Entertainment

Aunjanue Ellis makes her Origin debut in the teaser trailer released to the world on Tuesday, September 5. 

Helmed by critically acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay, the upcoming biopic is based on the life and work of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson as she writes the book Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents.

According to Deadline, production house Neon acquired rights for the upcoming film, which is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival today, September 6. With Origin, DuVernay will make history as the first Black female director to premiere a film in competition at the Venice festival.

“While grappling with tremendous personal tragedy, Isabel sets herself on a path of global investigation and discovery,” reads the story description, per Deadline. “Despite the colossal scope of her project, she finds beauty and bravery while crafting one of the defining American books of our time.”

The cast features Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Nick Offerman, Blair Underwood and others. 

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On Wednesday, September 6, Prime Video dropped the full, R-rated trailer to Gen V, its forthcoming spinoff of the Emmy-nominated skewed superhero show The Boys.

The video begins as if it’s a college acceptance video to Godolkin University, the institution run by Vought International, the company who created the superhero team The Seven.

Clancy Brown appears as criminology professor Rich “Brink” Brinkerhoff and Shelley Conn as the school’s dean, Indira Shetty, both addressing the incoming class.

“Let me assure you,” Brink says, “… [W]e see something in you. Something you might not even see yourself — even if you do have X-ray vision.”

As the usual college crushes and rivalries play out, with the students hoping someday to be The Seven-worthy, so do some bloody — sometimes literally bloody — superpowers.

But something else is afoot. “There is evil at this school,” one of the students says in the coming attraction.

Prime Video teases of the new class, “They quickly come to learn that ambition comes with sacrifice, and the difference between right and wrong is not as clear as they once believed. When the university’s dark secrets come to light, the students must come to grips with what type of heroes they are going to become.”

The series, starring Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo and Patrick Schwarzenegger, debuts September 29.

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With Jeremy Renner bouncing back from his near fatal snowplow accident back in January comes the news that his bruiser of an alter-ego Mike McLusky will return as well: Paramount+ has renewed Renner’s drama Mayor of Kingstown for a third season.

The series, created by Yellowstone‘s Taylor Sheridan, centers on the McLusky family, “power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry.”

The second season of the acclaimed drama is one of the top performing original dramas on the streaming service overall — third, in fact, behind hitmaker Sheridan’s own 1923 and Tulsa King.

Even in the earliest days of Renner’s recovery from his January 1 accident, he was busy promoting Mayor of Kingstown‘s second season premiere, which was on January 15, on social media.

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On his fitness-centric YouTube channel The Pump, Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed to his followers that he suffered a potentially fatal heart surgery complication years ago and shared what it took to get him back into cyborg shape.

The Terminator star and former California governor underwent pulmonary heart valve surgery for the first time in 1997 to correct a congenital defect; in 2018, that valve needed to be replaced.

The star is now revealing, “I woke up and all of a sudden the doctors were in front of me saying, ‘I’m so sorry, but it was unlike what we planned … We made a mistake and poked through the heart wall.'”

Arnold said he was “freaking out” and recalled the surgeons “had to open me up very quickly” to save his life.

The bodybuilding legend explained, “The bottom line is, you cannot roll the clock back. I was in the middle of a disaster. So now how do I get out of it? You have to shift gears. Collect yourself…and say, ‘Okay, what I need to do now is get out of this hospital.'”

To a throwback video, Schwarzenegger said, “I looked like an idiot waddling around” the halls of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, but he explained he needed to work his lungs to stave off pneumonia.

After he was released, Arnold showed video of his getting pumped again for 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, starting with tiny dumbbells.

He added, “I had to be in shape, I had to move around…lift things up, do the fight scenes,” crediting a “positive attitude” and a “support system” with getting him “all back together again.”

In 2020, the FUBAR star underwent an aortic valve replacement surgery — this time at the renowned Cleveland Clinic — but explained at the time it went smoothly.

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Aaron Paul, renowned for his iconic role as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad, isn’t mincing words when it comes to the ongoing actors’ strike and the complexities of Hollywood residuals.

Speaking candidly to Entertainment Tonight Canada during a recent SAG-AFTRA picket line, the Emmy-winning actor voiced his frustration over the state of affairs, noting that he’s received nothing from Netflix even though his show performed well on the platform.

“I don’t get a piece from Netflix on Breaking Bad, if we’re being totally honest, and that’s insane to me,” he shared.

His remarks came amidst a mini Breaking Bad reunion as he joined forces with former co-stars Bryan Cranston and Jesse Plemons on the picket line outside Sony Pictures Entertainment Studios in Culver City, California.

He emphasized the perpetual life of shows on streaming platforms, where some creators receive meager residuals despite their content’s continued popularity. Paul asserted, “I think a lot of these streamers, they know that they have been getting away with not paying people a fair wage, and now it’s time to pony up. And that’s just one of the things that we’re fighting for.”

While Netflix declined to comment on Paul’s statements, per Entertainment Weekly, the issue of residuals remains a central point of contention. The existing system allows hit shows to be streamed extensively, often without commensurate compensation for creators. This concern forms a key aspect of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, highlighting the industry’s evolving landscape and the need for fair compensation in the digital age.

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Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner have confirmed their split in an Instagram post, and addressed the various rumors as to why the two are divorcing.

In a statement from both Joe and Sophie, they write, “After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage. There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”

As previously reported, Joe, 34, filed for a dissolution of marriage on Tuesday, September 5 in Miami, according to documents obtained by People. In the filing, Joe claims, “the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” The couple does have a prenup, according to the filing.

Joe and Sophie, 27, wed in 2019 after dating for three years. They have two children: Willa, 3, and a 14-month-old daughter who is only identified in the divorce documents as D.

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Longtime The Price Is Right host Bob Barker’s cause of death has been revealed.

On Tuesday, the death certificate for Barker, obtained by KABC from the Los Angeles County Clerk, showed that the legendary TV star died from Alzheimer’s disease.

Other significant contributors to his death included hypertension, hypothyroidism and hyperlipidemia.

Barker died on Aug. 26 at his home at the age of 99, according to his longtime publicist Roger Neal. He was a few months shy of his 100th birthday.

Barker began hosting The Price is Right in 1972, and went on to host the show for 35 years before leaving in the late 2000s.

As the host of The Price is Right, Barker won 19 Daytime Emmy Awards, including 14 for Outstanding Game Show Host, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmys in 1995.

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The View returned for its 27th season on Tuesday, but without its moderator, Whoopi Goldberg, who missed the premiere after coming down with COVID-19. “As you can see, Whoopi is not here. She has COVID,” Joy Behar, who took the moderator’s seat in Goldberg’s absence, explained to the audience. “Yes, it’s back. It’s back! But she’s on the mend. She’s on the tail end, and she’ll probably be back this week. But sorry she’s not here, for those of you who were looking forward to seeing her.” Behar’s fellow panelists — Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro — were also back for the ABC daytime talk show’s 27th season…

You can watch 2023’s top grossing movie, Barbie, in the comfort of your own home starting Tuesday, September 12 when it becomes available for digital purchase and rental. The Greta Gerwig-directed film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling will cost $29.99, with a 48-hour rental via PVOD priced at $24.99 on participating digital platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu. Barbie, based on the Mattel doll, is the year’s highest-grossing-film with $1.38 billion worldwide…

CBS will launch its first-ever international edition of the NCIS franchise, NCIS: Sydney, beginning November 13, the network announced on Tuesday. The series, first announced in 2022, stars DC’s Legends of Tomorrow‘s Olivia Swann plays NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey and Spartacus: War of the Damned’s Todd Lasance leads as Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey. They’re joined by Sean Sagar as NCIS Special Agent, DeShawn Jackson, Tuuli Narkle as AFP Liaison Officer, Constable Evie Cooper, Mavournee Hazel as AFP Forensic Scientist, Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson and William McInnes as AFP Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Roy Penrose. NCIS: Sydney “will follow the eclectic team of U.S. NCIS Agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who are grafted into a multi-national taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet”…

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Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet were spotted packing on the PDA at Beyoncé‘s Renaissance World Tour in Los Angeles on September 4.

This marked a significant public appearance for the cosmetics mogul, 26, and the Oscar-nominated actor, 27, who had been at the center of swirling romance rumors that sparked in April.

In video snippets captured at the concert and obtained by TMZ, Kylie and Timothée could be seen striding into the grand SoFi Stadium, hand in hand with Kylie’s sister, Kendall Jenner.

Neither Timothée nor Kylie have commented publicly on their relationship.

Before linking up with Timothée, Kylie was in a long-term relationship with Travis Scott, with whom she shares two adorable children, 5-year-old Stormi and 19-month-old Aire.

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Stray, the award-winning action-adventure video game that lets you play as, well, a stray cat, is becoming a movie.

And no, it’s not a talking cat. It’s just a cat.

Annapurna Animation, the movie studio sibling of Annapurna Interactive, the company that released the BlueTwelve Studio game, is taking on a feature film starring the game’s nameless lost feline and its drone buddy, B-12, who helps the kitty navigate “a decaying cybercity” to “untangle an ancient mystery.”

Producer Robert Baird tells Entertainment Weekly, “This is a game that’s all about what makes us human, and there are no humans in it. It’s a buddy comedy about a cat and a robot, and there’s such a hilarious dynamic. So, there’s comedy inherent in this, but there’s not one human being in this movie.”

He adds, “I think it’s one of the reasons why the game was incredibly popular, that you are seeing the world through the point of view of an adorable cat. How did they pull that off, and how are we going to pull that off in the movie?”

He adds, “Even though sometimes it feels impossible … we know that’s the essence of the game and the key to telling the story.”

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