On Monday, the American Film Institute announced its 49th AFI Life Achievement Award gala, which was to honor Oscar and Emmy winner Nicole Kidman on June 10, will be postponed because of the Writers Guild of America strike.
In a statement obtained by ABC Audio, the organization noted, “For nearly half a century, the AFI Life Achievement Award has convened artists and audiences in celebration of excellence in the art form. Due to the division in our community at this time, AFI has decided to postpone this year’s event with the goal to offer a celebratory environment worthy of our recipient.”
Kidman is the first Australian actor to be feted for the lifetime achievement honor. Previous winners include her fellow Oscar-winning recipients Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine, Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas.
The AFI said a new date for Kidman’s event will be announced soon.
On social media, FX revealed that its acclaimed series The Bear will be cooking again on Hulu on June 22.
The show stars newly minted Golden Globe winner Jeremy Allen White as chef and restaurateur Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, who ended the show’s first season by shuttering his beleaguered family-run eatery and fulfilling his goal of opening a new dining establishment in its place that bears his nickname — and shares the title of the show.
The reveal came with a poster for the series, with Carmy using a pair of tweezers to apply a garnish. He’s surrounded by the other cast members, including scene stealer Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Carmy’s cousin Richie; Ayo Edebiri as Carmy’s driven chef Sydney; and Abby Elliott as Carmy’s sister Natalie aka Sugar.
Fans will be able to gorge themselves: All episodes of the second season will drop on its aforementioned debut date.
James Gunntook to Twitter Sunday to confirm that fans who spotted Pete Davidson‘s name among the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 weren’t seeing things.
Writer-director Gunn, who cast the SNL veteran for the ultimately doomed character Blackguard in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, posted a photo of Pete on the GOTG 3 set, smiling with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña and some of the movie’s kid actors, all in costume.
Gunn explained, “my friend Pete not only voiced but actually came to visit us in Atlanta for a day and played Phlektik on set.”
The alien gunman is part of a group that Pratt’s Peter Quill/Star-Lord and Vin Diesel‘s Groot deal with during one of the movie’s action scenes. Thanks to prosthetics, you’d never know it was The King of Staten Island star inside the big-eyed, green-skinned alien mask.
For his part, Gunn explained why he was also listed in the credits, adding, “I voiced the beautiful Lambshank. I don’t want to show her here because she’s too gorgeous & I don’t want folks to feel bad about themselves in comparison.”
He’s being facetious: The character is one of the hideous animal hybrids created by Chukwudi Iwuji‘s cruel High Evolutionary in the movie.
TMZ has reportedly obtained the death certificate for Goodfellas star Ray Liotta. According to the gossip site, his death last May was caused by heart and lung issues.
The Emmy-nominated star, 67, reportedly died from natural causes: Specifically, acute heart failure, respiratory insufficiency and pulmonary edema, or fluid in his lungs.
Liotta died in his sleep on May 22 in the Dominican Republic, where he was shooting the thriller Dangerous Waters. After his death, he appeared in the drama Black Bird and the slasher comedy Cocaine Bear.
Burger King has announced that to help promote the follow-up to the Oscar-winning Sony Animation movieSpider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, it’s giving its Whopper a Spidey makeover.
From May 15 through June 21, the Spider-Verse Whopper will feature a red bun and black sesame seeds to match the super suit of Brooklyn’s own friendly neighborhood web slinger, Miles Morales, as seen in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
There will be a limited edition sundae, to boot.
Customers will also be able to customize the burger, “potentially making for nearly as many combination possibilities as there are Spider-Verses,” the franchise says, overselling slightly.
Again starring the voices of Shameik Moore as Miles, as well as those of Oscar Isaac, Daniel Kaluuya, Brian Tyree Henry, Jake Johnson and Hailee Steinfeld, the movie swings into theaters June 2.
Comedian and actor Sebastian Maniscalco came to his hometown of Chicago to promote his new comedy About My Father, and while he was in town, he had the honor of throwing out the first pitch at Sunday’s Cubs game.
While it was an honor, The Irishman co-star shared a laugh about it with ABC Audio. “Well, I just ruptured my bicep a few days ago, so I have a hole in my bicep. So I was worried about, you know, throwing this thing and ripping my arm apart,” he explains.
“But I did almost a lob. It was a high pop fly into the catcher’s mitt.”
That said, the experience gave him pause that brought to mind the title of one of his Netflix comedy specials, Is It Me?
“I thought I was going to get a catcher from the Cubs to catch the pitch,” Sebastian vented. “They put the mascot in there! Now I’m like, ‘When did this start?!’ I thought you get a real player, and here I am pitching to a bear.”
Starring Robert De Niro as his dad, About My Father also stars Kim Cattrall, Leslie Bibb and Workaholics vet Anders Holm. Ithits theaters May 26.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) With writers out of work and on picket lines amid the writers strike, some comedy writers have plied their craft to poke fun at Jenna Ortega for her viral comments about the scripts to Netflix’s Wednesday.
As reported back in March, Ortega was critical of some of the scripts for the hit show, tellingDax Shepard‘s Armchair Expert podcast, “I don’t think I’ve ever had to put my foot down more on a set in a way that I had to on Wednesday…There were times on that set where I even became almost unprofessional in a sense where I just started changing lines,” adding, “I had to sit down with the writers, and they’d be like, ‘Wait, what happened to the scene?’ And I’d have to go through and explain why I couldn’t go do certain things.”
Variety spotted one picket sign reportedly from House Party staff writer Brandon Cohen that jabbed, “Without writers, Jenna Ortega will have nothing to punch up!,” using Hollywood speak for making a script better.
BoJack Horseman writer Nick Adams snarkedon Twitter, “Jenna Ortega better be back from NY for her afternoon shift on the picket line,” to which The Bear‘s Karen Joseph Adcockreplied, “Rewriting is writing! See you at the line, Jenna!”
One of Jenna’s many fans defended her, saying she was being used as a “scapegoat,” but Adams wasn’t having it, punching back at the commenter, “she’s not gonna see this and she’s never gonna f*** you. Be better.”
Those jokes have to come out one way or another: “Idle hands are the devil’s playground,” as the saying goes.
The tense new trailer for Christopher Nolan‘s star-studded Oppenheimer just debuted, showing the United States in a race against time.
“This is a national emergency,” frequent Nolan player Cillian Murphy says as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. “We’re in a race against the Nazis. And I know what it means if the Nazis have a bomb.”
The film, based on the Pulitzer-winning 2005 book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, shows Oppenheimer lobbying Matt Damon as Leslie Richard Groves Jr., a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who directed the Manhattan Project, which gave birth to The Bomb.
“We’ve got one hope,” Oppenheimer says. “All America’s industrial might and scientific innovation connected here. A secret laboratory. Keep everyone here until it’s done.” To that end, they built a series of towns in “the middle of nowhere,” Los Alamos, New Mexico. Experts in various scientific and military disciplines are recruited and moved in with their families — otherwise, they couldn’t work ’round the clock, Murphy’s character reasons.
Some of the scientists thought the bomb would incinerate the Earth’s atmosphere, something Oppenheimer checks as a “near zero” chance.
“Near zero?” Damon’s character asks, incredulous. “What do you want from theory alone?” Oppenheimer quips.
“Zero would be nice,” Damon replies.
As the tension ratchets up, Oppenheimer pledges, “Our work here will ensure peace mankind has never seen.”
Kenneth Branagh, in a Russian accent, tells Murphy, “You are the man who gave the world the power to destroy themselves. And the world is not prepared.”
Also appearing in the clip is Robert Downey Jr.The movie also stars Gary Oldman as President Harry Truman, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek, Jack Quaid, Florence Pugh and Matthew Modine.
Variety reports CBS has canceled S.W.A.T. after seven seasons. The remake of the 1970s police drama starred Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson, a S.W.A.T. sergeant tasked to run a specialized tactical unit that is the last stop in law enforcement in Los Angeles. Rochelle Aytes, Jay Harrington, Kenny Johnson, David Lim and Alex Russell. The show’s current sixth season winds up on May 19 with an episode titled “Legacy”…
Call Me Kat has been canceled at Fox after three seasons, according to Deadline. The series, which followed Mayim Bialik as the titular character — an eccentric woman who quits her stable job as a math professor to open a cat café — was a victim of sagging ratings. Call Me Kat also starred Swoosie Kurtz, Cheyenne Jackson, Kyla Pratt, Julian Gant and the late Leslie Jordan, who died in October…
Bill Saluga, the comedian best known for his trademark phrase, “You can call me Ray,” died March 28 in hospice care in Los Angeles, his friend Bill Minkin told The Hollywood Reporter. He was 85. Saluga was also a member of the improvisational comedy group the Ace Trucking Company, alongside Fred Willard. They found success in the 1960s and ’70s. They opened for Tom Jones in Las Vegas and performed on the singer’s 1971 ABC variety show. Saluga’s other TV credits include Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Mad About You, Blossom, Home Improvement and Murphy Brown…
In a pre-taped show that felt similar to an event during the COVID days, the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards were handed out Sunday night.
The big winners included The Last of Us, which nabbed three trophies, including Best TV Show, Pedro Pascal for Best Hero and Best Duo, along with Bella Ramsey. Scream VI grabbed the big prize for movies, with Courteney Cox‘s Gale Weathers and Ghostface winning Best Fight.
Stranger Things also picked up a pair of awards for Best Kick A** Cast and Breakthrough Performance honors for Joseph Quinn. Jennifer Coolidge walked off with a pair of awards for Comedic Genius and Most Frightened Performance for her role in The White Lotus.
Drew Barrymore, who was to host, appeared in several sketches that were already in the can, including spoofs of the trailer to Barbie, and her 1999 hit Never Been Kissed.
As reported, Barrymore pulled out on Thursday, May 4, in “solidarity” with the striking writers, and with celebrity presenters following suit, and WGA members threatening to picket the event, MTV pivoted to the pre-taped format.
Bruce Gillmer, an Executive Producer of the MTV Movie & TV Awards, said in a statement on Friday the network supported Barrymore’s decision, and ABC Audio confirmed she accepted an invitation to host next year.
Gillmer noted, “As we carefully navigate how best to deliver the fan first awards’ show we envisioned that our team has worked so hard to create, we’re pivoting away from a live event that still enables us to produce a memorable night full of exclusive sneak peaks, irreverent categories our audience has come to expect, and countless moments that will both surprise and delight as we honor the best of film and TV over the past year.”
Here’s the complete list of winners who took home a “Golden Popcorn” trophy.
BEST MOVIE Scream VI
BEST TV SHOW The Last of Us
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE
Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
BEST HERO
Pedro Pascal, The Last Of Us
BEST VILLAIN
Elizabeth Olsen, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
BEST KISS
Madison Bailey and Rudy Pankow, Outer Banks
BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Adam Sandler, Murder Mystery 2
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Joseph Quinn, Stranger Things
BEST FIGHT
Courteney Cox (Gale Weathers) vs. Ghostface, Scream VI
MOST FRIGHTENED PERFORMANCE
Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
BEST DUO
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, The Last Of Us
BEST KICK-A** CAST Stranger Things
BEST SONG
Taylor Swift /”Carolina,” Where The Crawdads Sing
BEST MUSICAL MOMENT
“Come Back Home” in Purple Hearts
BEST DOCU-REALITY SERIES The Kardashians
BEST COMPETITION SERIES RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars
BEST HOST
Drew Barrymore, The Drew Barrymore Show
BEST REALITY ON-SCREEN TEAM
Ariana Madix, Katie Maloney, Scheana Shay, LaLa Kent, Vanderpump Rules
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me
COMEDIC GENIUS
Jennifer Coolidge
Scream VI and The Last of Us topped the winners Sunday night, taking home the awards for best movie and best show, respectively, among other wins.
