Entertainment

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Bruce Campbell is a cult movie icon, having appeared in all of Sam Raimi‘s films, including the classic Evil Dead and Army of Darkness movies, as well as Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, and more recently his Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

2002’s Spider-Man had him playing an underground wrestling promoter who dubs Tobey Maguire‘s Peter Parker “The Amazing Spider-Man” instead of “The Human Spider.” Although Liam Neeson played the hero Darkman in Raimi’s 1990 movie of the same name, it ends with a shot of Campbell, portraying the character in disguise.

In Multiverse of Madness, he was known as Pizza Poppa, a guy who sold ball-shaped pizza in another dimension who tangles unsuccessfully with the Master of the Mystic Arts before capping the film with another cameo. Campbell jokes about the impact he’s had on pop culture. “I named Spider-Man. I put an end to Doctor Strange. I am Darkman, so I don’t know if people quite understand the iconic nature of my career that I really have,” he deadpans.

“Because if I wasn’t in the billion-dollar franchise, it would be called The Human Spider, unless I had renamed it thinking it was a s***** name. So people think, ‘Oh yeah, a little tiny cameo. Funny cameo.’ Pivotal. Pivotal is the word I always come back to.”

Bruce is currently in the midst of his Bruce-O-Rama Tour, in which he interacts with fans, screens some of his movies and hosts “Last Fan Standing,” what he calls “a game show for geeks.” He adds, “There’s no geography, there’s no history. You know, it’s about Boba Fett and crap like that … it’s a lot of fun.” 

The tour runs through April 30.

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After 35 years of marriage, Ray Romano says nobody supports him like his wife Anna Romano.

“Today when I left very early, I went over and kissed my wife. I thought she was asleep and as I’m walking out the door all I hear is, ‘Don’t say anything stupid,'” he joked to Good Morning America.

The couple, who married in 1987, now have four children together — and Ray credits his wife for seeing something in him before he was famous.

“We met as bank tellers here in Queens,” he reminisced. “I was living at home — I lived at home until I was 29. I was not a catch, you know? I give her credit ’cause she married me before any of this happened.”

He recalled, “I would ride my bike to work. I don’t know what she saw in me.”

Ray Romano also told GMA it was his six-foot-five, former high school basketball player son Joseph Romano who inspired him to write, direct and star in his directorial debut Somewhere in Queens — in theaters this Friday.

“I knew I wanted it to be about my hometown of Queens and the people I grew up with,” he said.

“When it was ending, we knew he wasn’t going to continue to play — it got very emotional for me….I’m being honest, I loved being the father of the star basketball player,” Romano recalled.

“The idea was, what if this was about a guy who that’s all he had?” he continued, turning back to the film. “He felt very small and very insignificant and he lived vicariously through his son and it was ending. That was the starting point of this story.”

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MTV’s new female-led comedy Pretty Stoned has arrived and star Brandee Evans is sharing what its all about. 

“It’s like our female stoner comedy, which I don’t think that you’ve ever seen,” she tells ABC Audio. “You know, we’ve got the boys club doing their thing, but now you finally get to see the way the ladies do it.”

“I always say, imagine like a Friday, How High crazy mix-up and that that’s where you get Pretty Stoned,” she adds.

In the movie, Evans embodies the role of Tick Tock, a tough, intense henchwoman, who she describes as “unhinged.”

“She’s working on herself too though, so I love that part,” the actress shares. “But she’s got some anger management issues that she’s trying to work through, but she’s got the heart of wanting to change.”

Tick Tock is much different from the P-Valley star’s role as Mercedes, which is, in-part, what attracted Evans to it. 

“She was different than the other characters that you’ve seen me play, and she’s just funny,” she explains. “She’s also gets to do a little action stuff … So that’s what I really love.” 

In addition to Evans, Pretty Stoned has a star-studded cast that includes Pretty Vee, Paris Berelc, Kandi Burruss-Tucker, Chris Renfro, Porsha Williams, Skye Townsend, Chase Anthony, Jess Hilarious, Tabatha “DreamDoll” Robinson and D.C. Young Fly and if there were to be a sequel, she has a few ideas on who she would like to join. 

“Lala Milan. I think that she would be hilarious to add to the cast,” she shares. “You know what? I would love to see Issa Rae. I think that she would be hilarious.” 

Catch Pretty Stoned April 20 at 9 p.m. on MTV.

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Bling Empire and its spinoff, Bling Empire: New York, won’t be back for a respective fourth and second season at Netflix, according to Deadline. Bling Empire, described as a real-life Crazy Rich Asians, centered on the lives of wealthy, materialistic East and Southeast Asian Americans, socialites based in the Los Angeles area. Bling Empire: New York followed a group of billionaires, CEOs and fashion icons who compete for love, money, and power…

Natasha Rothwell will return to The White Lotus for season 3, sources tell Variety. Rothwell appeared in season 1 as spa manager Belinda Lindsey, whose dreams of opening a wellness center were dashed when a wealthy hotel guest — played by Jennifer Coolidge — reneged on her offer to bankroll the endeavor. Details on her character and plot details are being kept under wraps. The White Lotus season 3 will reportedly be set in Thailand…

A series based on The Twilight saga is in early development at Lionsgate Television, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Stephenie Meyer, author of best-selling book series is expected to be involved in the TV adaptation, say the insiders, with Sinead Daly — whose credits include Tell Me Lies, Raised by Wolves and The Get Down — attached to write the script. The potential series is still in search of a network/platform. The film franchise, which made stars of Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, collectively grossed more than $3.4 billion worldwide…

Dear Edward has been canceled at Apple TV+, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series, which followed the titular young boy — played by Colin O’Brien — who tried to make sense of his life after he’s the sole survivor of a plane crash, finished its 10-episode first season in March. Connie Britton and Taylor Schilling also starred…

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Jonathan Majors could be facing more abuse allegations ahead of his scheduled May 8 court appearance for domestic violence charges.

Following his arrest for an alleged domestic dispute in New York City on March 25, multiple women have come forward with abuse allegations and are cooperating with the Manhattan District Attorney, sources tell Variety.

Majors, who has denied the allegations, maintained his innocence following Wednesday’s report.

“Jonathan Majors is innocent and has not abused anyone. We have provided irrefutable evidence to the District Attorney that the charges are false. We are confident that he will be fully exonerated,” Majors’ attorney Priya Chaudhry in a statement.

Since his arrest, the Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star was dropped by his longtime manager Entertainment 360, as well as his publicist The Lede Company. 

Majors has also been dropped from a number of projects, according to Deadline, including a new campaign promoting the U.S. Army, and a film called The Man in My Basement, which he was also producing and starring opposite Willem Dafoe. He is reportedly “no longer under consideration” for an Otis Redding biopic called Otis and Zelma. Additionally, he’ll no longer be part of an ad campaign for the Texas Rangers.

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The prognosis is very good for ABC’s medical drama The Good Doctor: The network announced Wednesday the show starring Freddie Highmore has been renewed for a seventh season.

In doing so, Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature touted the show’s healthy stats: Its most recent episode, on April 10, jumped 40% from the previous one, matching its highest ratings of the season.

The Good Doctor also ranks as the #1 entertainment series in the Monday 10 p.m. slot, tying with NBC’s hit Quantum Leap reboot and attracting 9.1 million total viewers this season.

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Late Wednesday afternoon, Universal Pictures dropped a new trailer to Fast X, the tenth movie in the Fast and the Furious franchise.

The new coming attraction further sets up the vendetta of Jason Momoa‘s Dante, whose ganster father was killed at the hands of Vin Diesel‘s gang in Fast Five.

“If you never got behind that wheel, I wouldn’t be the man I am today,” Dante growls.

The trailer also features loads of snippets of the franchise’s over-the-top action, which includes, but is not limited to, Dante blowing up the Vatican and Dom and his son driving off a dam, before racing vertically down its face.

Strict adherence to the laws of physics was never the series’ strong suit, but they’re doing something right, as the franchise has pulled in more than $6.2 billion in theaters since launching in 2001.

Fast X races into theaters May 19.

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The career blowback against Jonathan Majors continues, following his arrest for an alleged domestic dispute in New York City on March 25.

A day after his longtime management company, Entertainment 360, dropped him, Deadline reports the Creed III star and Texas native will no longer be part of an ad campaign for the Texas Rangers. Further, the trade says he will be replaced in a film called The Man in My Basement, which would have had Majors producing and starring alongside Willem Dafoe.

Majors is reportedly “no longer under consideration” for an Otis Redding biopic called Otis and Zelma, Deadline also says.

Following his arrest, Majors was pulled from a new campaign promoting the U.S. Army.

Majors was set to reprise his Kang the Conqueror character from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in Marvel Cinematic Universe projects on both the big and small screen; the first of these to wrap was the second season of Loki.

So far, Marvel Studios has been mum, but a scan of the press release for Quantumania‘s release on digital and Blu-ray makes no mention of the star, who many critics said was a bright spot of the film.

Majors is expected to appear before a judge in New York City May 8 in relation to his arrest on multiple charges of assault and harassment, which left his alleged victim with “minor injuries to her head and neck,” according to the NYPD.

After he was charged, his attorney Priya Chaudhry released a statement calling her client “completely innocent …” and predicted that “all charges will be dropped imminently.”

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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ABC Audio has confirmed that Vin Diesel and company are sticking with Fast X director Louis Leterrier in the driver’s seat to reportedly wrap up the $6 billion-grossing Fast and Furious franchise with its 11th (!) film.

Universal Pictures President Peter Cramer said Wednesday that Leterrier, who “seamlessly” jumped behind the wheel for May’s Fast X after veteran franchise director Justin Lin bailed out, would keep the pedal down for the eleventh film.

“Under his direction, Fast X is a high intensity thriller with all the spectacular action, emotion, and twists that the fans have come to expect – and then some,” Cramer said in the announcement. He added, “We are thrilled that he will continue to work his magic in the director’s chair.”

The tenth film sees Jason Momoa joining the F&F rogues gallery as Dante, explained as the vengeful son of the drug kingpin who Diesel’s Dom Toretto and his “family” did away with in Fast Five.

Fast X reunites “family” members Jordanna Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tyrese Gibson and Sung Kang, as well as returning players Jason Statham, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood and John Cena.

Oscar winners Helen Mirren, Brie Larson and Charlize Theron, and EGOT winner Rita Moreno, also star in Fast X, which hits theaters May 19.

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When you have Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Leonardo Dicaprio, and Brendan Fraser in your movie, you arguably might want them on screen for as long as possible — and that’s what Martin Scorsese apparently got with his newest picture.

Based on a bestselling book, the Academy Award-winning directing legend’s latest film is reportedly clocking in at 3 hours and 26 minutes long.

The Apple Studios production is actually three minutes shorter than Scorsese’s The Irishman, which also starred De Niro, but that film was made primarily to stream on Netflix.

Quoting Comscore data, The Hollywood Reporter notes that Flower Moon, the runtime of which includes credits, is one of the longest theatrical movies on record in modern times.

Theater chains may gripe at longer runtimes, because they can screen a long movie fewer times a day compared to a 90-minute rom-com, which means fewer tickets and fewer buckets of popcorn. But some of the highest grossing movies of all time were long ones: Avengers: Endgame, #2 of all time, was three hours and two minutes; #3, James Cameron‘s Avatar: The Way of Water ran three hours and 12 minutes; and #4, also a Cameron film, Titanic, clocked in at 3:14.

By comparison, Cameron’s original Avatar, the highest grossing movie of all time, ran a relatively sprightly 2 hours and 41 minutes long.

Based on David Grann‘s bestselling book of the same name, Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a murder spree known locally as the Reign of Terror.

The movie debuts in limited release from Paramount Pictures on October 6; wide release comes October 20. It comes to Apple TV+ after it goes wide.

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