Entertainment

When Travis Braun – creator of the new series Pupstruction – was interning at ABC World News Tonight during his college days, he had no idea how far his journey with Disney would go. But, as he told ABC Audio, his love for the company has stayed consistent.

“My parents had to literally drag me outside and turn off the TV to go play because all I wanted to do was just watch Disney Channel,” Braun said. “I grew up as a Disney kid my entire life and had always loved cartoons and animation and all the Disney classics. Working at ABC World News was a kind of a stepping stone into that.”

Now he’s creating those TV shows he would stay in watching. Pupstruction, which premieres on Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney Plus on June 14, is inspired by Braun’s childhood spent working for his family’s auto racing business alongside their beloved chocolate Labradors.

“Dogs have always been really near and dear to my heart and everything that I’ve made,” Braun said. “It felt natural to me to take those two things – my love of dogs and this mechanical building experience – and put them together and make this show Pupstruction, which is about a family construction team that happens to be all dogs.”

But that’s not where the real-life inspiration stops. “Working on race cars brought my family together. We all had our specific roles on the team,” Braun said. “That made our family so close, I think, in a way that other families didn’t necessarily have.”

Braun made sure that kind of dynamic was represented on the show. “In Pupstruction, it’s building that brings this family together,” Braun said. “I hope that the show can maybe bring families together, too.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A year after Johnny Depp was awarded a $1 million settlement from his defamation suit against Amber Heard, the actor is reportedly making good on his promise to donate the money to charity.

A source close to the 60-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean star tells People that the money will be divided among five charities, with Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society, and Amazonia Fund Alliance receiving $200,000 each.

Last June, a Virginia jury awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages. Heard, 37, was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages and no punitive damages. Virginia law states that punitive damages are capped at $350,000, so Depp received a total of $10.35 million.

Both Depp and Heard appealed the verdict but decided to drop them and reached a settlement that was announced in December.

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Patricia Heaton knows a thing or two about playing a medical professional. Her first break in Los Angeles was playing a doctor on Thirtysomething, and now she’s taking on the role of a VA doctor in Mending the Line with Brian Cox and Sinqua Walls.

Walls plays a Marine traumatized by the loss of his unit, and after returning stateside has trouble transitioning back into society, thanks to post-traumatic stress disorder. Cue Brian Cox, who plays an equally damaged vet who shows Walls the healing power of nature through fly-fishing, a sport recognized as positive and impactful therapy for military veterans with PTSD.

“There’s something very meditative about it,” Heaton tells ABC Audio “The sound of the water … visually what it looks like. It being in the quiet of nature … it takes a lot of concentration to fly fish, and patience and humility.”

June is PTSD Awareness Month, and Heaton thinks it’s the perfect time for everyone to look at their own mental health and not let personal fears get in the way of healing. “I think that people are afraid that the trauma that they’re sitting on … if they expose it, will be bottomless,” she says. “That they won’t be able to ever come back from it.”

Heaton speaks from experience, having lost her mother at a young age. But she says there’s strength in numbers when it comes to living fully again. “Sometimes it’s messy and ugly-looking and you’re sticking your head in a towel and sobbing so nobody will hear you … but that’s OK,” she says. “And you will find other people who understand what you’re going through and be beside you as you go on that journey.”

Mending the Line is in theaters now.

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On Tuesday, June 13, Apple TV+ dropped the new trailer to the second season of Foundation, its sprawling sci-fi epic based on Isaac Asimov‘s groundbreaking book series.

The show, which some have dubbed “Game of Thrones in space,” centers on an all-powerful, dynastic galactic empire and a mathematician who predicts, as all empires do, that it’s doomed to fail.

In the trailer, we see tensions mounting. “I have dreams sometimes about things that will happen,” says Lou Llobell‘s Gaal. “Despair, death, destruction. This is even bigger than the last crisis,” she says in voiceover.

Opposing the all-powerful empire is The Foundation, an institute trying to save all galactic knowledge.

Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Lee Pace returns as Brother Day, one in a familial line of emperors. “An empire breathes respect. It requires it for life,” he says. “The Foundation is a threat to us all.”

Chernobyl Emmy winner Jared Harris also returns as The Foundation’s founder, math genius Hari Seldon, who warned all empires eventually fall. “We fight for peace. Not because we will lose. But because we know that if there is war, we will win.”

With footage of battles both in the air and on the ground, a disheveled Harris tells Pace’s bloodied character at the close of the trailer, “It’s time you and I had a reckoning.”

The second season premieres Friday, July 14, on Apple TV+.

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Cormac McCarthy, the acclaimed author whose bestsellers found their way to the big screen, including All The Pretty Horses, his Pulitzer-winning post-apocalyptic novel The Road and the Oscar-winning No Country for Old Men, has died. He was 89.

The author’s son John confirmed the passing in a statement, noting his father died of natural causes at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In response to the news, CEO of Penguin Random House Nihar Malaviya said the author “changed the course of literature” and “demonstrated an unwavering dedication to his craft, and to exploring the infinite possibilities and power of the written word” for the past 60 years.

Malaviya added, “Millions of readers around the world embraced his characters, his mythic themes, and the intimate emotional truths he laid bare on every page, in brilliant novels that will remain both timely and timeless, for generations to come.”

The renowned author recently signed on to adapt his acclaimed Western novel, Blood Meridian, for the big screen, co-producing the film with his son for Regency Pictures.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

On Tuesday, June 13, Peacock released new images to social media from the streaming service’s forthcoming spinoff series The Continental.

In a press release, producer Basil Iwanyk and director Albert Hughes also shared their thoughts on the project, with Iwanyk reminiscing about the presumed fate of “a small, below-the-radar film called John Wick.”

He expressed, “Directed by two ex-stuntmen, and its premise was potentially the goofiest in film history. Keanu (Reeves) avenging a puppy’s death!? We were doomed.”

He adds, “It hit a chord that none of us anticipated. Yes, people love Keanu. And the action was awesome. What we didn’t see coming was how much the audience loved the world, its rules, the swagger, the craziness, and the rogue’s gallery of villains and (kinda) good guys.”

The producer explains, “All those roads led to one place…The Continental, led by two of the franchise’s greatest characters, Winston [Ian McShane] and Charon [the late Lance Reddick].”

With that in mind, the series takes a look back at how the hitman hot spot came to be, and how Winston and Charon came to take their respective places there as manager and concierge.

Hughes, who directed the first and third installments of the three-part series, said he and executive producer/writer Kirk Ward “had the time of our lives” expanding the lore of the hotel, introducing new characters and creating this “impressionistic spin on New York in the 70s” they dubbed “disco noir.”

Colin Woodell plays the younger version of McShane’s character in the series, which will also star Mel Gibson, Peter Greene, Ben Robson, Hubert Point-Du Jour, and Nhung Kate.

Ayomide Adegun will appear as a younger version of Charon, the character played in the films by Reddick, who passed away unexpectedly in March.

The series premieres in September on Peacock.

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The trailer to Netflix’s They Cloned Tyrone starts out like the setup to a joke: “A hustler, a pimp, and a pro walk into a conspiracy.”

Set to Rockwell‘s ’80s classic “Somebody’s Watching Me,” the mystery caper comedy’s trailer features John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris as those respective archetypes sneaking into a home, only to discover a hidden lab and literally uncover a clone of Boyega’s character.

The unlikely trio soon starts to unravel a government conspiracy to make duplicates of the residents of their hood.

Juel Taylor, who directed Creed II and Space Jam: A New Legacy, called the shots on the Netflix film, which also stars David Alan Grier and Kiefer Sutherland. It debuts July 21.

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Disney has announced a revamped schedule for its forthcoming movies produced by Disney and its various properties, 20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.

Among the changes, the third Avatar will now be bumped to December 19, 2025, a year later than anticipated. That caused a ripple effect, moving a fourth Avatar adventure to December 21, 2029, and Avatar 5 to 2031.

It’s just possible you’ll be taking your flying car to get to the theater for that final go-round in Pandora.

The release of Deadpool 3 — Ryan Reynolds‘ first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe — was moved up from November 8, 2024, to May 3, 2024, a slot formerly occupied by Captain America: Brave New World. The latter film has been moved to July 26, 2024. 2024 will also see the release of a third Marvel film, Thunderbolts, on December 20.

In other Marvel news, Blade opens on February 14, 2025; The Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will open May 1, 2026, and on May 7, 2027, there’s Avengers: Secret Wars to look forward to.

The schedule revealed the live-action Moana will open June 27, 2025, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Disney also slated May 22, 2026, as the bow of an untitled Star Wars movie, which will apparently be the first of three since the finale of the divisive Star Wars sequel trilogy, 2019’s Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.

Two other untitled Star Wars movies are slated for December 18, 2026, and December 17, 2027.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A day after authorities confirmed they’re looking into allegations of 83-year-old Good Times star John Amos being the victim of elder abuse, prompted by an Instagram post from his daughter, Shannon, the actor is speaking up. 

A rep for the Emmy-nominated star passed along a statement “directly” from Amos, denying the story — and asking people who donated to a GoFundMe, allegedly started for his medical care, to get their money back. 

“To all of my fans, I want you to know that I am doing well,” Amos’ statement to ABC Audio began.

“I am not in ICU nor was I ever fighting for my life. First, I want the GoFundMe campaign about me to stop immediately, and the funds subsequently returned to those who made donations.”

He concluded by saying, “My son and I will reveal more information at the appropriate time.”

As reported, the post from his daughter painted quite a different picture. She claimed Amos “was hospitalized in Memphis, Tennessee, in immense pain” and “his life hanging by a thread.”

Shannon also provided a link to the GoFundMe Amos mentioned, saying, “If you would like to provide care and support for my Dad all donations are going to a trust fund that has been set up for him.”

She claimed the actor was a “victim of elder abuse and financial exploitation” and that she had notified the authorities.

For their part, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations told ABC Audio it was investigating the matter.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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While some residents could argue the Big Apple’s already on its way there, the upcoming Walking Dead spinoff Dead City gives a chilling look at a post-apocalyptic Manhattan.

To help promote the upcoming team-up series starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan‘s Negan and Lauren Cohan‘s Maggie, AMC has partnered with a handful of NYC landmarks for a sprawling takeover event on Wednesday, June 14.

Beware, however: there will be walkers at every stop.

The New Yorker Coffee Cart at the corner of 33rd Street and 7th Avenue will be rebranded in honor of the show, with custom New Yorker-designed cartoon sleeves for customers and other themed giveaways between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., H&H Bagels — previously immortalized in Seinfeld — will get in on the fun, with a limited-time themed bagel sandwich, the “Walker Wake Up,” at all three of its NYC locations. Included will be “Dead City Hot Walker Sauce” on each sandwich, as well as giveaways for the first 200 customers.

For lunch, Joe’s Pizza of Times Square is offering deals and giveaways for the first 200 customers between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., as will The New York Hot Dog King Cart at 82ndStreet and 5th Avenue.

All this leads up to a showdown at the famous Katz deli in Greenwich Village, where Morgan, Cohan and their fellow cast members Gaius Charles, Željko Ivanek and Mahina Napoleon will be on hand.

The Walking Dead: Dead City premieres Sunday, June 18, at 9 p.m. ET on AMC and AMC+.

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