Entertainment

On Monday, July 24, Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television dropped the teaser trailer to its The Boys spinoff Gen V.

The series, which debuts globally on Friday, September 29, centers on the students of Godolkin University, the institution run by Vought International, the company who created the superhero team The Seven.

The show’s title refers to Compound V, the chemical that Vought secretly injected into babies, imbuing them with superpowers they grew up to think were God-given.

However, Gen V centers on the training of the first generation of superheroes to know about the chemical, after the lid was blown off the experimentation in the events of The Boys.

“These young, competitive heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the school’s highly coveted top ranking,” Amazon teases. “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.”

Billed as a “safe space” for the students to “thrive,” the teaser shows it’s anything but with the cutthroat rivalries and cliques of any elite school — except Yale and Harvard don’t have super-powered students.

The series cast includes Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo and Patrick Schwarzenegger, among others.

Gen V also features recurring guest stars Clancy Brown and Jason Ritter and appearances from The Boys‘ Jessie T. Usher (Reggie Franklin/A-Train), Claudia Doumit (Victoria Neumann) and Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett).

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It seems that moviegoers were just waiting for The Flash to come to streaming.

Despite early positive word of mouth, the movie starring embattled actor Ezra Miller as the Scarlet Speedster stumbled in theaters, and the expensive film now ranks as one of the worst-performing superhero movies ever made. 

That said, the movie that also features Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck debuted at the top of the heap in its first week available for rent and purchase on Fandango’s streaming service Vudu. 

Coming in second was Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, with an underperforming animated newcomer to the chart, and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, debuting in third for the week July 17 through July 23.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Fast X hung tough, finishing off last week in fourth and fifth places, respectively. GOTG Vol. 3 hit digital July 7, while the 10th Fast and the Furious film was released about a month prior.

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Rapper/actor Ice Cube is fly — literally — in a just-released clip from the upcoming animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

The clip shows a surprised Donatello, Raphael, Michaelangelo and Leonardo meeting Cube’s character, a man-sized fly called, well, Superfly.

“What! Y’all some little tortoises, huh?” Superfly says, “Y’all adorable, man!”

Superfly explains that the radioactive ooze that spilled into a sewer and turned four turtles into anthropomorphic heroes in a half shell also made him. “My dad, Baxter Stockman dumped the ooze down the drain, baby! So technically, we cousins!” he says.

In the film, Nicolas Cantu voices Leonardo; Brady Moon Raphael; Shamon Brown Jr. Michelangelo and Micah Abbey Donatello.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem also stars the voices of producer Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Post Malone, John Cena, The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri, Giancarlo Esposito and Jackie Chan.

The turtles swing into theaters August 2 from Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

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With Barbie and Oppenheimer racking up an explosive weekend at the box office — with a combined debut of more than $300 million in the U.S. alone — theater chain AMC and large format chain IMAX are thanking fans and the filmmakers alike.

The movies respectively debuted to more than $337 million and $147 million worldwide.

AMC reports some 7.8 million Americans caught a movie this weekend, with the viewership setting a new post-pandemic single-day attendance record on Saturday, July 22. That was AMC’s busiest day since July 2019, the company trumpeted. 

Moreover “moviegoers came hungry,” AMC explains, recording its second-highest-ever tally for food and beverages sold at its theaters in the company’s 103-year-old history — second only to the Saturday of Avengers: Endgame‘s opening weekend in 2019. 

Also of note, through Sunday evening, more than 87,000 members of AMC Stubs movie club booked themselves the Barbenheimer double-feature.

AMC Chairman/CEO Adam Aron commented, “…AMC sends an enormous thank you and congratulations to Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and the entire team at [Barbie producers] Warner Bros., and to Christopher Nolan and the [Oppenheimer] team at Universal Pictures.”

Aron explained the record weekend would not have been possible without the “on-going solid performances” of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and the child trafficking thriller phenomenon Sound of Freedom.

Oppenheimer broke several records for IMAX theaters as well. 

The movie starring Cillian Murphy set a July earnings record for the format, earning $35 million from 740 IMAX screens worldwide. 

IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond commented, “Around the world, we’ve seen sellouts at 4:00 a.m. shows and people travelling hours across borders to see Oppenheimer in IMAX 70mm — this is a phenomenon beyond compare in IMAX and we’re just getting started.”

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Though his company Maximum Effort, Ryan Reynolds has given a new job to a throwback ’80s TV star: ALF.

The furry, wisecracking alien life form from the planet Melmac who appeared on his eponymous NBC sitcom that ran from 1986-1990 can be seen in new commercials produced by the Deadpool star and his company.

As highlighted in Reynolds’s Instagram post, ALF can be seen hawking everything from Ryan’s Mint Mobile cellular service and Ring security doorbells to Hims, an online supplier of nutritional products and erectile dysfunction prescriptions.

The spots are shot to look like scenes from the sitcom, complete with laugh tracks and the voice of Paul Fusco, who created the puppet-turned unlikely sitcom star.

One of the spots plugs the streaming service FuboTV, which, not coincidentally, will begin running reruns of ALF on its dedicated Maximum Effort Channel on Saturday, July 29.

The channel will also be running comedies like Absolutely Fabulous, The Carol Burnett Show, the U.K. version of Ricky Gervais‘ The Office and his other comedy series Extras as well as Two Guys A Girl and A Pizza Place, the ABC sitcom that incidentally starred an up-and-coming Canadian actor named Ryan Reynolds.

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Jill Zarin‘s luxury luncheon is back — and bigger than ever!

The former Real Housewives of New York star is gearing up to host her annual Hamptons Luxury Luncheon which benefits thyroid cancer research — an homage to her late husband, Bobby Zarin, and his battle with the disease — and she dished to ABC Audio about all the surprises in store for guests. 

Jill teamed up with celebrity event planners Brian Kelly and Sean Koski to throw the bash and they all agree that the key to throwing an amazing party lies in the guest list — and theirs is star-studded. 

Vanderpump Rules’ Kristen Doute, Bachelor in Paradise’s Joe Amable, Survivor’s Wendell Holland, Real Housewives of Atlanta‘s Cynthia Bailey, RHONY newbie Brynn Whitfield and The Circle’s Joey Sasso are all expected, as well as, Julia Haart, Kristen Teakman, Margaret Josephs, LeeAnn Locken, Sutton Stracke, stars from Bravo’s Summer House and more.

Not only is the guest list stacked, but so are the swag bags and on-site activations, which Jill, Brian and Sean say include an IV bar, in addition to a gifting suite and beauty bar with brands RéVive, Advocare, FabFitFun and Beachwaver, to name a few. 

To sum it all up, Jill shares, “Guests who come and support the charity get to meet celebrities and get great gift bags. So really, it’s such a win-win that it’s hard to believe why people wouldn’t want to come.” 

The event is invite-only but a few tickets are up for auction on Charity Buzz. 

Jill Zarin’s Luxury Luncheon, produced by Ticket2Events, is scheduled for Saturday, July 29.

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Bachelor alum Raven Gates got quite the birthday present on Sunday — the birth of her second child with Adam Gottschalk.

Sharing a video of herself walking into the hospital in an Instagram Story, Raven wrote, “Literal BIRTHday.”

“It just hit me – 32 years ago my mom was headed to the hospital with me,” she continued. “Super special sharing a birthday with this baby, but what a full circle moment that my mom also did this on the same day.”

Another post shows Adam rocking the newborn where Raven shared, “All went well.”

Raven and Adam, who are already parents to 1-year-old son Gates, have not yet shared the name or gender of the baby. 

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The fate of Oscar winner Kevin Spacey is now in the hands of a U.K. jury.

Variety notes that the 12-person panel in the actor’s sex assault trial have begun deliberations, after the judge in the case highlighted evidence and testimony — including from celebrities like Elton John — that jurors had witnessed since the trial began on June 28.

Spacey faces 12 charges from four accusers, including seven for sexual assault, three counts of indecent assault and counts of sex acts performed without consent. The incidents occurred between 2004 and 2013, when he was acting as the artistic director of London’s famed Old Vic Theatre.

Spacey has maintained his innocence. As reported, he recently granted an interview with the German publication ZEITmagazin, in which he said of the accusations, “The moment scrutiny is applied, these things fall apart. That’s what happened in the [Anthony] Rapp trial, and that’s what will happen in this case.”

The former House of Cards star denied one of the alleged victims’ accusations outright, while referring to two others as consensual, and another the result of a “clumsy pass” at the younger man.

Prosecutors alleged Spacey used his status and “power” as a celebrity to try to take advantage of his accusers.

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Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien says one of his dream projects is a remake of Sidney Lumet‘s 1978 musical The Wiz. “I want to make The Wiz so bad,” the filmmaker told the crowd at San Diego Comic-Con for Collider’s “Directors on Directing” panel. “Oh my God, I want to make it so bad. The Wiz was the first movie I ever saw, so by the time I saw The Wizard of Oz, I didn’t understand why they made a white version of The Wiz. So my vision of the film was a Black-centric universe with Quincy Jones music. It’s a really disturbing movie to watch as an adult, but that’s one I’d love to do.” Haunted Mansion opens in theaters on July 28. Disney is the parent company of ABC News… 

The second season of Invincible has gotten a premiere date at Prime Video. The first four episodes of the animated superhero series will debut November 3. The second half of the eight-episode season will premiere in early 2024. The news was announced, along with a new trailer at San Diego Comic-Con. Invincible is based on the titular comic book created by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley. The voice cast includes Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Zazie Beetz, Grey DeLisle, Chris Diamantopoulos, Walton Goggins, Gillian Jacobs, Jason Mantzoukas, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Kevin Michael Richardson, Seth Rogen and Oscar winner J.K. Simmons…

Josephine Chaplin, actor and daughter of Charlie Chaplin, died on July 13 in Paris, according to an announcement from her family. She was 74. A cause of death was not revealed. Josephine starred in a number of foreign films over her career, which began at a young age with a role in her father’s 1952 Limelight…

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Warner Bros.’ Barbie scored the biggest domestic opening of the year with an estimated $155 million, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie and every Marvel movie this year. The Margo Robbie–Ryan Gossling-led film also broke the first-weekend record for a film directed by a woman, Greta Gerwig. Barbie added an estimated $182 million overseas for a global haul of $337 million.

Moviegoers also flocked to theaters to catch Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer, which beat expectations with an estimated $80.5 million opening for a second-place debut. The biopic, starring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon, picked up an estimated $93.7 million at the international box office for a worldwide total of $174 million.

The one-two punch, known as “Barbenheimer,” collectively fueled the biggest box office weekend of the pandemic era.

Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning took third-place, earning an estimated $19.5 million in its second week of release. The seventh film in the Mission Impossible franchise has collected $118.7 million in North America and $370 million globally to date.

The thriller Sound of Freedom grabbed fourth-place, delivering an estimated $18.8 million. Its four-week domestic total now stands at $124 million.

Rounding out the top five was Disney’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny with an estimated $6.7 million at the North American box office. The movie has grossed $159 million domestically and $335 million worldwide after four weeks.

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