Entertainment

If Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour was an immediate sell-out, it only stands to reason that TAYLOR SWIFT | THE ERAS TOUR concert film would follow suit.

The film has now set a new record for single-day advance ticket sales revenue for one movie at AMC: $26 million. That breaks the previous record of $16.9 million set by Spider-Man: No Way Home.  It set that new record less than three hours after tickets went on sale.

AMC will now add additional showtimes for the film “when necessary and available,” the theater chain said in a statement.  Currently, the movie will play at least four times per day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at every AMC location in the U.S. 

Tickets are on sale via AMCTheatres.com and Fandango.com. They cost $19.89 for adults — because of Taylor’s album 1989 — and $13.13 for children, because 13 is her favorite number.

And speaking of the number 13, Taylor has now scared away a big horror film planned for the fall.

The Exorcist: Believer originally planned to debut October 13 in order to be in theaters on Friday the 13th.  But since that’s now the day that Taylor’s movie premieres, the horror sequel has been moved to October 6, Variety reports.

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Taylor Swift’s influence has prompted a change of plans for The Exorcist: Believer. Universal Pictures has advanced the film’s release to October 6, a week earlier than its initial schedule, after the singer announced Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film would release on October 13. “Look what you made me do. The Exorcist: Believer moves to 10/6/23,” producer Jason Blum wrote on X, adding “#TaylorWins”…

Netflix has greenlit a sophomore season for the docu-series Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal, set to debut with three episodes on September 20, Variety reports. The upcoming installment continues its dive into the real-life saga of Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted of his murdering his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, in 2021. Season 2 unravels the events preceding and succeeding the fateful murders, with testimonies from key witnesses including Murdaugh family’s former housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, caregiver to Libby Murdaugh, Mushelle “Shelly” Smith, Alex Murdaugh’s cousin Curtis Edward Smith, and juror Gwen Generette…

After the summer success of Suits on Netflix, Peacock has strategically added Pearson, the short-lived spin-off starring Gina Torres, onto its streaming platform. Originally airing in 2019, Pearson ran for one season before facing cancellation six weeks after the season finale. Torres reprised her role as the formidable attorney Jessica Pearson, in the series that delves into the gritty realm of Chicago politics. The ensemble cast also features Bethany Joy Lenz, Morgan Spector, Chantel Riley, Simon Kassianides, Eli Goree, and Isabel Arraiza. Suits also streams on Peacock, including its ninth and final season, which is currently unavailable on Netflix…

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It’s the end of the road for The Equalizer. The third film in the Denzel Washington franchise hits theaters this weekend, and we’re told it’ll be the last. So why is now the right time to say goodbye?

“We’ve done as much as we can do with McCall, I believe, up to this point, right?” Director Antoine Fuqua tells ABC Audio. “The first one is finding his purpose. The second one is making peace with the past. This one is just finding a place and finding a home. And I think he’s done that in this film. And so from that point I believe let Robert McCall sail off into the Mediterranean, you know, and have a little peace for a while.”

It’s a journey to get to that peace, though. Fuqua says, “It starts off, he’s in a darker place.”

“And so you have to see him go through a physical and mental journey to get back to himself,” he adds. “And so I think that at some point, where else do you go? You know, what else do you do?”

Even with this being the third film in The Equalizer trilogy, Fuqua shares that the theme of all three can be wrapped up in one word: Justice. 

“You know the best of us. It seems that what people walk away with is that we all want justice more than money and fame or anything else. People want justice. And I think that’s very important,” he says.

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ABC Audio has confirmed that AMC has secured interim agreements with SAG-AFTRA that will allow work to continue on three of its shows in spite of the ongoing strikes.

The agreements cover The Walking Dead spinoffs Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Lived, as well as its Interview with the Vampire series, the network confirmed, without providing any additional comments.

The first season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon debuts September 10, but it has been renewed for a second season that is already shooting in Europe. Interview‘s first season was set in New Orleans, but its second season was already underway in Prague.

The Ones Who Lived, the reunion of Andrew Lincoln‘s Rick Grimes and his partner Michonne, played by Danai Gurira, is in the post-production stage, Deadline reports; the series will come out in 2024.

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Meg Ryan took a break from appearing in movies for years — not counting her face seen in a photo in Top Gun: Maverick — and to comic legend Carol Burnett, she opened up about returning to her rom-com roots with her forthcoming release, What Happens Later.

The pair chatted on the phone together in early July, ahead of the SAG-AFTRA strike, for Interview magazine about the movie that Ryan co-wrote, directed and starred in opposite David Duchovny.

“I hadn’t done a role in a really long time, but it was fun with David,” said Ryan, 61. “A lot of it was done in two shots. I’m proud of that.”

“Truly, the easiest part was acting in it,” Ryan expressed. “I want to direct again just so I can sit in the chair, because I’m sure there’s a lot of things I missed.”

The pair play ex-lovers snowed in at the airport, reminiscing about their lives together and the decades since their split.

As “perfect” as Duchovny was for the part, Ryan explained, she never “really knew” the actor personally.

“We’d only met a couple of times, maybe 20 years ago,” she recalled. “But I remembered, more than all of his other amazing work like The X-Files and Californication, him on The Larry Sanders Show. He played himself as a guest and he was so absurd and funny.”

As she worked on the script over the beginning of the pandemic, “We got to know each other over these Zoom calls and some of those conversations found their way into the script, too.”

Meg added, “I set up everything beforehand so that once we were there, it was just David and I trying to tell the truth.”

What Happens Later opens in theaters October 13.

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If you happened to be sailing around Brooklyn, New York, recently, you might have spotted a lot of big stars on a 38-foot boat.

It seems that to celebrate Robert Downey Jr.‘s 18th wedding anniversary to his producer wife Susan, their former Perry Mason star Matthew Rhys and his wife, Keri Russell, sprung for a cruise around New York City.

Their anniversary was August 27.

According to video posted by Downey on Thursday, August 31, both couples — along with Paul Bettany and his Oscar-winning wife, Jennifer Connelly, were along for the ride.

Bettany, who played JARVIS, the voice in Iron Man’s head, was seen capering on the vessel and struggling with replacing a door on the craft, as the others laugh — and Downey criticizes him.

“He’s gonna lose his toes,” Connelly jokes.

“Thanks Matthew Rhys for the anniversary charter on the Rarebit,” Downey said, highly recommending the charter from the company Moveable Feast. “The less than helpful first mate Paul Bettany…no comment,” he added.

The charter is open to noncelebrities, too, of course, offering rides on New York Harbor “on one of the last of the Hemingway class boats, built right here in Brooklyn!”

The trips “serve cocktails and light snacks as we cruise to the Statue of Liberty and other highlights on the rivers,” according to its website.

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Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson are doing their part to help those devastated by the recent wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

The duo teamed up to establish the People’s Fund of Maui, which will see cash distributed directly to people who were displaced by the events that claimed the lives of at least 115 people, with hundreds more still missing.

Winfrey and Johnson kicked off the fund with an initial $10 million donation and say they’ve collaborated with an advisory board from the local community, as well as respected elders, to launch the fund.

Adult residents 18 and older in Lahaina and Kula who were affected by the wildfires are eligible to receive $1,200 per month to help them recover from the disaster.

“I have been meeting with people throughout the community that were impacted by the fires over the last few weeks, asking what they most needed and how I could be of service,” Winfrey said in a press release. “The main thing I’ve been hearing is their concern about how to move forward under the immense financial burden.”

Johnson noted in the release that while the world was watching the wildfires, they also “witnessed the great spirit and resilience of our Polynesian culture and the tremendous strength of the people of Maui.”

“Even in the most difficult of times, the people of Maui come together, and we rise — that’s what makes us stronger,” he said. “We are beyond grateful to be working alongside esteemed community leaders of Maui to launch the People’s Fund of Maui.”

To contribute to the People’s Fund of Maui, click here. All net proceeds will go directly to those impacted by the wildfires.

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As the dual Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes against the studios continue, grinding Hollywood production to a halt in the process, those picketers can take comfort in a new Gallup poll.

According to the company’s annual “Work and Education” poll, which was conducted between August 1 and August 23, 72% of respondents say they back the striking writers in their ongoing dispute with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the trade association representing the studios.

Just 19% backed the latter, according to the survey.

Similarly, 67% of Americans back the striking SAG-AFTRA performers, with 24% siding with the studios.

In fact, 34% of those polled say unions in general will only get stronger as a result of the high-profile entertainment industry strike, as well as recent threatened work stoppages in other industries — that number was just 19% five years ago.

While the strikes continue, both sides have publicly insisted their desire to resolve the disputes.

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Jamie Christopher, an assistant director who worked with the likes of David Fincher and Rian Johnson and on Marvel films like the Guardians of the Galaxy, died on Tuesday, August 29, at 52.

His Hollywood colleagues are mourning the loss, caused by what Variety called heart complications.

Johnson, who worked with Christopher on The Last Jedi and Knives Out, posted on social media, “If you’ve ever been lucky enough to see a great AD at work, you know it’s a hard job that can only be done well by loving, protecting and respecting your cast and crew. Jamie was one of the all time greats. Will miss him dearly.”

“The film industry has lost one of our great talents and friends,” James Gunn posted, remembering Christopher as “a true filmmaker – a craftsman – who was able to add to a film creatively and just as importantly, figure out incredibly inventive ways of making it happen.”

Gunn called his friend a “warm man who earned the respect of the directors, producers, actors, and, most importantly, the crew who worked for him.”

He concluded with, “They all loved him and so do I and boy will I miss him. Rest in Peace, old pal. The world won’t be as sweet without you.”

Mark Hamill noted, “Aside from being one of the best ADs I’ve ever worked with, I’ll always remember how his deadpan humor kept us all amused & motivated to give our absolute best,” adding #GoneTooSoon.

Christopher’s numerous other credits included Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Murder Mystery with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, and the Harry Potter films.

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This year’s Venice Film Festival kicked off August 30, but most Lady Gaga fans remember the entrance she made there 2018: She arrived by boat in full old Hollywood-style glam, wearing platinum blonde pin curls and a black cocktail dress.  But inside, she was full of self doubt, remembers the festival’s director.

Alberto Barbera tells the Hollywood Reporter that one of the greatest moments of his 15-year career as Venice Film Festival director came that year, after Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper did the red carpet at the premiere of A Star Is Born in the rain. He says Gaga came into his office to dry off and re-do her makeup before she went into the theater.

“It had never happened before that the actors went into the auditorium. She, used to performing in front of thousands of people, hesitated and was afraid,” Barbera recalls. In fact, he claims Gaga actually said to him, “It’s my first film. Maybe I’m a really bad actor?’”

But it turns out she had nothing to worry about.

“You should have heard the roar in the theater … it was incredible,” Barbera recalls, adding, “I put my arm around her shoulders. She spoke a few words of Italian. I gave her courage. Me. To Lady Gaga.”

Barbera tells a similar story to the U.K. paper The Guardian.

“She was shaking,” he says of Gaga, adding, “I put my arm around her shoulders and took her into the theater. At the end of the film, she was crying.”

Gaga went on to be Oscar-nominated for A Star Is Born, and win the Best Original Song Oscar for “Shallow,” the song she co-wrote for the soundtrack.

Her next major acting credit is playing Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix reprising his Oscar winning title role in Joker: Folie à Deux, due out in 2024.

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