Entertainment

Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Julianne Moore, and Joaquin Phoenix were among 200-plus filmmakers who signed an open letter to Toronto International Film Festival CEO Cameron Bailey to protest the festival’s sponsor Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). According to Deadline, the stars blasted the institution as a “world-leading enabler of fossil fuel extraction” and its alleged, “indiscriminate enabling of projects” on Indigenous lands…

Netflix’s beloved dramedy, Sex Education, dropped the first full-length trailer for its highly anticipated fourth and final season On Tuesday, September 13, giving fans a glimpse of what’s to come. This season sees Otis Milburn, portrayed by Asa Butterfield, and Ncuti Gatwa‘s [Shoo-ti Gat-wa] Eric Effiong embarking on a new chapter at Cavendish Sixth Form College. The trailer promises answers to lingering relationship questions as Otis and Emma Mackey‘s Maeve navigate the challenges of long-distance dating. Meanwhile, Jean, portrayed by, Gillian Anderson juggles single parenthood and supporting Otis, and Dan Levy reprises his role as Maeve’s tutor in America. Season 4 of Sex Education drops September 21…

Netflix has unveiled the chilling trailer for The Fall of the House of Usher, a series by Mike Flanagan based on Edgar Allan Poe‘s tale. The show delves into the lives of siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher, portrayed by Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonnell, respectively, who lead the Fortunato Pharmaceuticals empire, cloaked in wealth and power. As the family’s dark history resurfaces, heirs from the dynasty meet sinister ends, orchestrated by a mysterious woman from their past. The trailer offers a spine-tingling preview of the impending horrors. The Fall of the House of Usher premieres on October 12th…

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The Morning Show returns to Apple TV+ for its third season on Wednesday, September 13, and executive producer Lauren Neustadter says there is even more behind-the-scenes drama in store for the news team at UBA.

At the head of that team is Jennifer Aniston as Alex Levy and Reese Witherspoon as Bradley Jackson; Neustadter says they find themselves navigating the newsroom’s ever-shifting power dynamics this time around.

“There’s a lot around power. How do you use it and how do you wield it?” Neustadter said. “As you saw in the trailer, there’s a hack. The hack is going to uncover a lot of secrets and a lot of truths are going to be revealed. And then I think that puts everyone sort of spinning. And the question is, what are they going to do, and where are they going to go now?”

Jon Hamm joins the cast this season as Paul Marks, a role that Neustadter calls “very complex.”

“You never really know what he’s got going on and what he’s got up his sleeve,” Neustadter said. “He is constantly keeping us on the edge of our seats and subverting expectation in many instances in really, really interesting ways.”

And with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Aniston, Witherspoon and the rest of the ensemble are not promoting the upcoming season. Neustadter says not having their voices as part of the conversation is “a bummer.”

“I think we all hope that we can get back to talking together about everything soon. That this can all reach a resolution so that we can all be in the conversation together, because I think we’re all very proud of this show and we can’t wait for the world to see it,” Neustadter said.

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The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards was nothing short of a party Tuesday night.

Taylor Swift was the night’s big winner and was also part of the night’s most talked about moment: the reunion of *NSYNC. Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and JC Chasez took the stage together to present the award for Best Pop, which went to Taylor.

“I’m not doing well pivoting from this to this,” Taylor said as she pointed at the boy band then to her moon person. “Like, I had your dolls. You’re pop personified so to receive this from your golden pop hands is really, it’s too much.”

Swift also snagged Song of the Year, Best Direction and Video of the Year during the broadcast — all for her song “Anti-Hero.” In total, she won nine VMAs, tying the record for most wins in one night and securing the second-most overall wins of any artist ever.

The night’s star-packed performer lineup included Olivia Rodrigo, who graced the stage with a two-hit medley of “vampire” and “get him back,” the latest tracks from her recently released sophomore album GUTS.

Demi Lovato rocked out to the rock versions of hits like “Heart Attack” and “Cool for the Summer,” while Doja Cat treated fans to a trio of her latest hits “Attention,” “Paint the Town Red” and “Demons.”

Shakira was this year’s recipient of the Video Vanguard Award and before accepting the honor, she dished out a medley of her iconic songs, including “She Wolf,” “Whenever, Wherever,” and “Hips Don’t Lie.” The milestone was a history-making one for Shakira as she is the first South American artist to ever receive the Video Vanguard Award.

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Should you choose to accept it — or not, it’s happening anyway — Tom Cruise‘s latest impossible mission is coming home.

And while Cruise once again risked his life for the sake of thrilling audiences, you get to watch from the comfort of your couch when Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One premieres on digital on October 10.

The film that made more than $563 million worldwide, and which also stars Ving Rhames, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg and Pom Klementieff, among others, comes to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on October 31.

The home release of Christopher McQuarrie‘s movie shows the lengths Cruise went to to keep audiences thrilled this time around — including famously jumping a motorcycle off a mountain, which turned into a hair-raising skydiving sequence.

There are also commentaries; exclusive looks at the making of the globe-trotting film that took audiences to Abu Dhabi, Rome and Venice; and a breakdown of the movie’s intense opening sequence, as well as the stunt driving Cruise did while handicapped to Marvel movie vet Atwell.

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Shia LaBeouf announced on Tuesday, September 12, via social media that his run in his stage debut has been extended.

As reported, he took to the boards at Venice California’s Electric Lodge venue on September 1 in Henry Johnson, a new play from Pulitzer-winning writer David Mamet.

The drama was to run through September 24, but the actor explained, “Due to popular demand, the dates have been extended to 10/7.”

Indeed, tickets for many upcoming shows are sold out, according to the venue’s website.

Of his collaborators, also including co-stars David Paymer, A Different World‘s Dominic Hoffman and The Night House co-star Evan Jonigkeit, an “overjoyed” LaBeouf enthused on Tuesday, “The dedication of my dance partners is inspiring. The play is starting to pull us now.”

LaBeouf previously said he was “incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to work with David Mamet. His talent and creativity are unparalleled, and it is truly an honor to collaborate with arguably our greatest living playwright.”

LaBeouf, who weathered headlines and a lawsuit alleging he had been abusive to his former romantic partner FKA Twigs in 2020, has embraced sobriety after previous failed attempts and run-ins with the law.

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The UFC and WWE have formally merged, according to an announcement on September 12.

UFC, the mixed martial arts juggernaut, and Vince McMahon‘s World Wrestling Entertainment made it official on Tuesday morning, with WWE superstars Bianca Belair and Montez Ford ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange, where the united companies began trading under their new banner, TKO Group.

Endeavor, the mega agency that has become a global sports and entertainment company, and which owns UFC, declared, “TKO brings together UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and WWE, an integrated media organization and the recognized global leader in sports entertainment, to create a new premium sports and entertainment company serving more than one billion young and diverse fans, reaching viewers in 180 countries, and producing more than 350 annual live events.”

Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor and TKO, trumpeted in part, “With UFC and WWE under one roof, we will provide unrivaled experiences for more than a billion passionate fans worldwide.”

For his part, former WWE head McMahon, now an executive chairman of TKO, previously said of the merger, “Together, we will be a $21+ billion live sports and entertainment powerhouse.”

McMahon, the longtime face of WWE, stepped down as the company’s chief executive in 2022 amid an investigation into alleged hush payments to women who accused him of sexual misconduct, according to Variety.

He returned to the company in January 2023 as executive chairman and spearheaded the efforts to sell the company.

Dana White, the outspoken former president of UFC, is now chief executive officer of that company.

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On Tuesday, September 12, Paramount+ debuted the creepy trailer to Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, the new film based on the 1983 Stephen King classic.

The new prequel film, which stars David Duchovny, Jackson White from Tell Me Lies, Forrest Goodluck from the forthcoming Lawmen: Bass Reeves and Henry Thomas from E.T. and Gangs of New York, debuts on the streaming service October 6, just in time for the spooky season.

The network teases that the “terrifying and untold chapter” from King is set in 1969 and follows a young Jud Crandall whose dreams of leaving his hometown of Ludlow, Maine, are cut short when he discovers “sinister secrets buried within and is forced to confront a dark family history that will forever keep him connected to Ludlow.”

Paramount+ continues, “Jud and his childhood friends must fight an ancient evil that has gripped Ludlow since its founding, and once unearthed has the power to destroy everything in its path.”

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines will premiere at Austin Texas’ Fantastic Fest, which kicks off on September 21, and will be featured as part of Paramount+’s Peak Screaming, a curated collection of fan-favorite horror movies and iconic Halloween episodes from beloved series.

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As reported, CBS is bringing Yellowstone, the phenomenon show from its sister streaming network Paramount+, for a broadcast TV run, and now, CBS has revealed when.

On Sunday, September 17, the network will be rolling out the Kevin Costner-fronted Taylor Sheridan-created series from the beginning, starting with the first episode, “Daybreak,” from 8:30 – 10:30 p.m. ET.

The series also stars Kelly Reilly as Beth, the firecracker daughter of Costner’s patriarch John Dutton, as well as Luke Grimes as his son Kaycee, Wes Bentley as John’s scheming attorney son Jamie and Cole Hauser as their faithful ranch hand and Beth’s beloved Rip Wheeler.

The last half of Yellowstone‘s fifth and final season is expected to begin on Paramount Network in November.

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To promote Gen V, its upcoming spinoff of its Emmy-nominated show The Boys, Prime Video has launched a new interactive website for super-powered prospective college students.

On the surface, the new Godolkin University website looks like any other college site, complete with beauty shots of the campus, impressive looking facilities and bright faces of students eager to learn.

“We’ve trained the best and brightest superheroes since 1965,” a legend reads. “But more than that, we’re a family. A community of supportive faculty and peers who will accept you as the unique, culturally rich change agent that you are.”

The show takes place at the university, the first institution dedicated to cultivating the superpowers granted by the chemical cocktail known as Compound V.

Elsewhere, the site touts the school’s “challenging and meaningful curriculum to help train the best and brightest heroes of tomorrow,” including, “core coursework like Hero Ethics, to upper division classes like The History of Acting: Stanislavski to Bourke, you’ll become the best crimefighter or performer you can be.”

There’s even a welcome video from new students Andre Anderson — actually Gen V actor Chance Perdomo — and Jordan (London Thor, Derek Luh), who detail the $77,000 a year tuition, with Jordan inviting potential freshmen to “find out what makes you super.”

Users can generate their own Godolkin student ID, filling out required information, including what powers they have.

There’s also a countdown clock to the “next semester,” actually the debut of the Prime Video series, on September 29.

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HGTV has bid farewell to the iconic Brady Bunch house, selling it at $3.2 million, a price that falls below both its initial asking price of $5.5 million, per the Wall Street Journal.

This Los Angeles residence, famous for serving as the exterior shot of the beloved 1970s sitcom, underwent extensive interior renovations by HGTV to recreate the sets of the classic show. HGTV acquired the property and documented the renovation journey through specials like A Very Brady Renovation and A Very Brady Renovation: Holiday Edition.

HGTV had invested $1.9 million in expanding the property, adding 2,000 square feet, including a second story. The completed home retains iconic features such as the floating staircase, retro kitchen, the kids’ Jack-n-Jill bathroom, and a backyard reminiscent of the series.

HGTV intends to use a portion of the proceeds to provide up to 250,000 meals for Turn Up! Fight Hunger, an initiative aiding hungry children in the United States through No Kid Hungry.

Tina Trahan, an ardent fan of the show and its 1995 parody film, is the new owner and plans to utilize the Studio City house for charitable events.

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