In Brief: Soap star dies at 37; Jamie Foxx, Robert De Niro deploy for ‘Tin Soldier’, and more

In Brief: Soap star dies at 37; Jamie Foxx, Robert De Niro deploy for ‘Tin Soldier’, and more
In Brief: Soap star dies at 37; Jamie Foxx, Robert De Niro deploy for ‘Tin Soldier’, and more

Actress Marnie Schulenburg, who played Alison Stewart on As the World Turns from 2007 to 2010, has died. Deadline reports the Daytime Emmy Award-nominated actress was 37 and died after a battle with metastatic breast cancer at a hospital in Bloomfield, New Jersey…

Peacock has released the official trailer for its upcoming reimagining of the groundbreaking British drama series Queer as Folk, which follows a group of friends whose lives are rocked after a tragedy. The series stars Grey’s Anatomy‘s Devin Way, Agents of SHIELD‘s Fin Argus, Big Sky‘s Jesse James Keitel, CG, HacksJohnny Sibilly and Special‘s Ryan O’Connell, the latter of whom is also attached as a writer and co-executive producer. Guest stars include Kim Cattrall and Juliette Lewis, who play parents to LGBTQ kids. The full season of Queer as Folk launches June 9 on Peacock…(Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

The second project from Robert Downey Jr.‘s Team Downey for Discovery+ will be an unscripted series tentatively titled Downey’s Dream Cars, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series will feature the Iron Man star and his team of experts reviving classic cars, as they “also look to restore a battered global environment by creating eco-friendly automobiles for the 21st century.” “My goal is to showcase that it’s possible to keep the integrity of classic cars while leveraging new tech and innovation to make them more eco-friendly,” Downey Jr. said in a statement obtained by the outlet…

Jamie Foxx, Robert De Niro, Scott Eastwood and John Leguizamo are set to team up for the action indie movie Tin Soldier, according to Deadline. It “tells the story of The Bokushi — played by Foxx — who preaches to hundreds of veterans who have been drawn to the promise of protection and purpose under him.” After several failed attempts by Emmanuel Ashburn — a government military operative played by De Niro — to penetrate his heavily armed fortress, he recruits Eastwood’s Nash Cavanaugh, a former disciple of The Bokushi, “to get revenge on the man who took everything from him, including the love of his life.” Tin Soldier begins filming next week in Greece…

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Emmy Rossum takes on a Hollywood icon in Peacock’s ‘Angelyne’

Emmy Rossum takes on a Hollywood icon in Peacock’s ‘Angelyne’
Emmy Rossum takes on a Hollywood icon in Peacock’s ‘Angelyne’
Peacock

She’s one of the most famous women in Hollywood, yet no one really knows anything about her. That’s all about to change with Angelyne, the limited series debuting today on Peacock.

Emmy Rossum plays the blonde billboard loving bombshell, who is famous just for being famous and driving around LA in a pink Corvette. Rossum tells ABC Audio she’s been obsessed with Angelyne since she was 13, when she first came to LA for auditions.

“I saw this billboard at a stoplight, and it was this woman and this power and this femininity. And then I started seeing the billboard everywhere,” she says. “And the more I asked people like, who is Angelyne? Everyone would light up and then tell a completely different story.”

“I think that’s what’s so interesting about her. How could you be both so known in LA and yet so unknown?” Rossum recalls thinking. “She’s kind of done the impossible…you know, maintain the mystery and the enigma for decades.”

The actress worked on nailing Angelyne’s look “for months and months,” until they “really kind of got a look we loved.”

“I didn’t recognize myself,” she continues. “And I have never been so able to enter my imagination so easily…there was real freedom and liberation in that.”

Another thrill for Emmy was getting to meet Angelyne and bring her “pink cookies.” In return, she gave Rossum “a magic stone.”

“She granted us her life rights and her trademarks, the ability to recreate all of her songs and billboard poses,” notes Rossum, who adds that it “meant the world to me, especially as somebody who has fought so much for pay equity and fairness. It was incredibly important to me that she was very well compensated for all of her contributions to the story.”

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‘Wonder Twins’ powers, deactivate: Warner Bros. Discovery shelves superhero project

‘Wonder Twins’ powers, deactivate: Warner Bros. Discovery shelves superhero project
‘Wonder Twins’ powers, deactivate: Warner Bros. Discovery shelves superhero project
KJ Apa — Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

An HBO Max movie based on DC Comics characters The Wonder Twins has been shelved.

The Hollywood Reporter reports the plug has been pulled on the project, which was to get underway soon with Riverdale lead KJ Apa and 1883 actress Isabel Mayon as titular twins Zan and Jayna.

As any fan of Super Friends could tell you, the siblings were shape-shifters. After declaring, “Wonder Twins powers, activate!” Zan could transform into any form of water, while Jayna could become any animal.

The trade says the decision might be due to Warner Bros. rebranding as Warner Bros. Discovery and its new CEO, David Zaslav, who is reorganizing the studio’s DC properties with an eye toward big-screen projects.

That said, a source tells the trade that the script, as written by its would-be director, Black Adam screenwriter Adam Sztykiel, was deemed to be “too niche” for a feature film.

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Steve Martin, Martin Short rave over Selena Gomez’s ‘SNL’ hosting debut

Steve Martin, Martin Short rave over Selena Gomez’s ‘SNL’ hosting debut
Steve Martin, Martin Short rave over Selena Gomez’s ‘SNL’ hosting debut
Hulu

Steve Martin and Martin Short might not be related to Selena Gomez, but they’re certainly acting like proud parents after their Only Murders in the Building co-star hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Martin told Gomez of her hosting debut, “I thought you delivered the comedy so beautifully and so low key, but hilarious.” It should be noted the comedian crashed the singer’s SNL debut by starring in a prerecorded skit about the fictitious inventor of the whoopee cushion.

Added Short, “We said, ‘Go Selena!'”

The Grammy nominee said of the hosting gig, “It was so much fun. I had a blast,” and that she was thankful she “had their support.” She added hosting SNL was “a dream come true.”

The trio appeared onstage trading good-natured jabs in New York City Tuesday, promoting their Hulu show at the Disney Upfront presentation, and revealing Only Murderssecond season trailer.

While Martin teases there will be “more crime, more murder,” his co-star Short helpfully added, “Crime and murder. And murder mixed with kind of an element of crime … and death permeates.”

Gomez added this season is “really funny” because they worked hard on making it the best season possible. “We want it to be the best one.”

The second season of Only Murders in the Building airs June 28 on Hulu.

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Very nice! ‘Borat”s Sacha Baron Cohen teaming up with ‘King of the Hill’ creators for new animated special

Very nice! ‘Borat”s Sacha Baron Cohen teaming up with ‘King of the Hill’ creators for new animated special
Very nice! ‘Borat”s Sacha Baron Cohen teaming up with ‘King of the Hill’ creators for new animated special
Rick Rycroft-Pool/Getty Images

Oscar nominee Sacha Baron Cohen is teaming up with Emmy-winning Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill creator Mike Judge for an HBO Max and Cartoon Network animated special.

Also in the mix for Chelm: The Smartest Place on Earth is King of the Hill is co-creator Greg Daniels and SNL veteran Michael Koman.

The special has its roots in Yiddish folklore: Cohen will narrate the project, set in the mythical Town of Fools, and the show promises “a fresh take on the silly antics and exaggerated conflicts of the town, while also preserving the essence and heart of the classic folktales.”

Calling the trio’s pitch “so hilarious,” Amy Friedman, head of kids and family programming at Warner Bros., said, “This unique project will breathe new, hysterical life into the nonsensical Chelmic wisdom that originated from this imaginary city of folks who aren’t quite the sharpest tools in the shed.”

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The joe about nothing: ‘Seinfeld’ inspires coffee collection

The joe about nothing: ‘Seinfeld’ inspires coffee collection
The joe about nothing: ‘Seinfeld’ inspires coffee collection
FILES/AFP via Getty Images)

For those who have been drinking in Seinfeld repeats since the Emmy-winning show went off the air in 1998, you can now do it literally.

The company Bean Box has created the official Seinfeld Coffee Collection. Pretty apt — albeit arguably very late — for a show in which Monk’s Diner was a staple.

According to the company, they’ve curated coffee from the nation’s best roasters to “embody the complex and quirky personalities of New York’s most relatable group of friends.”

Included in the collection is “a spicy and chocolaty medium roast” called Elaine’s Little Kicks and a “dark, rich” blend called George’s “Serenity Now.”

Also up for grabs are Jerry’s Diner Blend, a Brazilian coffee with “notes of chocolate, brown sugar and roasted almonds,” and Kramer’s Giddy-Up, an Ethiopian blend, fittingly for the show’s fruit fan, that has notes of “mango, papaya and citrus.”

Not included, interestingly, is decaf — which TV Jerry drank — or Elaine’s favorite, Arabian Mocha Java, a blend so strong she once referred to it as “PLO blend.”

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Tom Cruise says he “never” would have let ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ debut on streaming

Tom Cruise says he “never” would have let ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ debut on streaming
Tom Cruise says he “never” would have let ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ debut on streaming
Paramount Pictures

While some movie studios weathered the COVID-19 storm by releasing movies to streaming services instead of theaters, Tom Cruise insists he was “never” going to do that with his latest project, Top Gun: Maverick.

“That was not going to happen ever,” the actor and producer tells The Hollywood Reporter. “That was never going to happen.”

The sequel — enjoying a sky-high 97% ratings on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes — was delayed several times by the pandemic, but will now finally land in theaters May 24.

He tells the trade even in the darkest days of the pandemic, when movie theaters were shuttered, he was optimistic. In fact, he explained he called each of his younger co-stars, including Miles Teller, Danny Ramirez, Monica Barbaro and Glen Powell, each time the film was delayed to say, “Don’t worry, this is going to happen.”

Cruise, whose career was just saluted at the Cannes Film Festival, also mentioned his drive to do his own stunts in each of his films. And yes, that includes flying in Maverick. “No one asked Gene Kelly, ‘Why do you dance? Why do you do your own dancing?'” Cruise said.

And speaking of Top Gun, fans can head over to WhatsMyCallSign.com and open your camera to get your own pilot callsign — and model your flight helmet via AR technology.

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Marilyn Monroe’s dress designer calls Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala look “a big mistake”

Marilyn Monroe’s dress designer calls Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala look “a big mistake”
Marilyn Monroe’s dress designer calls Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala look “a big mistake”
NDZ/Star Max/GC Images

It’s been weeks since Kim Kardashian rocked Marilyn Monroe‘s infamous “Happy Birthday” dress at this year’s Met Gala, but the commentary just keeps rolling in, the latest from the dress’s designer, Bob Mackie.

The legendary fashion designer, who sketched the gown for the late icon, told Entertainment Weekly, “I thought it was a big mistake.”

“[Marilyn] was a goddess. A crazy goddess, but a goddess,” he continued. “She was just fabulous. Nobody photographs like that. And it was done for her. It was designed for her. Nobody else should be seen in that dress.”

There was also concern over the preservation of the gown. Kim wore the exact gown Marilyn wore when she serenaded President John F. Kennedy on his 45th birthday in 1962.

Mackie sketched the dress early in his career while working under the French-born Hollywood costume designer Jean-Louis.

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Jason Momoa works a car hood like a “Whitesnake video” in ‘Fast X’ clowning with Vin Diesel

Jason Momoa works a car hood like a “Whitesnake video” in ‘Fast X’ clowning with Vin Diesel
Jason Momoa works a car hood like a “Whitesnake video” in ‘Fast X’ clowning with Vin Diesel
ABC

Muscle car met muscle when a shirtless Jason Momoa goofed around with Vin Diesel on the set of the in-production Fast X.

“Jason, what are you doing on this car?” Diesel asks his co-star in the selfie-style video, as a shades-wearing Momoa attempts to seductively slide around on the car’s hood.

“I’m trying to do the new Whitesnake video!” he jokes, referencing the late Tawny Kitaen‘s famous gyrating atop Jaguars in the video to the band’s 1987 hit “Here I Go Again.”

Vin and Jason, who play enemies in the upcoming film, were apparently blowing off steam before shooting a big action scene in the tenth Fast film. “I feel amazing!” Momoa said, jumping off the vehicle and enthusing, “I finally got a Fast car!”

This is gonna be a good one,” Diesel told his nearly 80 million Instagram followers.

“Gonna be a great one!” Momoa corrects him.

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With ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ replacing ‘Dancing with the Stars’ this fall, “we’ve got to really do a good job,” says Wells Adams

With ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ replacing ‘Dancing with the Stars’ this fall, “we’ve got to really do a good job,” says Wells Adams
With ‘Bachelor In Paradise’ replacing ‘Dancing with the Stars’ this fall, “we’ve got to really do a good job,” says Wells Adams
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Goodbye ballroom — hello Bachelors and Bachelorettes.  ABC confirmed Tuesday that this fall, as Dancing with the Stars moves to Disney+, Bachelor In Paradise will be taking over its time slots, airing on both Monday and Tuesday nights.

Bachelorette season 12 contestant-turned-Bachelor In Paradise mainstay Wells Adams will be returning for the new season, and on the Disney Upfronts red carpet in New York City, he discussed the scheduling change with ABC Audio.

“We’ve always done two nights on Paradise. I guess [it’s] a little bit more pressure, that we’ve got to really do a good job, make a good TV show,” he laughs. “But I’m just excited that’s coming back. It’s such a fun show to film. Yeah, it’s always a blast to watch back, so I’m just glad we’re going back to Paradise.”

Jesse Palmer will host the new season, with Adams returning as the bartender.  However, he feels he’s really there not so much to mix margaritas, but to lend an ear to the contestants as they pour out their relationship woes.

“Yeah, I’m a bad bartender. I’m a good therapist. I think that’s my role there,” he laughs.

Adams isn’t using Bachelor In Paradise to look for love for himself, of course: He’s engaged to former Modern Family star Sarah Hyland, and the two are currently trying to plan their wedding, after it was derailed by the pandemic.

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