Entertainment

If you have a sneaking suspicion you may be borderline umbilical with your phone, Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh say their new movie, Unplugging, is for you.

The movie stars the two as a husband and wife more married to technology than to one another, so they embark on a digital detox weekend to revive the spark in their marriage.  But vacationing in an ultra-remote area with minimal cell service forces the two to address the issues their phones helped them avoid. 

Walsh, who wrote and stars in the film, told ABC Audio his message is simple: relationships are more important than technology.  “It’s about just investing in the relationships we have by creating a boundary around screen time that lets us be connected, look each other in the eyes, go to nature together… to reset us and reinvigorate us and remind us why we why we’re fortunate to have those people in our lives,” he says.

“We do monitor screen time for kids, but not for ourselves,” Longoria adds. “Digital detox, I think, is a great idea for people to take — even if it’s a little mini break.”

The Desperate Housewives star added she “jumped at the chance” to work on the film because the the plot was so “fun to explore.”

That said, how do Walsh and Longoria rate their screen time habits?  Out of a scale of one to 10 — with one representing complete addiction — Longoria said she’s “a two.”

“I’m not addicted to Instagram,” she attested. “I’m working here!  I’m working and I have a child, so I need my phone.”

As for Walsh, he estimated he’s “a six.” 

Unplugging is in theaters now.

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Thursday’s taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been canceled, following host Stephen Colbert‘s testing positive for COVID-19.

“Yep! I tested positive for Covid, but basically I’m feeling fine,” Colbert told fans on Twitter.

He added that he’s “grateful to be vaxxed and boosted,” and thanked fans for “the well wishes.”

The host also made a quip about one of tonight’s scheduled guests, writing, “This just proves that I will do anything to avoid interviewing Jason Bateman.”

The Late Show had already scheduled repeats for the rest of the week, and will return with new episodes starting May 2, according to the show’s Twitter feed.

Incidentally, Colbert’s fellow talk show hosts Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, and James Corden all tested positive in January of this year, despite having also been vaccinated and boosted.

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Deadline is reporting that production on Being Mortal, a movie that was to star Bill Murray, is being halted while claims of the comedy legend’s alleged “inappropriate behavior” on set is investigated.

Parks and Rec vet Aziz Ansari was making his directorial debut on the project, which also stars Seth Rogen, and is based on Atul Gawande‘s nonfiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.

The project was reportedly halfway done shooting before the red light was given, Deadline says.

The trade reports that a memo was sent from Searchlight Pictures to crew members on Wednesday night, updating them as to what was going on behind the scenes.

It read in part, “Late last week, we were made aware of a complaint, and we immediately looked into it. After reviewing the circumstances, it has been decided that production cannot continue at this time.”

The message thanked the crew, and added, “Our hope is to resume production and are working with Aziz…to figure out that timing.”

Gawande’s book deals with his experiences with end-of-life care and disease treatment as a surgeon, stressing the importance of patients living their life, even if they’re technically dying.

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ABC News has learned  that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Dept is actively investigating, after former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson allegedly punched a fellow passenger on a still-grounded airplane.

Tyson was caught on video seemingly punching a fellow passenger on a Jet Blue flight from San Francisco to Florida Wednesday night. However, his rep said the boxing legend was provoked.

TMZ showed the unidentified passenger both before the incident, mugging next to Tyson, who was seated directly in front of him and a buddy. He was also shown after, bloodied from scrapes on his head.

Eyewitnesses tell the gossip site that one passenger took a picture with Tyson, but the other, who was intoxicated, kept bugging him through the seats, leading to the physical scrap.

Tyson then exited the plane, which was still at San Francisco International Airport at the time.

A rep for the champ noted, “Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat.”

The injured passenger reportedly sought medical attention, and also spoke with police about the incident.

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Better Call Saul isn’t even over yet, but its star Bob Odenkirk has his next TV project ahead of him, and he’s not leaving AMC.

The network announced it’s staying in the Odenkirk business with The Straight Man, a “mid-life crisis tale” starring the Emmy winner as William Henry Devereaux, Jr., “the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.”

Odenkirk of course preceded Saul with the Emmy-winning drama Breaking Bad, which also aired on the cable network.

“The saying goes ‘the third times a charm,’ but when it comes to Bob Odenkirk on AMC, the first and second times were about as charming, captivating and viscerally entertaining as it gets,” the network’s head Dan McDermott in a statement.

Odenkirk added, “I have loved the mix of comedy and drama in Better Call Saul, and this is another story with a unique dynamic, and the kind of closely observed character writing and exploration that AMC has become the touchstone for.”

The “thrilled” actor added, “It’s going to be fun to play and watch!”

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Comic fan Nicolas Cage nearly played Superman on the big screen, but IRL he nearly bought a Batcave.

The comic-collecting Oscar winner, who portrayed Ghost Rider in two films and a version of Spider-Man in Into the Spider-Verse, revealed to Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday night that he almost purchased a real-life version of Batman’s hideout.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent star, marking his first time on a talk show in 14 years, played along while Kimmel tried to dispel rumors about the mercurial actor.

“We were in North Dakota, in the Black Hills, when we were shooting one of the [National] Treasure movies,” Cage said. “I said, ‘I hear there’s a cave for sale, let’s go look at it.'”

Instead of wanting to use it as a headquarters to fight crime, however, Cage recalled having a different plan, thinking, “‘I’d like to buy this and just get totally naked with my wife and drink nigori [sake] in the bottom of the cave in the earth.”

Also differing from the Caped Crusader’s crash pad, there were no bats in the cave, said Cage, who resisted the urge to buy it.

The actor also confirmed that he once spent a night in Dracula’s castle, and that he’d been stalked by mimes.

In addition, Cage relayed a story about an incredible hot streak while gambling in the Bahamas. Cage turned $200 at the roulette table into $20,000, which he then put into the hands of the headmistress of an orphanage he visited there. “And I never gambled again,” Cage said, fearing he’d never be able to recapture the magic.

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If you’ve ever indulged in the New York Times best-selling graphic novel series The Bad Guys, you’re already well aware of the five titular characters who are now being brought to life in Dreamworks’ animated film adaptation.

The movie follows Mr. Wolf, voiced by Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, and his crew of animal outlaws — Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and Mrs. Tarantula (Awkwafina) — as they set out on their most challenging mission yet: going from criminals to model citizens. The film also features Zazie Beetz as city governor Diane Foxington, while Lilly Singh documents the action as local reporter Tiffany Fluffit.

In comparison to the books, the action-packed family movie dives deep into the characters’ backstory. 

Director Pierre Perifel, making his feature-film debut, told ABC Audio that his decision to highlight the characters’ pre- and post-criminal storyline was intentional.

“You always have to bring a little bit more,” he said, speaking on the film’s inspiration from the books. “We also wanted to do a little bit of a genesis of the change for Wolf. You know, what happens before he decides to go good? Who are these characters?”

Perifel was afforded “tons of freedom to explore” by book author Aaron Blabely, who serves as an executive producer on the film. The director said he took full advantage of that liberty, including his ability to do so alongside the talented cast.

“The idea was to really have a cast that was not the usual suspects,” he said. “The whole team is such a fantastic group of actors and performers who just brought these characters to life. We got incredibly lucky.” 

To watch Mr. Wolf and the gang come to life on-screen, check out The Bad Guys in theaters starting Friday, April 22.

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Former Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes has filed a civil lawsuit against NBC Universal, Bravo, True Media, Andy Cohen and other parties responsible for the show. The complaint, filed in Atlanta on Wednesday, alleges the companies failed to address racism, after Leakes complained about the allegedly toxic workplace culture. 

The lawsuit says that Leakes was the subject of racially offensive conduct while on the show, and specifically details the alleged difference in treatment between Leakes, a Black woman, and RHOA co-star, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, a white woman. 

Instead of reprimanding Zolciak-Biermann for her racist behavior, the lawsuit says, she was rewarded with special perks and privileges that were denied to the Black housewives. 

“NBC, and its Bravo network, maintain a corporate culture that is insensitive to black talent and fosters racially -offensive behavior that goes unpunished,” the lawsuit states. 

Leakes, 54, has been part of Real Housewives of Atlanta for seven years. The lawsuit claims Lauren Eskelin, True Entertainment’s executive vice president of programming, who is also being sued, once declared “RHOA is not RHOA without [Mrs. Leakes].”  

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As a sign that things are getting better following the pandemic, a poll of more than 6,000 ticket-buyers say they’re headed back to the movies this summer.

The survey, part of Fandango’s second annual Moviegoing Trends & Insights Study, reveals 83% of moviegoers plan to see three or more films on the big screen during the summer.

Those polled also said Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — which opens May 6 — is their most anticipated movie of the summer, followed by another Marvel movie, the July 8 release Thor: Love and Thunder.

Coming in third in the most-anticipated summer movie poll is Jurassic World Dominion, opening June 10, followed by Top Gun: Maverick on May 27.

Minions: The Rise of Gru, which opens July 1, rounds out the top five.

Furthermore, 93% of respondents will see movies of multiple genres, not just superhero movies, and 93% look forward to buying concessions at the theater — up sharply from 84% from last year. No surprise, popcorn and soda rank as the most likely buy for those moviegoers.

Also, 89% of those polled said going to the movies is their favorite activity outside the home, outpacing shopping or sporting events. What’s more, 99% of those who have been to the already movies say they were happy with their visits to the theater this year, up from 93% in 2021.

“As film fans head back to theaters, we are starting to see growing signs of recovery as we make the turn towards a great summer of movies ahead,” said Fandango VP Domestic Ticketing Melissa Heller in a statement.

“Our study shows moviegoers are happier than ever to be back at the theater.”

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Sony Pictures has announced it has made some moves within its own Spider-Verse. First off, the studio has moved the sequel to its Oscar-winning animated hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse from October 7, 2022 to June 2, 2023.

Furthermore, the film formerly known as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One), has dropped the “(Part One)” from its title, but it will remain the first chapter in a two-part story, concluding with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part II on March 29, 2024.

On a related note, Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson, has been given a release date of July 7, 2023. As reported, S.J. Johnson, the executive producer and lead director of Netflix’s acclaimed Marvel series Jessica Jones, is calling the shots on the film, with Johnson playing the title character, first introduced in the pages of Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man #210 in 1980.

In non-superhero news, Sony Pictures also announced that a third Equalizer film, starring Oscar winner Denzel Washington, will hit theaters September 1, 2023.

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