Peacock renews mystery series ‘Poker Face’ for season 2

Peacock renews mystery series ‘Poker Face’ for season 2
Peacock renews mystery series ‘Poker Face’ for season 2
Peacock/Phillip Caruso

Not even a month after the show premiered, Peacock has given the green light to Rian Johnson’s stylish, star-packed mystery series Poker Face

The show centers on Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale, who is blessed — or possibly cursed — with the ability to tell if someone is lying. Her skills take her on the road, where she finds colorful characters and untangles strange crimes. 

The show premiered on January 26 and this season features a who’s who of Hollywood in guest roles, from Oscar winner Adrien Brody, and Academy Award nominees Nick Nolte and Everything Everywhere‘s Stephanie Hsu to Tony winners Cherry Jones and Judith Light, and comedian and Free Guy actor Lil Rel Howery.

Thursday, February 16, will see the eighth episode drop on the streaming service; it was directed and co-written by Lyonne.

Poker Face‘s creator, Knives Out Oscar nominee Rian Johnson, explains the appeal of Lyonne’s character and the show: “It has that kind of world-wise sort of little edge … Charlie Cale’s a character that really likes people, that genuinely has kind of like an openness and a sunniness to her. And I think the combination of those two things, it’s a little chocolate and peanut butter. I think they go together and it creates this character that I want to just keep watching.”  

Peacock has renewed a slate of original shows this year, including Pitch Perfect: Bumper in BerlinBel-AirKilling ItDr. DeathWe Are Lady Parts and Wolf Like Me.

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“There’s no enemy like the past”: See Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors face off in final ‘Creed III’ trailer

“There’s no enemy like the past”: See Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors face off in final ‘Creed III’ trailer
“There’s no enemy like the past”: See Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors face off in final ‘Creed III’ trailer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.

Anticipation was already high for Michael B. Jordan‘s return to the Creed franchise, this time as a director, but if fans were somehow not already hyped enough for Creed III, the final trailer should do the trick.

“There’s no enemy like the past,” title cards read during the extended look at the film, which sees Jordan’s Adonis Creed stepping back into the ring after three years away, in order to face Jonathan Major‘s Damian, who vows to “take it all” from the champ.

“He’s not gonna stop,” Creed tells his love, Tessa Thompson‘s Bianca.

“Then you make him,” she replies.

The new trailer delves deeper into their rivalry: Damian was locked up while Adonis thrived, and with the former out of jail and looking for revenge, Creed must risk it all to keep his legacy, and himself, alive.

The sneak peek also showcases another Rocky franchise staple: training montages. Both actors are in absolutely insane shape for their face-off, with Creed towing a private plane and Majors devastating lesser competitors in the ring.

The fighters go toe-to-toe March 3, in both theaters and IMAX, with the large format’s detail allowing Jordan to make fans feel every bone-crunching punch, as well as showcasing stunning visuals that prove Jordan was taking notes from some of the great directors he’s worked with as a leading man.

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Raquel Welch, sex symbol and ‘Fantastic Voyage’ star, dead at 82

Raquel Welch, sex symbol and ‘Fantastic Voyage’ star, dead at 82
Raquel Welch, sex symbol and ‘Fantastic Voyage’ star, dead at 82
Harry Langdon/Getty Images

Raquel Welch, actress and pinup starlet, has died, ABC News has confirmed. According to a rep, “The legendary bombshell actress of film, television and stage, passed away peacefully early this morning after a brief illness.”

She was 82.

Born Jo Raquel Tejada in Chicago in 1940, Welch was a beauty pageant winner in her youth, before stepping in front of the camera to briefly work as a weather person at a San Diego TV station.

Her big break came in the form of three lines of dialogue — but particularly a fur bikini — in the 1966 campy film One Million Years B.C. Welch also appeared that year in the science fiction film Fantastic Voyage.

The early films cemented her role as a sex symbol, a reputation she often poked fun at, including in the title of her 2010 memoir, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.

For 1975’s The Three Musketeers, Welch appeared opposite Faye Dunaway and Charlton Heston, snagging a Golden Globe for Best Actress in the film comedy category. She’d be nominated again in the drama category for the 1987 movie Right to Die.

Welch received her Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1996.

In 1997, Welch came to a new audience while appearing in the penultimate season finale of Seinfeld. Playing a diva version of herself in the installment called “The Summer of George,” Welch poked fun at her persona, physically taking on Michael Richards‘ Kramer and later Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Elaine after her character was fired from the fictitious Tony-winning play Scarsdale Surprise.

In 2001, she had supporting roles on the big screen in the hit Legally Blonde and the indie film Tortilla Soup.

Married four times, Welch leaves behind two children, son Damon Welch and daughter Tahnee Welch.

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Steven Spielberg tells Tom Cruise that he “saved Hollywood’s a**” with ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Steven Spielberg tells Tom Cruise that he “saved Hollywood’s a**” with ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Steven Spielberg tells Tom Cruise that he “saved Hollywood’s a**” with ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
©A.M.P.A.S./Dana Pleasant

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Tom Cruise is famous for risk-taking both onscreen and in real life so that his characters can save the world, but according to movie legend Steven Spielberg, Cruise’s biggest gamble saved Hollywood itself.

The admission was revealed in a moment between the director and Mission: Impossible franchise star and producer that was uploaded to Instagram by fellow nominee Kartiki Gonsalves in a now-deleted video from Tuesday’s annual Oscar nominees luncheon.

It showed the War of the Worlds collaborators embracing warmly, before Spielberg congratulates Cruise on the “great honor” of Tom receiving the Milestone Award at the upcoming Producers Guild Awards. “You saved Hollywood’s a**!” Spielberg said referring to Top Gun: Maverick.

Cruise laughed and shook his head humbly.

Still embracing him, Spielberg can be overheard saying, “And you might have saved theatrical distribution. Seriously!”

Cruise, as the star and producer of Top Gun: Maverick, insisted the movie not be released to streaming during the pandemic, delaying it instead for theatrical release.

The gamble paid off: The film coaxed COVID-shy audiences back to theaters, resulting in a $1.48 billion take in theaters worldwide. Maverick nabbed six Oscar nominations to boot, including one for Best Picture.

The friends will meet again on March 12, when Jimmy Kimmel hosts the 95th Annual Academy Awards, which will air on ABC: Spielberg’s autobiographical The Fabelmans is up for seven trophies.

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Report shows streaming may overtake traditional TV for the first time ever this year

Report shows streaming may overtake traditional TV for the first time ever this year
Report shows streaming may overtake traditional TV for the first time ever this year
Getty Images

If you’ve found yourself watching streaming content rather than flipping channels on the TV, you’re not alone. According to the market research company Insider Intelligence, streaming material — whether it’s a drama on Netflix, sports on ESPN+ or cat videos on TikTok — will overtake traditional TV’s viewership for the first time ever in 2023.

Scheduled content on broadcast and cable television — or, as it’s known in industry circles, ‘linear TV’ — has been losing audience to on-demand digital content for years, but Insider Intelligence predicts this is the year linear TV loses its decades-long dominance.

American adults’ daily TV time is predicted to drop to two hours and 55 minutes, versus three hours and 11 minutes watching streaming entertainment, the analysts report. According to the company’s analysis, 2022 saw streaming neck-and-neck with TV time: Adults in this country spent an average of three hours and two minutes a day watching digital video content, versus three hours and seven minutes watching TV.

The company’s report further shows YouTube and Netflix are “neck and neck,” each grabbing an average of about 33 viewing minutes per day among U.S. adults. Hulu ranked second with 24 minutes, followed by Amazon Prime Video with 11 and Disney+, with eight. Streaming sports was a big driver in digital viewership, the report says.

Insider Intelligence’s principal analyst Paul Verna explains that as recently as four years ago, digital video’s audience was half of TV’s audience. Also, because the new analysis centers solely on adults and younger audiences spend even more time consuming digital content, the gap between linear and streaming will likely widen further.

Aside from an uptick in 2020 — likely from watching TV news during the pandemic — TV time has dropped every year since 2013.

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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck debut new tattoos: “Commitment is sexy”

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck debut new tattoos: “Commitment is sexy”
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck debut new tattoos: “Commitment is sexy”
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are making their love a little more permanent — with a pair of tattoos.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the actress and singer revealed the tattoos that they got to honor their love. Jen’s new ink is the infinity symbol with both of the love birds names on it with an arrow going through the middle. Ben’s is a pair of criss-cross arrows, bearing both their initials.

“Commitment,” the 53-year-old pop star captioned a carousel of snapshots. “Happy Valentine’s Day my love.” She added the hashtags #CommitmentIsSexy #ThisIsUsThen#ThisIsUsNow #ThisIsMeNow and said she’ll soon be sharing more Valentine’s Day details on her website On the JLo.

Jen and Ben, 50, tied the knot in July 2022 after rekindling their romance in 2021 following their engagement and breakup in the early aughts.

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‘DWTS’ partners Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart confirm real-life romance

‘DWTS’ partners Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart confirm real-life romance
‘DWTS’ partners Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart confirm real-life romance
JOCE/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Daniel Durant and Britt Stewart danced their way to a fifth-place finish on season 31 of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, and on Tuesday, the CODA star and the DWTS pro confirmed they’re dating with a pair of Valentine’s Day Instagram posts.

“My Valentine. Happy Valentine’s Day!,” the 33-year-old actor wrote alongside a picture of him and Stewart taken by the water.

“[Heart emoji] @danielndurant,” the dancer, also 33, captioned a video of Durant dancing up to her from behind, then pressing his face against hers, while Montell Fish‘s “Fall in Love with You” plays underneath.

The couple’s DWTS family expressed their excitement at reading the news, including Witney Carson, who wrote, “Is this a soft launch???…love you both!!”

Emma Slater shared, “Ahhhhh there it is!!!! I love this SO MUCH!!!”

Fellow DWTS pro Pasha Pashkov commented, “Happy Valentine’s Day you lovebirds!!!” while fellow season 31 competitor Wayne Brady added, “I knew it!!!!! Congrats!”

Selma Blair, who also competed alongside the couple during season 31, added, “I love this so so much.”

Jenna Johnson, Sharna Burgess, Cheryl Burke, Daniella Karagach and other DWTS cast members were also among the well-wishers.

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In Brief: Kimmel goes ‘Maverick’ for Oscars preview, and more

In Brief: Kimmel goes ‘Maverick’ for Oscars preview, and more
In Brief: Kimmel goes ‘Maverick’ for Oscars preview, and more

The Crown star Emma Corrin has been tapped to star alongside Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in the third Deadpool movie. Reynolds revealed the news on Twitter, writing, “New addition to the family! The Deadpool family, for clarity. Which is just like a real family except with less swearing… Welcome, Emma Corrin!” Specific details on Corrin’s role have yet to be announced, but the actress is expected to play the villain to Reynolds’ titular mercenary and Jackman’s Wolverine, according to Deadline. Deadpool 3 is set to hit theaters September 6, 2024…

Jimmy Kimmel channeled Top Gun: Maverick in the first promo for his upcoming gig hosting the 95th Academy Awards. The spot even features the film’s stars, Jon Hamm and Charles Parnell, reprising their roles as Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson and RADM Solomon “Warlock” Bates, respectively. “ABC has tasked us with finding a host who is unflappable…and unslappable,” Parnell says at one point, to which the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host — referencing last year’s infamous Will Smith Oscars slap — replies, “That’s good, ’cause I can’t get slapped. I cry a lot.” Nine-time Oscars host Billy Crystal also makes an appearance. The 95th Academy Awards airs live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 12…

National Hockey League games can get a little rough, but Disney is trying to make the sport more family-friendly. Variety reports that on March 14 at 7 p.m. ET, ESPN will make available a live telecast of that night’s Washington Capitals-New York Rangers game on the Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney+ — with a slight twist. The Disney version, titled NHL Big City Greens Classic, will be animated and feature characters from the popular cartoon series Big City Greens, skating alongside animated versions of the actual NHL players, with the action following that of the actual game — with the help of NHL technology that maps the movements of players and the game puck. The goal is to expand ESPN’s live sports coverage beyond its traditional audience to include kids and families as well. Disney is the parent company of ABC News…

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‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ shares first look at Lady Gaga in character

‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ shares first look at Lady Gaga in character
‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ shares first look at Lady Gaga in character
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Lady Gaga fans got a Valentine’s Day gift on Tuesday, courtesy of Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips.

“Happy Valentines Day,” Phillips shared, alongside a photo of Gaga embracing Joker 2 star Joaquin Phoenix.

Gaga also posted the same image on her Instagram.

The Grammy winner is reportedly playing Harley Quinn — the psychiatrist who becomes the Joker’s sidekick/love interest — in the upcoming Joker sequel — and while the post seemingly confirms the rumor, she has yet to explicitly name the character she’s playing in the movie.

The first Joker movie grossed over $1 billion worldwide and picked up a pair of Oscars, including Phoenix’s Best Actor win.

Joker: Folie à Deux makes its way into theaters on October 4, 2024.

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May the 4th be with thee: Netflix reveals teaser, release date of ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’

May the 4th be with thee: Netflix reveals teaser, release date of ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’
May the 4th be with thee: Netflix reveals teaser, release date of ‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’
Netfliz

Netflix has revealed that its Bridgerton prequel series centering on the early days of Golda Rosheuvel‘s Queen Charlotte will debut May 4.

A teaser for Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story shows India Amarteifio as the young royal, Corey Mylchreest as young King George and Arsema Thomas as young Lady Danbury.

For Charlotte, the pressure is on. “Your marriage is the business of this country,” she’s told. “This cannot go wrong!”

According to the streamer, the six-episode series centers “on Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power,” which “tells the story of how the young Queen’s marriage to King George sparked both a great love story and a societal shift, creating the world of the Ton inherited by the characters in Bridgerton.”

Netflix also announced the launch of an interactive attraction called The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience opening this spring in New York City. The waitlist is now open, and guests can register here.

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