SAG-AFTRA President Fran Dreschertook to Instagram Friday to update members of the performers union in its ongoing negotiations with the studios.
And the update was there’s been no update.
To a smiling photo of the former Nanny star all dressed up to attend an engagement party with her “long time bestie Donna Dixon,” Drescher wrote, “TGIF! Let’s hope the amptp ceo’s resurface with a seal the deal counter!”
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is reportedly mulling over a counterproposal given to them by SAG-AFTRA negotiators earlier this week in an attempt to smooth over the still-sticky sticking points — said to be centering on studios’ use of AI.
As Drescher intimated, SAG-AFTRA has yet to hear back from the studios about the measure, which was presented October 28.
On Friday, Marvel Studios revealed the trailer to Echo, its Hawkeye spin-off starring deaf actress Alaqua Cox reprising as the title character aka Maya Lopez, as well as Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Wilson Fisk/Kingpin.
The show will be the first TV-MA series Marvel Studios has made for Disney+, and even the trailer earned the mature rating.
It starts with a flashback of the young Native American girl in her school uniform, trying to buy an ice cream from a vendor by signing to him.
Instead, he makes fun of Maya’s sign language and tells her to get lost — something that D’Onofrio’s character witnesses. Fisk throws him a savage beating in an alley for it, his white suit spattered with the vendor’s blood.
As Hawkeye explored, Fisk takes the girl under his wing. Although she is an amputee, she trains and becomes a ruthless enforcer for Fisk, who becomes her “uncle.”
“You have so much pain in you. So much rage that you can’t contain it,” Fisk says in voice-over as Maya dispatches any number of baddies.
Meanwhile, a legend reads: “No bad deed goes unpunished.”
Later, Fisk says to Maya, as she has a gun pointed at him, “You and I are the same,” before revealing he’s wearing an eyepatch — possibly from her shooting him in Hawkeye‘s finale.
“So, who’s the monster?” he asks rhetorically.
The series, which will also feature Charlie Cox as Daredevil/Matt Murdock, will drop in its entirety — the first Marvel series to do so — on January 10.
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
According to Stranger Things, November 6 is the day Will Byers went missing in Hawkins, Indiana, kicking off the events of the hit show.
On Monday, to celebrate what’s become known as Stranger Things Day, Netflix is going all out, with crossovers from the Upside Down coming into our world in the forms of branded food, toys, clothing and more.
Major retailers like Walmart, Target, Amazon and H&M will also let you get your hands on exclusive merch, including toys and apparel.
The official Netflix.shop, however, is loaded for Demogorgons, with everything from plushies and Funko POP exclusives to Tiki Mugs and Stranger Things-branded hot sauce from Heatonist.
Walmart and Giant Foods’ frozen sections will even be carrying the show’s in-universe brand, Surfer Boy Pizza, in flavors including cheese, BBQ chicken and Argyle’s favorite, pineapple jalapeño.
There are also new flavors of ice cream and branded Eggo waffles to be had, too.
Have no fear, your reality roundup is here! Here’s a look at what happened in the world of reality television this week.
Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo) Shannon Beador, 59, has been sentenced to three years of probation and 40 hours of community service, along with a mandatory nine-month alcohol program, following her arrest for an alleged DUI hit and run in September. Beador also paid restitution. In a statement to Us Weekly, the reality star said, “I am grateful that no one else was injured besides me in this incident,” adding, “I have learned so much from my terrible mistake that night and realize that driving any distance while impaired is too far.”
Real Housewives of New York City(Bravo) Ramona Singer has parted ways with real estate company Douglas Elliman Entertainment Tonightreports. Singer’s departure follows recent controversy stemming from a Vanity Fair exposé about Bravo and Singer’s alleged use of a racial slur. Singer denied using the slur. Additionally, she was removed from BravoCon after attempting to downplay the situation to a Page Six reporter, writing, “And the word I used was ‘NWord’ Not n-g…”
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (Bravo) Dorit Kemsley is addressing recent divorce rumors surrounding her eight-year marriage with Paul “PK” Kemsley. “PK and I are committed to continuously working on our marriage,” Dorit told E! News. “We have made it to the other side where we’re good and we both want to keep working on our marriage. I wouldn’t say that we are without our challenges, but I think that when you’re committed to working on things and making the changes necessary and listening to one another, that your relationship takes a turn for the better and that’s definitely the place that we’re in right now.”
The twin blockbusters of Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie and Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer, forever wed as “Barbenheimer,” meant big bucks for theater chain Cinemark.
Cinemark Holdings, Inc. revealed that July was the most profitable month in the company’s history: Both movies debuted July 21, with Barbie making $162 million domestically and $356.3 million worldwide; Nolan’s movie made more than $80 million in the States, and that opening weekend made $162 million globally.
Further, the company revealed its total revenue for the three months ended September 30 increased 34.5% to $874.8 million — compared with $650.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022. That’s a 35% jump.
And all those moviegoers were hungry: Concessions jumped 34% to $339.6 million — up from the $253.6 million from the same period in 2022.
Sofia Coppola’s dream-like biopic about the queen to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is here.
Priscilla, which opens wide Friday, spans decades to tell Priscilla Presley’s story – everything from her high school days in Germany to the details of her married life at Graceland.
Cailee Spaeny prepared to play Priscilla through several meetings with her; she told ABC Audio it was “such a gift to just to be able to sit in front of” the American icon.
“There’d be moments we’d be talking about her life with Elvis, or sometimes we’d talk about animal activism,” Spaeny said. “Just to get to be in front of the actual woman who’d lived this rich life was really everything. She has so much kindness in her … at the same time, she’s incredibly fierce and protective.”
Jacob Elordi made headlines in October when he said Elvis impersonators are for Vegas, that he wanted to capture the human being under all of Elvis Presley’s glitz and gold. So, who does Elordi think Elvis really was?
“To me, Elvis was a deeply sensitive man who led with his gut and felt everything all the time,” Elordi said.
As for Coppola’s direction, Spaeny had nothing but praise for her choices.
“A lot of the times, you feel directors trying to prove themselves or gain respect in a way that can feel a bit aggressive. And she just doesn’t have any of that,” Spaeny said. “She has a lot of confidence, and she knows what she wants, but she creates a space where everyone feels comfortable to collaborate.”
Elordi agreed, saying Coppola’s Priscilla set was different from other projects he’s worked on.
“It was a sanctuary,” Elordi said. “I think she showed both of us that you don’t need to suffer to make something good.”
It was an emotional week for Gerry on ABC’s The Golden Bachelor as he traveled to several parts of the country to meet the families of Theresa, Faith and Leslie, after which his connection with each woman only became stronger, leaving him with more difficult decisions.
Gerry’s first hometown visit was in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, to meet Theresa’s family, including Theresa’s daughter, Jen; her son-in-law, Matt; her grandsons; and her sisters, Mary and Charlotte.
Her family appeared to love them together. But when it came time for his one-on-one with Theresa’s daughter, Gerry was faced with some tough questions about what life would look like with Theresa after the show is over, and where he and Theresa would live, noting they are “a close-knit family … She’s here every day.”
And though Theresa told Gerry last week that she was falling in love with him, Gerry — when asked by Theresa’s daughter whether he was falling in love with her mom — said that he still “is not even sure I know what it feels like to fall in love again.”
However, after Theresa’s sisters told Gerry about how he’s brought her happiness, Gerry said it opened his eyes to “the possibility of having these feelings of love for Theresa.”
Gerry’s next hometown visit was to Benton County, Washington, where Faith lives.
As she introduced him to her horses and other animals on her farm, she said that she worried that her way of life wouldn’t be for him. But Gerry told her that he is “more than comfortable” with her lifestyle, and was more concerned about when and how they would spend time together.
At her home, Gerry met Faith’s two sons, Brenden and Nick; her sister, Beth; her grandkids; and her friend, Joan. He told them how Faith received his first impression rose, which prompted cheers from her sons.
When Gerry was asked by Faith’s sons whether he’s in love with their mom, he replied, “Yeah, I kind of think I am.”
At the end of their date, Gerry and Faith whispered “I love you” to each other in front of Faith’s family.
Gerry’s last hometown visit was to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to meet Leslie’s two sons, Eli and Zack; her daughter, Chloë; her three grandchildren; and Leslie’s oldest brother, Stuart.
During the visit, Leslie opened up to her daughter about the potential of getting her heart broken, and Leslie’s daughter shared that it also would “kill her” to see Leslie heartbroken after making it this far in Gerry’s journey.
But after Gerry met with Leslie’s family, he learned how much she’s connected to them, just as he is to his own family.
Leslie told Gerry that after seeing him with her family, she’s no longer “falling” for him, but that she’s in love with him.
“I’m crazy about you,” Leslie declared. “I can’t imagine right now my life without you.”
Before they said goodbye, Gerry told Leslie that he loves her, too.
During the rose ceremony, Gerry presented his first rose to Leslie, but before giving out his final rose, Gerry excused himself and left the room in tears.
“Having to send someone home is gut-wrenching,” he said. “I’m dying inside a little bit right at this moment.”
Who stays? We’ll find out next week on The Golden Bachelor, when the women tell all!
The penultimate episode of Loki‘s second season drops Thursday night on Disney+, following a shocking cliff-hanger last week, which saw Tom Hiddleston‘s titular god of mischief and his allies, including Owen Wilson‘s Mobius and Ke Huy Quan‘s O.B., utterly fail to save the world.
The abrupt ending of the episode is being likened to the stunner at the climax of Avengers: Infinity War, which saw Earth’s Mightiest Heroes lose to Thanos.
Production designer Kasra Farahani, who also directed this season’s third episode, says Loki uses real sets and props and not green screen wherever possible, which lends gravity to episodes like that one.
“That stuff is there. It’s in camera. You know, so much of that stuff on a lot of other jobs I would have done would have been written off as CG. And this was a special project because we got to build it all,” he tells ABC Audio.
He adds, “World building is often misunderstood to be about scale. But in my opinion, world building is about consistency, about having a set of visual rules that you stick to.”
As an example, Farahani says, “They don’t have, like, full color screens in the [Time Variance Authority]. Their most advanced technology is this, like, weird version of late ’60s to mid ’70s computer screens, offset with weird aberrant technologies that they have found in various places on the timelines.”
The stars of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes are opening up about the highly anticipated film.
Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth and Josh Andrés Rivera stopped by Good Morning Americaon Thursday to tease what fans can expect when the movie arrives in theaters on November 17.
Rivera says the movie, based on the book by Suzanne Collins, “goes into the history of Coriolanus Snow, who ends up becoming the dictator that he is in the original trilogy.”
Snow was perfectly played by Donald Sutherland in the previous Hunger Games films, and Blyth, who plays the younger version of the character, said those were “some very big shoes to fill.”
However, Blyth said he and director Francis Lawrence “talked very early on about kind of giving ourselves artistic license to not try and copycat Donald’s amazing performance — because how could you?”
Zegler, who plays Lucy Gray Baird, said she felt pressure coming into a franchise with such a dedicated fanbase as the one The Hunger Games has garnered throughout the years, but said they all came in as big fans themselves.
“It was pretty intense to step in, but we’ve been welcomed with open arms from not only Francis, who directed Catching Fire and the Mockingjay films, but also the crew that came back to do these movies with us, as well,” she said.
Zegler said she did “almost all” of her own stunts for the film, adding, “It’s a very, very intense film to do your own stunts on.”
The young cast praised the veteran actors who are also part of the film — notably Jason Schwartzman, Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage.
“I’m still pinching myself,” Blyth said. “It’s the best training you can get as an actor, to work with your heroes.”
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes secured a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement that allows cast members to promote the film during the ongoing actors strike.
Advertisers are readying their checkbooks for February’s Super Bowl LVIII.
A Paramount spokesperson told ABC Audio that CBS is “ahead of schedule” selling its ad spots for the big game; at $7 million for a 30-second ad, they’re “virtually sold out.”
The big ad buy is coming at a time when traditional networks are seeing a decline in advertising dollars. Considering that, companies might see a big investment for the game something of a Hail Mary play to get their wares in front of consumers’ eyeballs, as the Super Bowl is traditionally one of the most-watched broadcasts of the year.
Super Bowl LVIII will be presented by CBS live from Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 11.
