Entertainment

Black Panther franchise director Ryan Coogler is fully supporting his friend and frequent collaborator Michael B. Jordan‘s first foray behind the camera, Creed III.

Jordan not only stars in the upcoming threequel, but took over the reins as director from Coogler, who directed the first two installments and acted as a producer on the third.

When asked by Collider if he gave Jordan any feedback as a director, Coogler responded with a laugh, “I mean, I’m not answering that, bro. I’m not answering that. Yeah, that’s crazy.” He continued, “I’m not getting into the notes.”

That said, Coogler did offer some feedback about the movie. “I’ll answer what it was like. I’ll answer that,” he said. “Fantastic. That’s what it was like.”

Creed III has Jordan’s Adonis Creed training, and then facing off with, Damian, a childhood friend who was recently released from prison. Jonathan Majors plays the character coming for Creed’s crown.

Coogler continued, “I was filled with a lot of pride for Mike, for Jonathan, for Tessa [Thompson], for Phylicia [Rashad], and for the young star that everybody’s about to meet that plays Amara [Adonis’ daughter]. But I was filled with a deep, deep, deep sense of pride for those…And my baby brother [Keenan Coogler], who wrote the script. And along with Zach Baylin, who wrote King Richard. I was just proud of them all. And I called Mike and told him.”

Creed III hits theaters March 3, 2023.

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Just weeks after being flamed online for allegedly being rude to staffers at a NYC restaurant, James Corden is on his back foot again, apologizing for “inadvertently” stealing a joke from Ricky Gervais.

According to the U.K. Mirror, Corden’s The Late Late Show highlighted a Monday night monologue bit in which Corden made fun of the idea of Twitter being seen as a “town square.” However, internet users — and Gervais himself — were quick to point out it was nearly a carbon copy of a joke Ricky made in his 2018 stand-up show, Humanity.

After jabbing the “brilliant” joke Corden told, Ricky tweeted — then deleted — a comment denying he’d given permission to use the material, the U.K. Mirror reports.

On Tuesday, Corden acknowledged the situation, tweeting fans, “Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him. It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix.”

Though Corden’s tweet had replies turned off, many retweeted it, making their voices heard. “Inadvertently told a WORD-FOR-WORD joke (AKA: STOLE),” read one, who called Corden “hackish and unfunny.”

Others sounded off on Corden’s Instagram, even to an older video of Harry Styles singing “Happy Birthday” to Corden months back at Madison Square Garden. “You stole Ricky’s jokes mate. Wtf,” read one of many comments.

Gervais and Corden have traded barbs over the years — in some cases at public events. The Office creator jabbed Corden’s Cats while hosting the Golden Globes in 2020. His Netflix show After Life also took a couple of shots at the “Carpool Kamikaze” star, who seemed to touch off the feud when he sent up Gervais on his U.K. show Horne and Corden back in 2009.

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Season 1 of HBO’s original drama series The Last of Us will debut January 15, the cabler announced Wednesday. The series follows Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal as Joel, a smuggler ferrying teenaged Ellie, portrayed by Bella Ramsey, out of a dangerous quarantine zone and across a post-apocalyptic United States. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker — who respectively voiced Ellie and Joel in the game and its sequel — have also joined the cast, which includes Nick Offerman, Jeffrey Pierce, Anna Torv and Terminator: Dark Fate‘s Gabriel Luna…

Father Stu, Mark Wahlberg‘s R-rated religious biopic that hit theaters back in April, will be re-released to theaters December 9, this time with a PG-13 edit, titled Father Stu: Reborn, according to People. The film stars Wahlberg as Stuart Long, a burned-out boxer who becomes a priest after a string of bad decisions and events force him to realize he’s on a different life path. Mel Gibson and Jacki Weaver also star. The R-rated cut of Father Stu is currently streaming on Netflix…

Parks and Recreation‘s Aubrey Plaza has been tapped for a role in Disney+’s WandaVision, Variety reports, following Heartstopper‘s Joe Locke‘s addition to the cast. They join Kathryn Hahn in the Marvel Studios series in which Hahn will reprise her WandaVision role of Agatha Harkness. Plaza and Locke’s roles, as well as exact plot details, are being kept under wraps. Emma Caulfield Ford is also set to reprise her role of Dottie from WandaVision in the new series, which is set to debut in 2023. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News…

Netflix has released the official trailer for the Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini dark comedy Dead to Me, which returns for its third and final season Nov. 17. It comes more than two years after season two ended on a cliffhanger when Jen and Judy — played respectively by Applegate and Cardellini — got into a major car accident after being struck by drunk-driving Ben, played by James Marsden. The trailer reveals the pair survived the crash, though Jen ends up in a neck brace while once again trying to avoid being found out as the murderer of Ben’s twin brother, Steve, also played by Marsden… (Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

Netflix has picked up Neil Gaiman‘s The Sandman for a second season, according to a tweet from Gaiman himself. The series follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the dream king, played by Tom Sturridge. The cast also includes Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, the ruler of Hell, joining Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance, Asim Chaudhry and Sanjeev Bhaskar…

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It’s time to get weird! Weird: The Al Yankovic Story debuts streaming on the Roku Channel Friday, a very heightened version of the parody singer’s life story.

Weird Al tells ABC Audio he had second thoughts about putting the word “weird” in his name when he first started, but it turns out he made the right call.

“I’ve heard from so many people that the fact that I called myself Weird Al was empowering to them because they felt like they were outcasts or freaks or didn’t fit in in some way. And the fact that I was owning my weirdness meant a great deal to them,” he shares.

That acceptance didn’t come overnight for Al, who recalls, “…when I was growing up, it wasn’t cool to be a nerd. Now people are like bragging about their nerd cred, like, oh, I’ve always been a nerd. And I think that weirdoes, as it were, are maybe more accepted today. I think it’s okay to be different these days.”

Daniel Radcliffe, of Harry Potter fame, stars as the world’s most famous accordion player in the comedy film, and says Weird Al left him to his own devices when it came to the portrayal, except for one thing.

“The only advice that he really gave and the only notes that he gave was about the accordion,” he reveals. “I think that was sometimes the thing he was most concerned about was that like, it’s my life story, can I please not look crap at playing the instrument that I’ve always played.”

So how does Al rate Daniel’s performance? “He nailed it. He was amazing.” 

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story also stars Evan Rachel Wood and Rainn Wilson.

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In Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, lawyers for Alec Baldwin were unsuccessful in trying to remove the star and producer of the Western Rust from a negligence lawsuit stemming from the film.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed, and director Joel Souza injured, when a Colt-style pistol brandished by Baldwin discharged a live round.

According to Deadline, Rust script supervisor Mamie Mitchell had sued Baldwin, and the other producers of the film, claiming she sustained injuries in the incident.

The trade quoted Gloria Allred, one of Mitchell’s attorneys in the case, as saying, “We are very happy that we won, and that the Court today permitted us, over the objection of Alec Baldwin, to proceed in our lawsuit against him on our theories of assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. In addition, the Court, over Mr. Baldwin’s objection, allowed us to proceed against him for punitive damages.”

Recently the Santa Fe, New Mexico, District Attorney’s Office began its examination of the police report into the deadly incident that took place October 21, 2021.

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If it was up to Adele, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence would have never been rolling in the deep of space in the 2016 sci-fi bomb Passengers.

That’s the word from the Don’t Look Up star, who told the New York Times that it was J Law’s bestie Adele — yes, that Adele — who urged her to pass on the film in which she starred alongside Chris Pratt.

In the movie, they play the only two humans awake aboard a starship that’s adrift. Despite both leads’ prior box office successes, audiences stayed away and critics were not kind.

“Adele told me not to do it,” Lawrence said of her friend and neighbor. “She was like, ‘I feel like space movies are the new vampire movies.’ I should have listened to her.”

It’s not clear when Adele passed on the evidently ignored career advice, but Lawrence’s article does mention the time in 2019 she urged the world-famous singer to hang out with the regular folks at the Greenwich Village, New York, gay bar Pieces.

It was there the pair were defeated in a game of Musical Shots — which had J Law screaming, “How could you lose!” at the Grammy winner, on whom she pounced when a laughing Adele literally collapsed in shame on the dance floor.

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Master of None writer and star Lena Waithe has been named the ambassador for 2023’s American Black Film Festival (ABFF).

As such, Waithe will “help bring awareness to ABFF’s mission of showcasing Black talent and discovering new voices and…collaborate with the festival for one-of-a-kind moments.”

The actress, writer, and producer noted she’s “honored” by the news. The Emmy winner said in a statement that she is “excited to collaborate with the festival to shine a light on unique and groundbreaking stories and the creatives behind them.”

Calling Waithe a “powerhouse in the film and television industry and a trailblazer for emerging creative artists,” festival producer and ABFF Ventures President Nicole Friday hailed Waithe’s “commitment to elevate diverse voices,” which “personifies ABFF’s commitment to diversify Hollywood.”

Lena is in good company, as previous ABFF ambassadors include Oscar winners Halle Berry and Common, Emmy and Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson and Grammy-winning music legend Mary J. Blige.

Next year’s event will be held from June 14-18 in Miami Beach; a virtual program will follow June 19-25 on ABFF Play.

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HBO Max has dropped the trailer to A Christmas Story Christmas, the holiday movie that brings Peter Billingsley back as the beloved, bespectacled Ralphie. 

In the movie, he returns to his childhood home to have a traditional family Christmas, only to find it’s not as easy as he thought.

“One day you’re playing Kick the Can with kids named Flick and Schwartz, and the next thing you know, you’re a certified adult,” Ralphie says in voiceover as he meets with the grown-up versions of his childhood pals.

The nostalgia for the 1983 original is layered on thick, with a return to the Higbee’s department store for a meet-and-greet with between Ralphie’s own kids and Santa. “Don’t let him kick you in the face!” Ralphie warns in one of many callbacks to the original.

There’s even a triple dog dare, with Schwartz — the kid who stuck his tongue to a pole in the original — getting goaded to sled down an apparently unfinished ramp.

A Christmas Story Christmas debuts November 17 on HBO Max.

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Over three years ago, Almost Famous writer/director Cameron Crowe promised Jimmy Fallon that when his musical adaptation of the film opened on Broadway, that Fallon had an open invitation to reprise his role as Dennis Hope, the future manager of the film’s fictitious band, Stillwater. And Crowe made good on that offer on Tuesday’s Tonight Show.

“My dream has always been to have you come and be the link between the two casts, the cast of the musical…and the movie, Crowe shared. “So, I would like you to come on the Broadway stage and play your part again of Dennis Hope.”

“I’m in,” Fallon exclaimed.

It’s not clear when and how often Fallon will appear, but he’s already grown a beard to be ready at a moment’s notice.

Fallon isn’t the only special guest performer. Crowe told Deadline that MSNBC journalist John Heilemann has expressed interest in making occasional appearances as David Felton, the Rolling Stone reporter played in the film by Rainn Wilson. No dates have been announced as yet, but it reportedly will happen.

The stage roles of Hope and the reporter are usually played respectively by Jakeim Hart and Van Hughes.

Almost Famous is based in part on Crowe’s time as a teen reporter for Rolling Stone in the 1970s. Currently in previews, the Broadway musical officially opens Thursday, November 3.

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Marvel Studios has released a new featurette promoting its November 11 release Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and it centers on the movie’s antagonist, Namor.

The character, which made his comics debut in 1939, gets an origin makeover for the film. Instead of being the King of Atlantis, actor Tenoch Huerta‘s anti-hero rules the Aztec-inspired hidden undersea nation of Talokan and sets his sights on the surface world.

“Introducing Namor was really an opportunity to introduce another sovereign ruler of a group of people,” co-writer and director Ryan Coogler hints about the super-powerful mutant.

Huerta offers, “Talokan has a big meaning for me. It’s part of my personal heritage as a Mexican, as an inhabitant of Mesoamerica. Finally, I could find a more powerful representation of my culture with dignity and respect.”

Letitia Wright, who plays Princess Shuri, teases, “I cannot wait for people to see Talokan. I’m excited about how we’re going to see the world come alive.”

Angela Bassett, Wakanda’s Queen Ramonda, later says she “gets chills just thinking about” her face-off with the rival leader.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC Audio.

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