Avatar: The Way of Water makes a splash in theaters Friday, and Oscar-winning director James Cameron said he was eager to delve “deeper” into the characters we met in the original.
At a recent press event, he noted, “I think it’s important for a sequel to honor what the audience loved about the experience the first time, but also to … get them off balance, you know, do things that they don’t expect.”
He adds, “There are a lot of surprises in terms of where the story goes in this film that we’re not putting into the trailers and the TV spots and all that … It also goes a lot deeper in terms of the heart and the emotions. It was a much simpler story, and the characters were simpler, the first time.”
Part of that is exploring the family dynamic between Sam Worthington‘s Sully and Zoe Saldaña‘s Neytiri, who are now parents having to protect their children, as well as their way of life, when a new threat emerges on the planet Pandora.
Worthington explains Cameron had unique way of filling in the cast about what happened on the planet in the decade between the two films. “Jim gave me a script that was Avatar 1.5 that … unto itself is amazing and detailed and full of what they’ve kind of gone through over that gap.”
“But … [Cameron] wanted to explore what this family dynamic is, the natural extension of this love story,” Worthington says, noting the extra script, which they didn’t use, didn’t detail that. “But it gave us a good jumping off point to understand how to fill in that gap that’s missing.”
“To be honest, most people would have stuck on that [script]. But not this guy,” Sam said with a laugh of the writer-director.
Trevor Noah is pulling a hat trick and will return to the Grammy’s stage as host. This will mark his third consecutive hosting stint.
Noah will act as master of ceremonies at the 65th annual Grammy Awards and induct a new class of Grammy winners on Sunday, February 5. He confirmed his appointment on Instagram and said he is “super excited” to return as host.
Noah previously held down the fort for the pandemic-delayed 64th Grammy Awards on April 3, 2022, and the 63rd Grammy Awards on March 14, 2021.
Noah’s return to the Grammys continues a streak started by LL Cool J in 2012, where every host returned for a consecutive stint. James Corden hosted both the 2017 and 2018 ceremonies, followed by Alicia Keys‘ back-to-back appearances in 2019 and 2020.
Beyoncé heads into the ceremony with a leading nine nominations. Kendrick Lamar is next with eight nods, followed by Adele and Brandi Carlile with seven.
Next year’s awards show will be held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, February 5. The ceremony will begin airing at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and on demand on Paramount+.
Thursday night, ABC airs the all-star specialBeauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, a tribute to the classic animated film that stars H.E.R. as Belle and Josh Groban as The Beast, plus Shania Twain, Martin Short, David Alan Grier and Rita Moreno. Groban says the special is an “ambitious” production that isn’t quite a movie and isn’t quite a musical … it’s more of a hybrid.
“The amount of people and effort that it took to put this together was really quite incredible,” he tells ABC Audio. “We’re in costume and singing the songs and acting some of the scenes, and there’s puppetry … and it’s just going to be a really good time.”
Speaking of costumes, Groban says the promotional photos have deliberately hidden what he’ll look like as The Beast. “We wanted to interpret the character in a way that was artistically just a different vibe than everybody has seen,” he teases. “So it is very beastly and it is very large and I can’t wait for people to see what they’ve done.”
Groban is also excited for people to see him singing with Oscar- and Grammy-winning R&B star H.E.R. as Belle.
“We come from different kinds of musical landscapes, but I thought we blended really, really well together,” he notes. And for him, the songs they’re singing are the true highlights of the project.
“Every one of us in the cast, no matter where we come from, comedy or rock or pop or wherever else, we all have hummed these melodies since we were kids,” says Groban, adding, “I hope that that love and passion that we all have for it comes across in the special.”
Beauty and the Beast: A 30 Celebration airs at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Just weeks after announcing he’d be once again playing the Man of Steel, Henry Cavill is out.
That’s the word from both the actor and James Gunn, who, along with producer Peter Safran, is tasked with getting Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC Comics-based cinematic universe back on track.
Cavill’s surprise return to the role he first played in 2013’s Man of Steel was teased to an after credits scene in Black Adam. The Witcher star subsequently posted a video to fans confirming he would be back as the Last Son of Krypton. However, Gunn’s and Safran’s plans for the future have scuttled the actor’s return to the role.
Cavill broke the bad news to fans on Instagram Wednesday. “…After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest, but that’s life. The changing of the guard is something that happens. I respect that. James and Peter have a universe to build. I wish them and all involved with the new universe the best of luck, and the happiest of fortunes.”
For his part, Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director Gunn tweeted fans that he’s been writing a Superman movie “for a while,” and it will in “no way” be an origin story. “…our story will be focusing on an earlier part of Superman’s life, so the character will not be played by Henry Cavill,” Gunn explained.
He added, “But we just had a great meeting with Henry and we’re big fans and we talked about a number of exciting possibilities to work together in the future.”
Speaking of possibilities, Gunn’s tweets also hinted at the DCU return of Ben Affleck. While Affleck played Batman/Bruce Wayne in a series of films, starting with 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gunn said he met with Affleck “because he wants to direct & we want him to direct; we just have to find the right project.”
Tyler Perry has set his next feature film for Netflix about the 6888th battalion, the only all-black, all-female battalion in the World War II effort. Perry wrote the script for the project, titled Six Triple Eight, which is based on an article by Kevin M. Hymel published in WWII History Magazine by Sovereign Media. Six Triple Eight is Perry’s fourth film with the streamer, following A Fall From Grace, A Madea Homecoming, and most recently A Jazzman’s Blues…
HBO Max has renewed Mindy Kaling‘s comedy series The Sex Lives of College Girls for a third season. The series follows Kimberly, Bela, Leighton and Whitney — played respectively by Pauline Chalamet, Amrit Kaur, Renee Rapp and Alyah Chanelle Scott — four roommates who live out their hormone-fueled lives. Since its premiere on November 21, the show’s second season has been HBO Max’s top-rated original programs, according to the streamer. The final two episodes of season 2 launch Thursday…
Deadline reports Reese Witherspoon will executive produce and star in the half-hour comedy series All stars, coming to Amazon Prime Video. All Stars follows Witherspoon as a former cheerleader from Daytona Beach who “cons her way across the pond to teach cheerleading at a school in coastal England and has to show a ragtag group of students — and herself — how to be All Stars”…
Ahead of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, airing Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC, producer Jon M. Chu confirmed the special will feature a tribute to Angela Lansbury, who died in October. Lansbury voiced Mrs. Potts in the original 1991 animated feature
“We definitely do a nod to her for sure. How could we not pay tribute?” Chu tells Variety.
The Crazy Rich Asians filmmaker also teased “some great cameos,” including Paige O’Hara, the voice of the original Belle and Composer Alan Menken.
The two-hour reimagining of the Disney classic, taped in front of a live audience, mixes animation and live-action and stars H.E.R. as Belle and Josh Groban as The Beast.
The cast also includes Shania Twain who will play Mrs. Potts; Martin Short as Lumiere; David Alan Grier tackling the role of Cogsworth; Broadway star Joshua Henry playing Gaston; Schitt’s Creek actor Rizwan Manji portraying Gaston’s sidekick LeFou; and musical theatre actor Jon Jon Briones, who’ll take on the role as Belle’s father, Maurice. Rita Moreno will serve as narrator.
Elvis star Austin Butler looks glamorous in nearly every frame of his lavishly shot promo for his upcoming hosting stint on SNL.
Butler looks dapper in a suit as he takes a deep breath and says, “Here we go.” He strides in slow-motion, his hair blowing, to the stage at Studio 8H in a bit that looks like more of a fashion runway walk, complete with dramatic violin music — that is until he goes into goblin mode.
Literally.
A staffer walks up to him and informs the actor, “In this sketch you’ll be playing the Christmas Goblin.”
Another staffer unceremoniously shoves the hideous mask, complete with a Santa hat, over Butler’s face and perfectly coiffed hair.
He exhales and says, “Let’s do this.”
Lizzo will be the musical guest Saturday night for the final show of the year.
The film nominations for the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards are in.
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert‘s Everything Everywhere All at Once earned the most nominations on the film side this year, with 14 total nods in categories including best picture, best comedy and best directing.
Following closely behind was Steven Spielberg‘s The Fabelmans with 11 nominations, and Damien Chazelle‘s Babylon and Martin McDonagh‘s The Banshees of Inisherin, which each earned nine nominations.
Winners will be announced at the Chelsea Handler-hosted awards ceremony on January 15, airing live at 7 p.m. ET on The CW.
Jeff Bridges will be honored with the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award at the show.
Best picture
Avatar: The Way of Water Babylon The Banshees of Inisherin Elvis Everything Everywhere All at Once The Fabelmans Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery RRR Tár Top Gun: Maverick Women Talking
Best actor
Austin Butler – Elvis
Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living
Best actress
Cate Blanchett – Tár
Viola Davis – The Woman King
Danielle Deadwyler – Till
Margot Robbie – Babylon
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best supporting actor
Paul Dano – The Fabelmans
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin
Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Brian Tyree Henry – Causeway
Best supporting actress
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Jessie Buckley – Women Talking
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Janelle Monáe – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Best young actor/actress
Frankie Corio – Aftersun
Jalyn Hall – Till
Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans
Bella Ramsey – Catherine Called Birdy
Banks Repeta – Armageddon Time
Sadie Sink – The Whale
Best acting ensemble
The Banshees of Inisherin Everything Everywhere All at Once The Fabelmans Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery The Woman King Women Talking
Best director
James Cameron – Avatar: The Way of Water
Damien Chazelle – Babylon
Todd Field – Tár
Baz Luhrmann – Elvis
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Sarah Polley – Women Talking
Gina Prince-Bythewood – The Woman King
S. S. Rajamouli – RRR
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Best original screenplay
Todd Field – Tár
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – The Fabelmans
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun
Best adapted screenplay
Samuel D. Hunter – The Whale
Kazuo Ishiguro – Living
Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Rebecca Lenkiewicz – She Said
Sarah Polley – Women Talking
Best cinematography
Russell Carpenter – Avatar: The Way of Water
Roger Deakins – Empire of Light
Florian Hoffmeister – Tár
Janusz Kaminski – The Fabelmans
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick
Linus Sandgren – Babylon
Best production design
Hannah Beachler, Lisa K. Sessions – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Rick Carter, Karen O’Hara – The Fabelmans
Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, Vanessa Cole – Avatar: The Way of Water
Jason Kisvarday, Kelsi Ephraim – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn – Elvis
Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – Babylon
Best editing
Tom Cross – Babylon
Eddie Hamilton – Top Gun: Maverick
Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, James Cameron – Avatar: The Way of Water
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond – Elvis
Monika Willi – Tár
Best costume design
Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Jenny Eagan – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Shirley Kurata – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Catherine Martin – Elvis
Gersha Phillips – The Woman King
Mary Zophres – Babylon
Best hair and makeup
Babylon The Batman Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Elvis Everything Everywhere All at Once The Whale
Best visual effects
Avatar: The Way of Water The Batman Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Everything Everywhere All at Once RRR Top Gun: Maverick
Best comedy
The Banshees of Inisherin Bros Everything Everywhere All at Once Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Triangle of Sadness The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
Best animated feature
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Turning Red Wendell & Wild
Best foreign language film
All Quiet on the Western Front Argentina, 1985 Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths Close Decision to Leave RRR
Best song
“Carolina” – Where the Crawdads Sing
“Ciao Papa” – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
“Hold My Hand” – Top Gun: Maverick
“Lift Me Up” – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
“Naatu Naatu” – RRR
“New Body Rhumba” – White Noise
Best score
Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Michael Giacchino – The Batman
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Tár
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking
Justin Hurwitz – Babylon
John Williams – The Fabelmans
The death at age 40 of Stephen “tWitch” Boss, Ellen DeGeneres‘ in-house DJ and show co-executive producer, has been ruled a suicide.
ABC News has learned the Los Angeles County coroner has closed the case after examining the body and determining Boss’ manner of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
tWitch’s body was found by police investigating an “ambulance investigation” at a motel on Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles late Tuesday evening.
Boss’ wife, Allison Holker Boss, confirmed his passing in a statement obtained by ABC News on Wednesday. “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
Just Sunday, Holker posted a sweet video of the couple sharing a dance in front of their Christmas tree.
If you are in crisis or know someone in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or by visiting 988lifeline.org. You can also contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
Paramount Pictures dropped a new teaser to the sixth film in the Scream franchise, and what it lacks in dialog it makes up for in creepiness.
This time around, the action has moved from the fictional town of Woodsboroto New York City, where costumed revelers board a subway train.
However, for the previous movie’s survivors, including Jasmine Savoy Brown‘s Mindy, Melissa Barrera‘s Sam and Jenna Ortega‘s Tara, things take a turn when they spy several commuters wearing the Munch-like mask of the franchise’s Ghostface killer.
“Guys?” Sam says nervously.
A title card then reads, “In a city of millions, no one hears you scream.”
With the subway’s light strobing, one of the Ghostfaces gets closer and closer, eventually grabbing Mindy and covering her mouth as she screams.
The movie is set to debut in theaters March 10, 2023.
