Entertainment

Stephen “tWitch” Boss, who was the in-house DJ for The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and later became a co-executive producer of the program, has died, ABC News has confirmed.

He was 40.

Boss was a competitor on So You Think You Can Dance’s fourth season in 2008, and ended as a runner-up; he would return to the show as an All-Star, and in 2022, when the show returned to TV, a judge.

Boss’ wife, Allison Holker Boss, confirmed his passing in a statement obtained by ABC News. “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.”

She continued, “To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt,” she continued. “I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory. We ask for privacy during this difficult time for myself and especially for our three children.”

Allison also added, “Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”

Indeed, Allison’s last Instagram post was a “Holiday Sunday Funday” dance with tWitch, who she referred to as “my lover.”

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On Wednesday morning, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the annual selection of 25 motion pictures that will be inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

The movies, ranging from the film that started the Marvel Cinematic Universe, 2008’s Iron Man, to the 1989 Disney animated classic The Little Mermaid, to an 1898 snippet of Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans previously thought lost, were chosen “for their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.”

Other selections include the 1972 ‘Blaxsploitation’ action film Super Fly, filmmaker John Waters‘ 1988 kitsch classic Hairspray, the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally, and the 1990 cult favorite comedy House Party.

As it does after each new class is announced, Turner Classic Movies will host a television special to screen a selection of films named to the registry. It airs Tuesday, Dec. 27, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

In the announcement, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige noted in a statement, “The notion that here we are, almost 15 years after the release of Iron Man, and to have it join the Film Registry tells us it has stood the test of time and that it is still meaningful to audiences around the world.”

Films selected for the 2022 National Film Registry, in chronological order:

Mardi Gras Carnival (1898)
Cab Calloway Home Movies (1948-1951)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
Charade (1963)
Scorpio Rising (1963)
Behind Every Good Man (1967)
Titicut Follies (1967)
Mingus (1968)
Manzanar (1971)
Betty Tells Her Story (1972)
Super Fly (1972)
Attica (1974)
Carrie (1976)
Union Maids (1976)
Word Is Out: Stories of Our Lives (1977)
Bush Mama (1979)
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982)
Itam Hakim, Hopiit (1984)
Hairspray (1988)
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Tongues Untied (1989)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
House Party (1990)
Iron Man (2008)
Pariah (2011)

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Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins is denying reports that she walked away from the third installment of the franchise, insisting instead that there was nothing she could do to advance the project.

“I never walked away,” Jenkins shared Tuesday in a statement posted to Twitter. “I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time. DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now.”

Jenkins’ statement came nearly a week after news of Warner Bros. scrapping plans for a third Wonder Woman movie, and a story from The Wrap claiming that Jenkins had walked away when her script treatment for the film was rejected by new DC heads, James Gunn and Peter Safran.

Jenkins also paid tribute to Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman on 1970s TV series and had a cameo in Wonder Woman 1984, as well as star, Gal Gadot, whom she called “a cherished friend, inspiration, and sister.”

Jenkins, who was also set to helm the Star Wars spinoff Rogue Squadron, explains that she left the project “when it became clear it couldn’t happen soon enough and I did not want to delay [Wonder Woman 3] any further.”

“When I did, Lucasfilm asked me to consider coming back to RS after WW3, which I was honored to do, so I agreed,” she continued. “They made a new deal with me. In fact, I am still on it and that project has been in active development ever since. I don’t know if it will happen or not. We never do until the development process is complete, but I look forward to its potential ahead.”

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Adam Sandler will be the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ 24th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The prize recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist for which it’s named. Broadcast details will be announced later. “Adam Sandler has entertained audiences for over three decades with his films, music, and his tenure as a fan favorite cast member on SNL,” notes Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter. “Adam has created characters that have made us laugh, cry, and cry from laughing.” The ceremony will take place on March 19, 2023…

Variety reports John Cena and Jason Momoa are attached to star in the new Warner Bros. feature Killer Vacation. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but insiders compared the action-comedy film to “fun, splashy adventures like True Lies,” according to the outlet. Cena and Momoa met on the set of the upcoming conclusions to the Fast and the Furious franchise and were reportedly looking to take their natural chemistry to another film…

Netflix has pulled the plug on Warrior Nun after two seasons, according to Deadline. The fantasy drama, based on the comic book character Warrior Nun Areala by Ben Dunn, centers on orphaned teen Ava Silva, played by Ava Baptista, who “discovers she now possesses superpowers as the chosen Halo-Bearer for a secret sect of demon-hunting nuns,” per the streamer. The series also stars Toya Turner, Sylvia De Fanti, Lorena Andrea, Kristina Tonteri-Young and Olivia Delcan…

The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus is joining the John Wick universe with a role in the upcoming spinoff Ballerina, joining Ana de Armas, who stars as a young female assassin who seeks revenge against those who killed her family, according to Deadline. Anjelica Huston and Ian McShane are set to reprise their John Wick roles, along with Keanu Reeves, who’s reportedly set to make a cameo. Lance Reddick and Catalina Sandino Moreno also star. Through three movies, the John Wick franchise has grossed more than $586 million. John Wick: Chapter 4 is due in theaters on March 24, 2023…

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Catherine Zeta-Jones is a massive fan of the National Treasure movies. Starting Wednesday, she’ll expand the story in Disney+’s National Treasure: Edge of History as the nefarious Billie Pearce.

The actress told ABC Audio she’s “thrilled” to finally join the franchise and believes fans of the original films will appreciate this “intriguing” new chapter.

Said Zeta-Jones, “There’s no denying those two movies stand alone and maybe there’s people out there asking, ‘Why? Why do you want to paint another Picasso?’… But the story and the premise [goes] on.”

“I’m a huge history buff, so there’s a plethora of stories, and they’re finding treasures every day. Even today,” she stressed. “I think what we’ve done is we’ve taken a great concept [and] injected it with young blood and also the technology that one has today.”

The actress explained the audience will be in for a ride, adding the interactive series will present a different clue every episode that helps explain the overarching mystery. Zeta-Jones also hinted there will be some twists that even the best sleuth won’t see coming — because she was fooled by some of the show’s curveballs.

The new series also stars Lisette Olivera as Jess, a clever “Dreamer” who races to save a lost Pan-American treasure that she says has “a very strong tie” to her character.

She also explained the series builds off of the “little hints in the second film,” saying, “In this particular instance, we’re just picking up from a different point of view.” She also hinted some familiar faces will “help us out on the path to finding the treasure … if we find it.” 

National Treasure: Edge of History, which picks up 15 years after the second National Treasure movie, is streaming on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Bryan Lourd, the super-agent father of Billie Lourd, his daughter with the late Carrie Fisher, has let slip that Billie and her husband, Austen Rydell, have welcomed their second child.

The pair also has a 2-year-old son named Kingston.

Bryan revealed on Tuesday during Variety Dealmakers Keynote Conversation, “I’m sorry. My daughter had a baby last night. I left the hospital at 1:30 and I got there this morning at 6, so I’m a little tired, but happy. Everything’s great. If I wander it’s because the adrenaline is still flowing.”

American Horror Story vet Billie and her What Is Missing actor/producer hubby were married in 2022.

So far, they have been mum on social media about their new bundle of joy, who the actress revealed was on its way with a baby bump Instagram photo back in September.

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Netflix’s Addams Family series Wednesday has gone where only two other series on the streaming service have gone before.

The show, which stars Jenna Ortega as the braided braniac, has surpassed one billion hours viewed on Netflix within a month, a feat accomplished only by Squid Game and the fourth season of Stranger Things.

The most recent Netflix-provided numbers show Wednesday surpassing its hit Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, making the young-adult-leaning series the second-biggest English language series ever for Netflix, which estimates the mysterious adventures of Wednesday and her Nevermore Academy friends and frenemies have been seen in 150 million households worldwide.

Netflix also announced this week that Harry and Meghan, about the so-called runaway royals, has become the streaming service’s biggest documentary debut ever, with more than 81 million hours viewed in its first week.

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On Monday night, Black Panther franchise writer-director Ryan Coogler walked in the footsteps of other cinema legends, including Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee.

The filmmaker gave the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ annual David Lean lecture in London. According to Variety, it was an emotional journey through his career, and those who inspired him, including the late Chadwick Boseman.

“I like to start off every movie that I do with the question,” Coogler reportedly said. “A question that burns … a question I’m afraid to ask.”

Wakanda Forever was no exception, Ryan explained. “How do you move on when your very existence, your very identity, was defined by another person and you lose them?”

Boseman died in August 2020 at 43 years old, after keeping his battle with colon cancer secret to all but a handful of people.

“I was a director without a lead actor, tasked to make a film about a hero when we’d just lost ours,” an emotional Coogler said.

Coogler also spoke of losing a mentor in John Singleton, who died in 2019 after suffering a stroke. The Boyz n The Hood director was once an up-and-coming Black filmmaker himself and sent Coogler a special note when Creed hit theaters.

It included a photo of the tickets Singleton had purchased for Coogler’s first major release. “And he said, ‘This is a ritual, we always do this for each other,'” Coogler recalled, speaking of the community of Black filmmakers. “Reading that earlier today, I realized what a gift that message was.”

Coogler in turn passed on some words of inspiration. “All of you that aspire to communicate with film language … there’s no time like the present. Make that movie. Hit that audition … Go, go, go, go, go, go, go. Don’t wait. Do.”

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Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have stepped up in order to try to save a beleaguered Broadway play from closing.

The Hollywood Reporter notes the couple has purchased an entire performance of playwright Jordan E. Cooper‘s show Ain’t No Mo’, which received critical acclaim, but is facing an early close on December 18 — just two weeks after it opened.

According to Playbill, the Lee Daniels-produced “high octane comedy” at the Belasco Theatre asks the question, “What if the U.S. government offered Black Americans one-way plane tickets to Africa?”

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The first look at Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is finally here.

The film, a sequel to 2018’s smash hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, will see Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) on another web-slinging adventure across the multiverse with Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Hailee Steinfeld) and a team of other Spider-people, including another returning hero, Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson).

By the looks of the trailer, however, there are a whole lot of other wall crawlers in a different dimension who aren’t exactly out to be friendly neighbors to Spider-Man.

“We are supposed to be the good guys!” Gwen exclaims at one point. “We ARE,” Miles growls in response, as he is shown getting slammed to the ground by Spider-Man 2099, a future version of the hero who is voiced by Oscar Isaac in the film — a payoff from a post-credits tease from the Oscar-winning original.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premieres in theaters June 2, 2023.

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