself because it might be brilliant and the editor might use it, and your self-doubt or your insecurity would stop you from giving your best work,” he shares. “You have to find the brilliance sometimes. You don’t just show up killing it. You got to find it most days.”
Asked whether the role gave him nightmares, Hauser says, “I have nightmares all the time, regardless of the content I’m making. So this is just like an extended nightmare where you get to live it throughout the day.”
Fans of Denzel Washington were wondering why the two-time Oscar winner was a no-show at the White House Thursday, and as it turns out, it’s because he tested positive for COVID.
“He feels fine,” a rep for the 67-year-old actor tells People.
The actor was to be feted with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. This year’s fellow honorees also included gold medalist Simone Biles, who at 25 became the youngest recipient of the Medal of Freedom.
Somewhat ironically, considering Denzel’s absence: One of the other recipients was Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse in New York, who became the first person in the United States to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the White House, all 17 awardees “demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation – hard work, perseverance, and faith.”
“They have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities – and across the world – while blazing trails for generations to come.”
One of the stars of A League of Their Own will be featured in Amazon’s forthcoming series adaptation of the 1992 hit.
Entertainment Weekly posted the first shot of O’Donnell as Vi, a bar owner who has a recurring role in the series. She’s apparently a “warm, gregarious” fan of the Rockford Peaches, the all-female team that takes up the national pastime when players go off to fight in World War II.
Rosie is shown wearing a grey, three-piece, pin-striped business suit in the photo.
Rosie played outspoken third basemen Doris Murphy in the Penny Marshall original, which also starred Oscar winners Geena Davis and Tom Hanks, along with Lori Petty and Madonna.
The new adaptation stars Broad City creator and star Abbi Jacobson, D’Arcy Carden, Kate Berlant and Chanté Adams. Itpromises to take, “a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the league and outside of it.”
