Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, which transformed the animated film into a full theatrical production, is streaming now on Disney+, and the cast is already buzzing about what could possibly be next. Broadway, maybe?
ABC Audio asked Adassa, who played the all-hearing Dolores, if she’s open to reprising the role should an Encanto musical make it onto the Great White Way. “I’m so there right now. Let’s go!” she responded.
Sally Wood, who served as the showrunner and executive producer of Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, hinted, “We all wanted to take the show on tour.”
And while it’s still unknown if Encanto will join movies like Aladdin or The Lion King on Broadway, Wood spoke of the amount of effort that went into translating the fantastical film to a stage-ready production.
“It was quite hard to fit in,” she admitted, but revealed she cracked the code after thinking of building Casita, the Madrigal family’s magicalhouse, on stage. Then came “many hours on Zooms at very ridiculous times” with the cast, crew and Disney Animation personnel “to make sure that what we were creating would keep [the movie’s] authenticity.”
“I’ve never in my whole career worked on a show where every department worked so closely and was so proud of what we achieved at the end,” added Wood.
Adassa praised the production’s “attention to detail” and said she was so “impressed with the vision that they had.” She added people should be amazed by the stage adaptation because of how it captures the spirit of Encanto “in such an effortless way.”
Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl, which is a recording of the November concert events that reunited the original voice cast to perform songs from the film, is streaming now on Disney+.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) When it comes to celebrity scandals of 2022, there’s arguably nothing bigger than what was dubbed the “Slap Heard ‘Round the World.” The sight of one of the biggest stars of the world, Will Smith, slapping and then cursing out one of the most famous comics on Earth, Chris Rock, would have been news had it happened at a pub, let alone at the Academy Awards.
That said, there were other stars making headlines for all the wrong reasons this year, so let’s do what their publicists wish we wouldn’t and take a look back.
Ezra Miller’s banner year:
The Justice League star kicked off 2022 with a bizarre video on Instagram, in which the actor, who uses they/them pronouns, referred to themselves as “the Bengal Ghouls [and] Mad Goose Wizard,” and sent a message “for the Beulaville chapter of the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan,” in which he invited them to “kill yourself with your own guns … Otherwise, keep doing what you’re doing … and we’ll do it for you.” The video was later deleted.
In March, then again in April, Miller was arrested for allegedly causing trouble in Hawaii. In March, the actor pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct, and was ordered to pay a $500 fine and stay away from Margarita Village in Hilo, Hawaii, after a scrum there; in April, Miller was arrested for second-degree assault for allegedly hurling a chair at a woman at a get-together.
In May, Miller allegedly broke into a Vermont home and stole booze; the actor was officially charged with felony burglary in August.
In June, attorney and activist Chase Iron Eyes and his wife, Sara Jumping Eagle, filed court documents in Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Court alleging that Miller has been “physically and emotionally abusing,” as well as “psychologically manipulating, physically intimidating, and endangering the safety and welfare” of their daughter, Tokata Iron Eyes. The parents accused the actor of grooming her beginning when she was 13.
In August, Vermont State Police showed up to Miller’s home in search of a mother and three young children who were reportedly staying there against the wishes of the children’s father. The trio was nowhere to be found.
Later in the month, the actor said they were seeking treatment for “complex mental health issues” after exhibiting alarming behavior that led to a series of arrests and accusations. Industry insiders sniped it was a play to save his forthcoming Flash movie.
Will Smith slaps Chris Rock
While the action reverberated throughout the year, the notorious Oscars slap happened back on March 27, in front of a stunned, star-studded audience at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre. A joke Rock made as a presenter at the expense of Jada Pinkett Smith‘s bald head initially drew a laugh from Will, which made his striding to the stage to confront the comic seem like it was the beginning of a bit. However, the powerful slap, which Rock later said left him without hearing for a spell, was nothing to joke about. Neither was Will screaming, “Keep my wife’s name out your f****ing mouth!” twice. Smith went on to ignore the incident when picking up his Best Actor trophy for King Richard, but in a subsequent apology, he accepted a 10-year ban from Academy events.
The Johnny Depp/Amber Heard defamation case:
May and June were all about the U.S. headline-grabbing defamation case between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard. The former Pirates of the Caribbean series star sued his ex over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which the Aquaman actress wrote about experiencing physical and sexual abuse.
As the trial played out, the public saw their tumultuous marriage writ large, and saw Depp testify how it was Heard who abused him both physically and psychologically. Then there was the testimony that gave the world #AmberTurd for the actress’s alleged spite-befouling of a bed.
The jury sided with Depp in June, ruling Heard defamed him to hurt his career and boost her own. Depp was awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, but the latter was capped to $350,000 due to Virginia law. Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages for statements made by Depp’s former attorney, but was awarded no punitive damages. Months later, she filed an appeal of the verdict.
In December, Heard reportedly settled with Depp for $1 million, and noted she was dropping her plans to appeal. The actress noted she had “lost faith in the American legal system,” and said of the payment, “…This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward.” Depp’s team vowed to give the money to charity.
Kanye’s meltdown:
Like a train wreck in slow-motion, Ye‘s flame-out took time to get going, but in the end, the destruction was arguably absolute.
The first months of the year saw Kanye lamenting on social media and elsewhere about the state of his split with Kim Kardashian and the custody arrangements with the mother of his four children.
In February, Ye’s music career was still in full swing: His 21-track Donda 2 album was released on his own branded Stem Player. He claims to have sold more than $2 million worth of the devices.
Later in the year, Ye made headlines for taking social media shots at “Skete” — or Pete Davidson, whom Kim began seeing romantically. One of these posts, and a video of an animated version of Kanye murdering Davidson, got Ye temporarily suspended from Instagram in March for violating the platform’s harassment policy. Apparently Davidson thought the diss track was hilarious.
After countless disses of the celebrity couple online, Kim and Pete called it quits in August, which Kanye celebrated online.
In September, following the death of Queen Elizabeth, Ye promised he was ending all his grudges, but later announced his YEEZY company was terminating its partnership with Gap.
Also in September, West gave an interview with ABC News, in which he talked about his relationship with God; his school, the Donda Academy; and fatherhood. At this point, despite his social media behavior, he was being hailed in some circles as something of a maverick mogul.
By October, however, things took a turn; Ye invited controversy by wearing a “White Lives Matter” shirt during Paris Fashion Week. He was escorted out of Skechers offices in LA after an “unauthorized” visit. And he said he was going “Death Con 3” on Jewish people who had wronged him. While he quickly apologized for the comment, as the fall wore on, he made a series of other antisemitic comments, culminating with him claiming to controversial media figure Alex Jones that he admired Hitler.
After claiming he couldn’t be canceled, he was: his agency CAA cut ties with him, as did Adidas, losing him his billionaire status, and making him the target of late-night comedians’ jokes and of the Anti-Defamation League.
Jennifer Lopez is sharing details about her first Christmas with her husband, Ben Affleck.
In her newsletter, On the JLo, the singer and actress, 53, shared how the holiday went with hers and Affleck’s blended family and this year’s Christmas theme.
“I’ve been hunkering down at home (and loving it) since I wrapped my last movie,” Lopez began. “I like to create a theme for every holiday. I wrote a song called ‘Hummingbird’ for my new album, This is Me… Now.”
She went on, “To me, hummingbirds are messengers of love. They’re very agile — can fly forward, backward, and up and down. They’re also the fastest bird but they always have time to stop, eat something sweet and smell the roses. I identify with them, but more than anything, whenever I see one, I feel like it’s a sign from God that everything is going to be OK.”
“So, I decided this year, that the hummingbird would be a perfect theme,” Lopez added. “We have blended families, doubled the people, doubled the fun, doubled the love, doubled the presents and tripled the chaos!! I wanted to have a tree in the house that was a hummingbird tree, reminding us that everything done in love and with love will always be OK.”
Lopez noted this was the first time in a while that she was able to get together with family and friends she hadn’t seen in so long.
Following their engagement and breakup in the early 2000s, Lopez and Affleck tied the knot in April in Las Vegas after rekindling their relationship following Lopez’s breakup with then-fiancé Alex Rodriguez.
Billie Lourd is remembering her mother, Carrie Fisher, six years after her death.
While the previous years have been hard for the actress following her mother’s passing, Lourd said it’s recently been “joyful” for her thanks to her two children.
Lourd shared a photo on Instagram on Tuesday of her and her mom when Lourd was younger.
“It has been six years since my Momby died (feels like 2 but also like 705 at the same time?),” the Scream Queens star said. “And unlike most other years since she’s died, this year, these past two weeks have been some of the most joyful in my life. Giving birth to my daughter and watching my son meet her have been two of the most magical moments I have ever experienced.”
She added, “But with the magic of life tends to come the reality of grief. My mom is not here to meet either of them and isn’t here to experience any of the magic. Sometimes the magical moments can also be the hardest.”
“That’s the thing about grief,” she said. “I wish my Momby were here, but she isn’t. So all I can do is hold onto the magic harder, hug my kids a little tighter. Tell them a story about her. Share her favorite things with them.”
“Life can be magical and griefy at the same time,” she expressed.
Fisher died unexpectedly on Dec. 27 2016, after suffering cardiac arrest. She was 60 years old. The next day, Fisher’s mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, died from a stroke.
Last week, Lourd shared the news of her daughter Jackson Joanne Lourd Rydell‘s birth. The actress, who is married to producer and actor Austen Rydell, also has a son named Kingston Fisher, who was born in 2020.
While streaming finally overtook cable TV in 2022 in terms of viewership, terrestrial TV still had a big year. Viewers said goodbye to long-running shows like black-ish and Better Call Saul, and saw new shows like Abbott Elementary win Emmy gold. Here are some of the highlights:
Yellowstone
Like Kevin Costner‘s John Dutton himself, Taylor Sheridan‘s drama fiercely protected its turf as the biggest show on television. The fifth season premiere of the Paramount Network show drew more than 12 million viewers on both TV and streaming, and the show’s earlier seasons on Peacock routinely jumped into streaming weekly top 10 lists. What’s more, Sheridan’s prequel series 1883 wrapped up to strong ratings and reviews on Paramount+, and 1923, another prequel series following the Dutton clan, this one starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, just kicked off on the same streamer.
And in case Sheridan needed more to do, his acclaimed Mayor of Kingstown, starring Jeremy Renner, returned for its second season in January of this year on Paramount+, and he brought Sylvester Stallone to the small screen with his just-renewed Tulsa King on the same streamer.
Abbott Elementary
Quinta Brunson‘s beloved series returned for its second season in September, after storming the Emmy Awards for its freshman season days before. Brunson took home an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, but it was winner Sheryl Lee Ralph‘s musical acceptance speech for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series that brought people to their feet and fans to social media to celebrate. Afterward, presenter Jimmy Kimmel got flak online for a bit that saw Will Arnett dragging him across the stage, which many hissed was a distraction to Quinta’s win. Kimmel later apologized to her on his late-night show.
Ted Lasso
The Apple TV+ show continued its winning ways in 2022, and while star Jason Sudeikis has been coy about its future, the show still scooped up four more Emmy trophies in September.
The White Lotus
HBO’s buzzy drama snagged three trophies on Emmy night, including one for beloved star Jennifer Coolidge, but the series — which recently got re-upped for a third season — also managed to spawn a boom on travel to Sicily, where the second season was shot.
Better Call Saul
AMC’s acclaimed and Emmy-winning series wrapped up after six seasons. Lead Bob Odenkirk survived a real-life heart attack while filming the show’s swan song, which drew some 2.7 million viewers on both AMC and its streaming arm, AMC+. The show was nominated for three Emmys in 2022, but because of its bifurcated season, it could still come to TV’s big dance in 2023.
The Walking Dead
After 11 seasons, and untold numbers of decapitated walkers under its belt, AMC’s post-apocalyptic series ended in November. While the show’s final seasons never touched the ratings of its blockbuster heyday, the series’ finale still attracted a respectable 3.1 million total viewers and became AMC+’s most-watched episode since the platform began in 2020.
black-ish
After eight seasons, viewers said goodbye to the Johnson family in 2022. The final episode of the acclaimed show that starred Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross drew 2.4 million total viewers and closed with the cast — and crew — giving the Emmy-nominated series a New Orleans-style jazz funeral.
Atlanta
FX’s Emmy-winning series had its long-awaited return for its fourth and final season in 2022. The show wrapped up in November. Donald Glover‘s series left fans wondering if its four seasons were just a dream, following a sushi restaurant rescue of Glover’s Earn and Zazie Beetz‘s Van at the hands of Lakeith Stanfield‘s Al.
Grey’s Anatomy
ABC’s long-running drama returned with five new interns at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, and the dramatic final episodes with star and executive producer Ellen Pompeo‘s Meredith Grey. Her final appearance will be on February 23.
Bull
After six seasons on CBS, the plug was pulled on the legal drama Bull in 2022. The hit show, starring Michael Weatherly and co-produced by Dr. Phil, weathered a sexual harassment scandal centering on star and producer Weatherly that was leveled against him by early cast member Eliza Dushku. The actress won a multimillion settlement from CBS, and despite the controversy — which led one-time producer Steven Spielberg to head for the hills — the show ran for another two seasons before Weatherly said he wanted to move on.
Monarch
The star power of Susan Sarandon and Trace Adkins couldn’t save this Fox drama about country music from a one-and-done debut season.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Kim Kardashian is sharing what it’s like to co-parent with Ye.
“It’s hard. Co-parenting — it’s really f****** hard,” Kardashian told Angie Martinez on her IRL Podcast, sharing what it’s been like raising her four kids since her divorce from Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West.
Despite their divorce, Kardashian has vowed to protect her children — North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm — from any negative narrative surrounding their father, and has made sure they still have a strong relationship with him.
“I definitely protected him and I still will,” Kardashian said. “In the eyes of my kids, for my kids. So in my home, my kids don’t know anything that goes on — on the outside world.”
Kardashian likely was referring to widespread condemnation of Ye’s after his recent series of antisemitic remarks, as well as his apparent embrace of various conspiracy theories about politics and culture. Kim admits it’s been difficult insulating her kids.
“I’m holding on by a thread — I know I’m like so close to that not happening,” he said. “But while it’s still that way, I will protect that to the end of the Earth as long as I can.”
Kardashian added, “But if we’re riding to school and they want to listen to their dad’s music, no matter what we’re going through, no matter what is happening in the world, like I have to have that, you know, smile on my face and blast his music and sing along with my kids and act like nothing’s wrong.”
“As soon as I drop them off, I can have a good cry or you know, text back and do what I got to do,” she added.
Kardashian filed for divorce from Ye in February 2021 after almost seven years of marriage. Last month, they settled their divorce, stating that they would share joint custody and Ye would pay $200,000 a month in child support.
Avatar: The Way of Water spent a second week at the top of the box office, earning $64 million from Friday through Sunday and an estimated $90 million through Monday. So far, James Cameron‘s sequel to 2009’s Avatar has racked up a total of $253.7 at the North American box office and $600 million internationally, bringing its global tally to upward of $855 million.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the sequel set in the Shrek universe, finished in second place with a better-than-expected $12.4 million for the three-day weekend. However, that number pales in comparison to the original’s $34 million opening. The Last Wish, which opened on Wednesday, is expected to bring in $20 million for the four-day weekend and $26.9 million over the six-day.
I Wanna Dance with Somebody, the Whitney Houston biopic starring British actress Naomi Ackie in the titular role, earned a lower-than-expected $4.7 million over the traditional weekend and estimated $6.8 million over the four-day — less than half of what Sony Pictures hoped it would take in.
Damien Chazelle‘s Babylon fizzled at the box office, landing in fourth place. The showbiz epic, starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, delivered $3.6 million between Friday and Sunday and an estimated $5.3 million through Monday, against an $80 million budget.
Rounding out the top five was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which added $3 million between Friday and Sunday and an estimated $4.7 million through Monday. The second Black Panther film has grossed $427 million domestically and $801 million worldwide.
Melissa Rivers hopes to see in 2023 more unity in society — and less junk food on her plate.
Speaking to ABC Audio, the comedian laid out what she hopes to achieve in 2023. “Get more sleep! Finally commit to that workout routine. Yeah, same as everybody,” she joked, adding she’ll also cut out processed foods and “make sure I do cardio three to four days a week.”
“You know, for as different as we all like to think we are, we’re all really the same. We all want to be healthier. We all want to achieve those work goals. We all want to eat better,” Rivers continued. She said another thing people have in common with health-inspired resolutions is that they typically “last for all of six weeks.”
As for what everyone should leave behind in 2022, the Fashion Police star wants to see less extremism. “The pendulum needs to start swinging back to the middle on everything,” she said.
“I believe that most Americans and most people in the world live in the middle. Everyone’s not out to the far left or the far right,” noted Rivers.
Rivers also hopes people, especially the younger generation, stop getting their news from social media. “It is not fact-checked … You can’t believe everything you read,” she warned. “Every day there’s a new conspiracy theory or some new kind of hate speech.”
She advised that instead of turning exclusively to TikTok or Instagram, “Read two different newspapers or different newsletters” to learn what’s happening in the world.
There’s one more thing Rivers wants to do in 2023: host presidential biographer Jon Meacham and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on her Group Text podcast. She also shared it wouldn’t hurt to welcome George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Barack Obama to her show, too.
It’s a list no star or studio wants to be on come December, but Business Insiderhas compiled a list of the biggest theatrical flops of 2022.
Overall, the U.S. box office showed strong signs of life, what with the huge numbers pulled by Top Gun: Maverick, another Jurassic World movie crossing the billion-dollar mark worldwide, the success of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the last-minute theater surge of Avatar: The Way of Water.
Comscore notes $7.2 billion was spent at the movies this year. And while that’s a hefty jump from 2021’s $4.5 billion, by comparison, 2019 saw box office receipts totaling $11 billion.
Using data from IMDB Pro, Business Insider compared budgets to ticket sales for a host of movies beginning in January of this year. Important to note, the production budget doesn’t include the tens of millions — and sometimes far more — studios spend to market the movies.
One of the biggest profile flops, when comparing budgets to tickets, was the Halle Berry sci-fi movie Moonfall: It made barely over $19 million here, and had a total worldwide take of $67 million, against a budget of $150 million.
On the other side of the coin, the horror movie Smile was made for $17 million and grossed $216 million worldwide. A very clever — and cheap — viral marketing campaign used people wearing creepy smiles and “Smile” T-shirts behind home plate during Major League Baseball games to generate buzz.
Here are the year’s underperformers, according to IMDB Pro:
January
The 355
Total US box office: $14.57 million
Total global box office: $27.8 million
Production budget: $75 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 25%
February
Moonfall
Total US box office: $19.06 million
Total global box office: $67.3 million
Production budget: $150 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 36%
Blacklight
Total US box office: $9.6 million
Total global box office: $15.9 million
Production budget: $43 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 10%
April
Morbius
Total US box office: $73 million
Total global box office: $167 million
Production budget: $75 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 15%
Ambulance
Total US box office: $22.3 million
Total global box office: $51.8 million
Production budget: $40 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 69%
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
Total US box office: $95.8 million
Total global box office: $405 million
Production budget: $200 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 46%
The Northman
Total US box office: $34.2 million
Total global box office: $69.6 million
Production budget: $60 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 89%
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Total US box office: $20.3 million
Total global box office: $29.1 million
Production budget: $30 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 87%
June
Lightyear
Total US box office: $118.3 million
Total global box office: $226.4 million
Production budget: $200 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 74%
August
Three Thousand Years of Longing
Total US box office: $8.3 million
Total global box office: $19.3 million
Production budget: $60 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 71%
September
Bros
Total US box office: $11.6 million
Total global box office: $14.76 million
Production budget: $22 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 88%
October
Amsterdam
US opening weekend: $6.4 million
Total US box office: $14.9 million
Total global box office: $31.2 million
Production budget: $80 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 33%
November
She Said
US opening weekend: $2.2 million
Total US box office: $5.8 million
Total global box office: $10.6 million
Production budget: $32 million
Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 87%
(NOTE LANGUAGE) Nick Offerman happily admits to ABC Audio he “has simple tastes”: “As long as I can keep my circulatory system functioning, a meal of meats and, like, scotch, and … throw in some cruciferous vegetables so that you can live to enjoy more steak and scotch.”
To that end, Offerman recently cooked up something that his beloved Parks and Rec character, Ron Swanson, would love.
His partners at the spirits company Lagavulin released the third installment of his gold-medal-winning namesake scotch, but with a twist.
Offerman said, “I said, what if we just aim towards … perfect the beverage to go with a perfectly grilled rib eye? And that’s what we did. And it turned out pretty great,” he adds with a giggle of Lagavulin 11 Year Offerman Edition Charred Cask.
The Pam & Tommy star and husband of Megan Mullally says he shares the wealth from his “benevolent relationship” with the company.
“As soon as you get a job on any show … as soon as you can afford to buy whatever you want … everyone starts sending you free s***.”
He adds with a laugh, “Like the whole time that you need the free stuff, you don’t get it because it’s being sent to Brad Whitford.”
So when he partnered with the brand, he found himself at an impasse. “They said, ‘How many cases of Lagavulin can we send you?’ And I thought, ‘Now, this is more like it.'”
But he added with a laugh, “I … immediately realized the last thing I need is a garage full of scotch … I have a happy marriage. I have a work ethic. And I have, you know, a relatively clean bill of health. So when they do send me a box of scotch, I usually give it to my friends.”
