Entertainment

Kieran Culkin, star of HBO’s Succession, made his Saturday Night Live hosting debut over the weekend in an episode that featured surprise guest appearances from music legend Dionne Warwick and SNL alum Tracy Morgan.

While it was Culkin’s first hosting gig, the 39-year-old actor explained in his opening monologue that he actually made his SNL debut 30 years ago, when his older brother, Macaulay Culkin, hosted the show.

Kieran showed a clip of his younger self being hoisted into the air by then-cast member Kevin Nealon during the goodnights, and recreated that moment when current cast members Chris Redd and Kenan Thompson lifted him onto their shoulders at the end of Saturday’s show.

In the show’s cold open, Aaron Rodgers, played by Pete Davidson, was interviewed by Fox News’ Judge Jeanine Pirro — played by Cecily Strong — about his COVID-19 diagnosis.

The sketch also saw the return of former President Donald Trump, played by new cast member James Austin Johnson, whose impression drew praise on social media.

Later, Ego Nwodim reprised her “Dionne Warwick Talk Show,” sketch, in which she portrays the legendary singer-turned-social media personality — who is confused by today’s music. The bit ended with an appearance from the Grammy-winning singer herself, who joined Nwodim for a snippet of her 1966 hit, “What the World Needs Now.”

Another popular sketch was about the awkward conversations guys have in the men’s room. Alex Moffat‘s character admitted that he “killed a man in 2012” and the bit ended with Tracy Morgan popping out of one of the stalls and warning them “not to go in there,” because “I dropped a bomb… and that man [pointing to Moffat] killed my brother.”

Musical guest Ed Sheeran performed “Shivers” and “Overpass Graffiti” from his new album = (Equals). 

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Movie tough guy Frank Grillo has fired his share of weapons on screen over the years, as he did as Frank Rumlow/Crossbones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the recent COPSHOP. 

Like many of his colleagues, he’s speaking out about the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally wounded last month on the set of the Western Rust, when Alec Baldwin fired a pistol he was reportedly told was empty. 

“This shouldn’t have happened. It was easily avoidable,” Grillo says flatly. 

“I don’t blame one person, I blame a lot of people.”

Safety issues on the Rust set reportedly caused some on Hutchins’ camera crew to walk off the project before the accident that left Hutchins dead and director Joel Souza injured.

The October 21 incident has led to an industry-wide discussion about gun safety on movie sets, and pushed stars like Dwayne Johnson and the producers of ABC’s The Rookie to ban real firearms on their sets. 

“It should be happening a lot,” Grillo says of the conversations.

“And now it’s time to make sure that this is something that we talk about and we never see again. I mean, this is a beautiful woman who lost her life!” he says. (AUDIO IS ABC 1-ON-1)

Incidentally, Grillo’s new movie Ida Red made extensive use of the safer alternative to real firearms that many are now advocating: Airsoft replica guns, to which digital muzzle flashes were added in post-production. The replicas only shoot out compressed air, but operate convincingly onscreen.

The film contains a climactic, outdoor shootout sequence, for which no real firearms were used.

Ida Red, which also stars Oscar winner Melissa Leo and Josh Hartnett, is out today in limited release, and available On Demand.

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Wakanda may be forever, but it will have to wait. 

The Hollywood Reporter notes Black Panther star Letitia Wright is still recovering in London from the on-set injury she suffered shooting the film in Boston in August, and the cast and crew of its sequel Wakanda Forever will soon run out of scenes to shoot without her. 

The star, who plays Princess Shuri, the sister of the late Chadwick Boseman‘s King T’Challa, will be taking more of a lead role in the sequel since Boseman’s death in 2020.

The producers of the sequel had rearranged the shooting schedule to keep production going while the actress recovered from her injuries, which were reportedly caused by a stunt rig.

At the time, the injuries were said to be “minor.”

The trade explains the break in production will happen around Thanksgiving week.

A rep for Wright told the trade, “Letitia has been recovering in London since September…and is looking forward to returning to work early 2022.” The rep added, “Letitia kindly asks that you keep her in your prayers.”

The release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was bumped from July 8, 2022 to Nov. 11, 2022.

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

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Pose director and screenwriter Janet Mock has found her next major project.

Deadline has learned that Mock will direct and rewrite The International Sweethearts of Rhythm for Sony Pictures. Amy Pascal, Susan Tarr, Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman are all on board to produce the project. Plot details on The International Sweethearts of Rhythm have yet to be revealed.

In other news, TriStar Pictures has set a September 16, 2022 release date for the Gina Prince-Bythewood– directed feature The Woman King, Variety reports. The film, which stars Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu and John Boyega, is inspired by real events that took place in the powerful African state of Dahomey in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Meanwhile, Comedy Central is bring in some holiday cheer with their new film Clüsterfünke Christmas. Described as a “celebratory parody of the traditional TV holiday romance” the film that follows Vella Lovell as Holly, an ambitious real estate exec who visits a small town in hopes of turning the quaint Clüsterfünke Inn into a popular a mega-resort. There, she meets a quirky woodsman who makes her rethink her big- city life. Cheyenne Jackson, Ryan McPartlin, Nils Hognestad, Rachel Dratch and Ana Gasteyer also star. Clüsterfünke Christmas premieres December 4 on Comedy Central.

Finally, ICYMI, All Rise star Philemon Chambers is leading the cast for Netflix’s LGBTQ+ holiday rom-com Single All the Way. Directed by Tony-Winning Michael Mayer, the film follows Michael Urie as Peter, a bachelor who convinces his best friend Nick, played by Chambers, to join him for the holidays as his pretend boyfriend. Peter’s plan goes awry when his mother sets him with a handsome trainer who has real potential. Single All the Way hits Netflix on December 2.

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Gal Gadot is psyched to go from Wonder Woman to a witchy woman in an upcoming live-action big-screen retelling of Disney’s Snow White: Gadot will be playing the Evil Queen opposite West Side Story stand-out Rachel Zegler in the title role. 

Speaking with Variety at this week’s premiere of her upcoming Netflix action movie Red Notice in Los Angeles, Gadot says she’s “very, very excited” to play the poison apple-wielding baddie. 

But while her iconic apple may be spoiled, don’t expect the future Evil Queen to dish out any spoilers of her own.

When she was asked to give her best reading of “Mirror, Mirror on the wall…” the Israeli import balked. “Now!? No! Are you crazy?” she said, laughing. “I want you to come to the movies to see…the real thing.”

As for why she wanted to play the baddie, Gal kept it safe there, too. “There is so much that I cannot share with you that will actually answer this question,” she said, allowing, “the take on this story is so different and delightful and full of joy.” 

The as-yet-untitled movie will be directed by The Amazing Spider-Man‘s Mark Webb, with La La Land‘s Marc Platt producing. The trade points out La La Land, Dear Evan Hansen, and The Greatest Showman‘s songwriting team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul will be writing new music for the film, which is expected to get underway in November of next year. 

Red Notice hits Netflix on November 12.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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The 9 to 5 gang is finally getting back together. Dolly Parton just announced that she’s a guest star on the seventh and final season of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, which stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.

The reunion is a long time coming: The trio of stars have held dreams of working on a project together again ever since their successful 1980 film. Early in 2021, Dolly revealed on U.K. talk show Lorraine that she’s been trying to find a time to guest star on Grace and Frankie “for years.”

We worked so well on 9 to 5, [and] it’s a crazy, wonderful show,” the singer says. “We’ve been trying to write me in somehow. When it’s safe for us to actually do a production…I’ll probably get around to doing that.”

No further details about Dolly’s character on the show are available at this time. The first four episodes of Season 7 are available to watch on Netflix now, and the remainder of the season — including Dolly’s appearance — will air in 2022.

Grace and Frankie centers around the unlikely friendship that develops between two women after their respective husbands leave them to marry each other. When it wraps at the end of this season, it’ll make history as the longest-running ever Netflix original series, with a total of 94 episodes.

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After a wait that lasted over a year, the Duttons are finally back. The big question is, though, who is coming back to Yellowstone after last season’s cliffhanger.

Season 3 ended with assassins hunting the entire Dutton clan down, with patriarch John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner, being shot in a roadside attack and left for dead.  One of the plot’s suspected masterminds is Jamie Dutton, who learned he was adopted.

Wes Bentley, who plays the aspiring politician, tells ABC Audio the revelation left Jamie “lost” and “broken more than ever” because “he was told who to be and he did it. And now they’re saying he’s not even a part of it.”

Despite Jamie wallowing in emotional turmoil, he is also “powerful,” which Bentley teases will only add to the Duttons woes.

“[He] definitely has potential for damage. And maybe that’s where Jamie is right now. Ready to fight back,” the actor hinted.

Cole Hauser, who plays fan favorite Rip Wheeler, is looking ahead to the next season because it’ll further test his character’s loyalty to the Duttons, who raised him as one of their own.

The actor — who had to “power through” a few scenes — also hints Rip will be physically tested, sharing, “I’ve put in the work and saddle time… I’m getting a little older, so it’s starting to settle in a little bit more!”

Also excited for the new season is Gil Birmingham, who plays casino magnate, tribal leader and Dutton frenemy Thomas Rainwater.

Birmingham is of Comanche descent and is pleased that the Paramount show correctly represents Native Americans.

“There is a lot more indigenous content coming out and I feel very privileged to be on the forefront of that,” he added.  

Yellowstone premieres Sunday, November 7, at 8 p.m. ET with a two-episode special event.

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Bill Hader has some pretty deep geek bonafides, starting with his earliest credit, as a production assistant on the documentary Empire of Dreams: The Story of the ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy.

Since then, the SNL vet logged viral imitations of both Jabba the Hutt, and Luke Skywalker’s Tauntaun from The Empire Strikes Back on Conan, which apparently led to teaming with J.J. Abrams on both Star Trek: Into Darkness, and voicing the cute rolling droid BB-8 in Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“That was just JJ being nice,” the Addams Family 2 star and Barry Emmy winner insists to ABC Audio of the latter credits. 

“J.J. Abrams is always nice to me, and has me coming in to do these little cameo things, like in [Star Trek], and in Star Wars and stuff.”

“And then for the rest of my life I have people running up to me with BB-8 toys for me to sign,” Hader laughs.

“You know, like, I was just operating the thing!” he says of the droid, for which Hader is credited as a “voice consultant.” 

“‘Like you coulda done that,'” he recalls joking with Abrams. 

Still, Hader insists, “But it’s cool, it is neat to be involved with those things and to be someone they call for that stuff.”

That said, with lifelong Star Wars fans like directors Robert Rodriguez, Bryce Dallas Howard, and of course show creator Jon Favreau working on The Mandalorian, Hader wondered when he’ll get the tap. 

“Hm, yeah, I know. I haven’t gotten a call for that,” he says, acting as if he’s insulted. 

Given that ABC Audio is owned by Disney, we assured Hader we’d put in a good word for him with the Mando folks. “Get it out there, man!” Hader laughed. “Get me in there!”

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Look out Kelly Clarkson, there’s another former American Idol alumna looking to conquer daytime talk TV.

Jennifer Hudson is pitching a new daytime talk show to be produced by the team from The Ellen DeGeneres Show, according to Variety.

The concept, while attempting to fill the void left by Ellen’s departure, is being shopped as an entirely new series  and not a continuation of the long-running chat show.

Ellen executive producers Andy Lassner and Mary Connelly also served as show runners on Hudson’s test show, which was recently shot on the Ellen stage and is now being used as part of the pitch to station groups, sources tell Variety.

The Respect actress also brings an “authentic and natural” take to her hosting duties, according to the insiders.

DeGeneres announced in May that she would end her long-running, Emmy-winning talk show after 19 seasons when her contract expires in 2022.

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The new book, Woke Up This Morning: The Definitive Oral History of The Sopranos, is an immersive dive into all things Sopranos, the hit television series created by David Chase that ran on HBO from 1999 to 2007.

The book is co-authored by Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa who respectively played fan-favorites Christopher Moltisanti and Robert “Bobby Bacala” Baccalieri Jr. on the show. The series is enjoying a newfound popularity thanks to streaming, and the prequel film The Many Saints of Newark.

Imperioli tells ABC Audio that, for Chase, it was important to get things right from the start and that meant not dumbing anything down.

“[David] said…people actually talk the way they do in life, you know because people never say what they mean,” he notes. “David wanted to make something where people relate to each other the way they do in life which was not done much on television up until then.”

“There’s also magic you like, you can out together the best cast with a great script, and a great director and it just doesn’t pop…But sometimes, you just get the ingredients…and that’s what happened with The Sopranos.

Schirripa offers this little tidbit about casting one of the show’s more popular characters.

“Jerry Stiller got the role of Hesh… I love Jerry Stiller, But I couldn’t imagine anyone doing ‘Hesh’ but Jerry Adler,” he admits.

Additionally, Frank Vincent read for the role of “Uncle Junior” and Steven Van Zandt almost became “Tony Soprano.”

Of course, the role of Tony went to James Gandolfini, who Schirripa says became a powerful presence on the set by “[setting] an example on set so no one got out of line.”  

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