Entertainment

More members of the Wizarding World have been cast in HBO’s Harry Potter series.

The network has announced that Rafe Spall, Molly Hewitt-Richards and Jasper Ambrose have joined the season 2 cast of the upcoming series.

Spall will play Arthur Weasley, Hewitt-Richards is taking on the role of Moaning Myrtle and Ambrose has been cast as Colin Creevey.

“Get your camera ready,” HBO Max captioned a casting announcement Instagram post.

Arthur Weasley is the father of Harry Potter’s best friend, Ron Weasley. Moaning Myrtle is the ghost of a former Hogwarts student who haunts one of the restrooms at the wizarding school. Creevey is a Hogwarts student who loves photography and is a big fan of Harry.

The new actors join the previously announced Kit Harington, who is set to play Gilderoy Lockhart, as well as Bonnie Hill, Billy Barratt and Lenny Rush, who will portray Ginny Weasley, Tom Riddle and the house-elf Dobby, respectively.

HBO renewed its Harry Potter series for season 2 on May 6. The renewal announcement arrived months ahead of the debut of the show’s first season.

Dominic McLaughlin leads the cast as Harry Potter. He stars alongside Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, who play Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The show is described as a faithful adaptation of the books by J.K. Rowling, who serves as an executive producer.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone will air on HBO and debut on HBO Max on Christmas Day 2026. Season 2 is set to begin production in fall 2026.

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Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Nick Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said on Tuesday.

If Nick Reiner is convicted of the murders of his parents, renowned director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner, the maximum sentence he would face is life without the possibility of parole, Hochman said.

Hochman said while deciding whether or not to seek the death penalty, the DA’s office examined the aggravating and mitigating factors and spoke to the victims’ family, prosecutors and law enforcement.

Nick Reiner’s siblings, Jake Reiner and Romy Reiner, made their views about the death penalty “very clear,” Hochman said, adding that the DA’s office took “their views into consideration in ultimately deciding not to seek the death penalty.”

Nick Reiner, who turned 33 on Monday, is accused of fatally stabbing his parents in the family’s home in December. The night before the killings, Nick Reiner — who was living on his parents’ property and had previously struggled with addiction — got into an argument with his father at a holiday party and was seen acting strangely, sources told ABC News at the time.

Nick Reiner is due in court on Tuesday for a hearing concerning the unsealing of the grand jury transcripts, Hochman said.

Jake Reiner and Romy Reiner expressed a “strong desire for these transcripts to remain sealed,” Hochman said.

The siblings “basically have said the disclosure to the public and media of the details and evidence of the killing of their parents will cause them additional trauma and harm,” the DA explained.

Hochman said prosecutors “have made it clear to the court that under the standards of whether or not unsealing the transcripts would prejudice the government’s investigation, or prejudice the right to a defendant’s fair and impartial trial, that we do not believe that unsealing the transcripts will cause such prejudice.”

“However, we have deferred to the court the decision on this ruling of whether or not the transcript should be unsealed,” he continued.

The indictment unsealed in August charged Nick Reiner with two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait, according to prosecutors. He also faces a special allegation that he used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife. He pleaded not guilty.

Nick Reiner is held on no bond.

No trial date has been set. Hochman said on Tuesday that he believes a trial will not occur before 2027, adding, “when the defense is ready to proceed, the government will be ready to proceed.”

If Hochman had decided to pursue the death penalty, it would have been mostly a symbolic move. While California does have inmates on death row, there has not been an execution in the state in 20 years and Gov. Gavin Newsom placed a moratorium on executions in 2019.

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Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs opened their 2026 regular season Monday night at home against the Denver Broncos in front of a star-studded audience.

Kelce’s wife, Taylor Swift, was spotted at the game sitting alongside Tom Cruise, who attended the couple’s July 3 wedding at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The NFL shared a video on social media of Swift and Cruise sitting inside a box at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, writing, “Taylor Swift and Tom Cruise in the house for MNF.”

In addition to Cruise, Swift watched the game alongside her parents and mother-in-law.

Monday night’s game marked Kelce’s first regular-season game since marrying Swift this summer.

Arrowhead Stadium played a major role in Swift and Kelce’s relationship becoming public.

On Sept. 24, 2023, Swift surprised fans when she attended a Chiefs game against the Chicago Bears and watched from a suite alongside Kelce’s mother, Donna Kelce. The appearance came shortly after Kelce publicly revealed that he had invited Swift to see him play at Arrowhead.

Swift went on to become a fixture at Chiefs games during the 2023 season, attending 13 games, including all four of Kansas City’s postseason games and Super Bowl LVIII, where the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers.

She returned for multiple games during the 2024 season, particularly at Arrowhead, and attended the Chiefs’ postseason run through Super Bowl LIX in February 2025.

By the 2025 season, however, Swift’s presence became far less visible. She was not seen at the Chiefs’ season opener in Brazil and largely kept a lower profile even when attending home games at Arrowhead.

In an interview with ESPN’s Chris Berman ahead of the Monday Night Football game, Kelce described what it was like to get married during the offseason.

“It was the best night of my life,” Kelce said in the interview, which also aired Monday on Good Morning America. “Marrying Taylor was, you know, it was more than I could have ever dreamed it to be because of all the people that showed up and the amount of love that was in the air.”

He continued, “It’s been unbelievable.”

Kelce is beginning his 14th season in the NFL, but told Berman he has the “desire” to keep playing.

“I’m still kind of sitting here like I don’t want to let this thing go … I want to keep playing until the wheels fall off, I always say,” he said. “I still have the desire to go out there and compete, and I still think I can compete at a high level, I love this game so much that, you know, I’m I’m not ready to you know go into that next phase yet.”

Kelce is playing this season on a one-year contract. The Chiefs beat the Broncos 31 to 10.

The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News and ESPN.

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Even more actors have joined the cast of This Summer Will Be Different.

Netflix has announced that Malin Akerman, Megan Follows, Nadine Bhabha and Matias Lucas have joined the cast of the upcoming TV adaptation of author Carley Fortune’s bestselling romance novel.

Akerman will play Aunt Stacy, Follows will play Cheryl, Bhabha will play Farah and Matias Lucas will play Carter.

This Summer Will Be Different will be “a simmering, sun-soaked romance set across multiple summers on Prince Edward Island about Lucy, a young woman navigating her 20s and her first real love with her best friend’s brother, the one person she was never supposed to fall for,” according to the show’s logline.

Sophie Nélisse stars as Lucy in the series. Francesca Reale and Roby Attal also star as Bridget and Felix.

The show’s recurring cast is rounded out by Jordan Rodrigues as Miles Lam, Jude Wilson as Zach, Natalie Brown as Christine, James Tupper as Ken, Tom Barnett as Peter and Celia Owen as Joy.

Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart serve as the adaptation’s creators and showrunners. They also both executive produce the show alongside Fortune.

This Summer Will Be Different has wrapped filming on location in Prince Edward Island and is currently now filming in Toronto. The show will span 10 episodes.

“I fell in love with Prince Edward Island first in the pages of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and again when I visited with my best friend in my early 20s,” Fortune told Netflix. “That vacation, the beauty of the island, the warmth of its people, and the friendships that sustain us are the foundation of This Summer Will Be Different. I’m thrilled to bring this sweeping love story to the screen with Netflix and to transport audiences to the glittering shores and windswept beaches of PEI.”

Nélisse and Bhabha previously worked together on season 1 of Heated Rivalry. Akerman stars in Netflix’s The Hunting Wives, while Follows is known for her roles in Anne of Green Gables and Reign.

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Brie Larson is headed to Italy.

The Oscar winner is set to star in and executive produce the film adaptation of Rebecca Serle’s book One Italian Summer. Enola Holmes director Harry Bradbeer will direct the movie for Paramount Pictures.

Larson confirmed her casting in a post shared to Instagram on Monday. The photo finds Larson holding the book open as she gives a soft smile to the camera.

“See you in Positano,” she captioned the photo.

One Italian Summer follows a woman named Katy who travels to Positano, Italy, alone after her mother and best friend, Carol, dies. As she arrives on the Amalfi Coast Katy feels her mother’s spirit, but then she sees her in the flesh.

“Healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her,” according to the book’s official synopsis.

Serle also posted about Larson’s casting.

“Away we go,” she captioned her post of the same photo of Larson.

Deadline reports the film is set for a theatrical release on May 12, 2028, during Mother’s Day weekend.

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Celebrity designer Bob Mackie, who created looks for stars including Cher, Diana Ross and Carol Burnett, has died at the age of 87, according to a statement posted Monday on his Instagram page.

“He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do,” the statement said. “His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.”

Mackie’s extensive and award-winning career spanned over 60 years. The California native started his career as a sketch artist for film costume designers before he became the costume designer for actress and singer Mitzi Gaynor’s Las Vegas Review shows in the 1960s.

He went on to design costumes for The Carol Burnett Show for 11 years, an experience he described as “fabulous” in an interview with GMA3 in November 2024.

At the time, Mackie was promoting his documentary, Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, and he opened up about what it takes to thrive in costume design.

“When you’re a costume designer, you better understand what that person does,” Mackie said. “‘What, as a performer, what kind of timing do they have? How do they move if they’re a dancer?’ It’s all you have to think about that. You don’t just send them out in a sweet little dress and hope for the best. It doesn’t work that way.”

Mackie was celebrated widely for his work, earning nine Emmy Awards, three Oscar nominations and a coveted spot in the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2002, during his lifetime. He also was recognized for his contributions to The Cher Show with a 2019 Tony Award.

His costumes also graced many theater stages, from Lorelei in 1974 with Carol Channing, to 1999’s Minnelli On Minnelli with Liza Minnelli. Mackie launched his ready-to-wear Mackie label in 1982 and even collaborated with Mattel to design stylish outfits for the toy company’s iconic Barbie dolls.

Mackie was known for his choice in bright colors, glamorous designs with intricate beadwork and feathers and most notably, his “nude illusion” dresses with mesh paneling that matched wearers’ skin tones.

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Celine Dion’s comeback is in full swing.

The iconic singer returned to the stage and kicked off a 26-show run in Paris over the weekend, marking six years since her last live performance and four years since she publicly announced she has stiff-person syndrome.

Dion performed to sold-out crowds on Saturday at Plenitude Arena, previously Paris La Défense Arena, in Nanterre, France, belting out both French and English songs from her extensive catalog.

“What an incredible opening night! Still taking it all in,” Dion said in an Instagram post afterward.

Footage from the concert shows Celine telling the cheering crowd, “I made a promise to come back, to be back onstage. Here I am.”

The 58-year-old singer will perform until mid-October and then take a break before resuming performances in May 2027.

In December 2022, Dion announced publicly that she had been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological disease. She gave fans an inside look at what she was going through in her documentary, I Am: Celine Dion.

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The investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere is now a cross-country investigation in both Los Angeles and South Carolina, sources told ABC News.

While toxicology reports are still pending, sources say investigators are focusing on what drugs may have played a role in her death, and where the drugs came from.

Panettiere, known for her roles in Heroes, Nashville and Ice Princess, died on Aug. 16 after she was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina.

First responders attempted to resuscitate her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Panettiere’s official cause and manner of death have not yet been announced.

The actress flew from Los Angeles to South Carolina the day before her death, sources say.

The Greenville City Police Department is leading the investigation into Panettiere’s death, with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration assisting, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News last month.

In response to DEA joining the investigation into her death, a representative for Panettiere told ABC News in an Aug. 20 statement, “There’s nothing to be shared at this time as the investigation is ongoing but we are hopeful that justice will be served.”

Sources told ABC News the investigation into Panettiere’s death could be looking into street-level drug dealers who may have provided drugs to the late actress.

Brian Hickerson, Panettiere’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, and his brother Zach Hickerson were present at the scene of her death, according to a police report previously obtained by ABC News. The responding police officer added in the report that Brian Hickerson showed them “the bag of medication Hayden is currently on.”

The report noted that Panettiere had been “temporarily staying” at the residence where she was found.

Brian Hickerson’s attorney shared a statement with ABC News on Aug. 20, in response to the police report, writing, “Hayden’s death remains under investigation and it is important to allow that investigation to proceed. As has been publicly reported, police confirmed there were no signs of foul play.”

“Out of respect for Hayden’s loved ones and the ongoing investigation, there will be no further comment at this time,” the statement added.

Prior to her death, Panettiere opened up about her substance abuse issues, which she said ran concurrent with her successful acting career. The actress wrote about her struggles in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, released in May, and spoke about them in press interviews.

“When I got to the point of looking in the mirror and seeing my eyes had turned yellow, and that I didn’t recognize my body anymore … I went into that doctor’s office and got a blood test, and he told me, ‘If you don’t stop, you’re going to be looking at a liver transplant,'” Panettiere said on the Tamron Hall Show earlier this year about her decision to enter a rehabilitation center in 2020.

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The family of Celeste Rivas Hernandez is taking legal action against the singer D4vd.

A civil lawsuit against the singer, born David Anthony Burke, has been filed by the teen’s family and accepted and stamped by Los Angeles County Superior Court, ABC News has confirmed.

The lawsuit alleges wrongful death, fatal stabbing, sexual battery, childhood assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and human trafficking, among many other claims.

The lawsuit is seeking damages for the loss of Rivas Hernandez, her alleged abuse and the emotional distress her parents say they suffered, along with punitive damages. The complaint does not specify a dollar amount, instead asking for damages to be determined at trial.

The civil lawsuit against D4vd also names his family members and business associates, including the head of the music-management enterprise that represented the singer who also served as his personal manager; the singer’s “day-to-day” manager who lived at the singer’s Hollywood Hills home; and a live-in security guard.

The singer’s mother, Colleen Burke, is also named in the suit. The lawsuit says she served as her son’s personal finance director.

D4vd’s principal recording and entertainment company and his music-publishing company are also named in the suit.

Attempts to reach the businesses and individuals named in the lawsuit were not successful. An attorney who represents David Burke and Colleen Burke did not immediately reply to ABC News’ request for comment.

In September 2025, Rivas Hernandez’s badly decomposed, dismembered remains were discovered in the trunk of a Tesla registered to D4vd at an impound lot in Hollywood. The Los Angeles County medical examiner identified the body as belonging to Rivas Hernandez.

D4vd was arrested and charged in criminal court in April for the murder of Rivas Hernandez after a monthslong investigation. He is now being represented in court by a public defender.

Prosecutors allege that D4vd and Rivas Hernandez began a sexual relationship in 2023, when he was 18 and she was 13, and that he killed her after she threatened to expose their illegal relationship and ruin his career.

Just as tickets for his world tour were set to go on sale, it is alleged that the “Romantic Homicide” singer ordered an Uber that brought Rivas Hernandez to his Hollywood Hills home on April 23, 2025, prosecutors said. That was the last time she was seen alive, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors allege that the singer killed Rivas Hernandez and then took a series of “ghoulish” steps to dismember her body.

The singer has pleaded not guilty to charges that include first-degree murder, sexual abuse of a child and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

Rivas Hernandez’s family’s lawsuit comes days after what would have been her 16th birthday.

A vigil was held on Sept. 7 to remember the late teenager.

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Netflix has released the official trailer for Josh Hartnett’s new series, Below. Hartnett is joined by Mackenzie Davis and Charlie Heaton in the supernatural thriller about a sea creature that terrorizes a remote fishing community. The six-episode mini series debuts Oct. 8 … 

We have our first look at Rose Byrne’s latest TV role. Byrne joins Meghann Fahy and Brendan Gleeson for the Peacock drama The Good Daughter, a new thriller based on the 2017 novel by Karin Slaughter. The series follows sisters Charlotte (Fahy) and Samantha (Byrne), whose lives are upended by a night of violence in their small Southern town. The series drops Nov. 12 …

A new avatar rises in the first official trailer for Avatar: Seven Havens. The all-new animated series will debut on Paramount+ Oct. 9, continuing the story of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra …

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