Entertainment

Just in time for Halloween, the third season of Netflix’s hit The Movies That Made Us peels back the curtain on the making of three horror classics: 1978’s Halloween, 1980’s Friday The 13th, and 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. 

The series also takes a look at enduring ’80s hits like James Cameron‘s Aliens, the Eddie Murphy comedy Coming to America, and Robocop.

With the spooky season upon us, ABC Audio caught up with Brian Volk-Weiss, the series’ creator and executive producer. He didn’t start out as a horror fan but as he and his “Mozart-level editors” Nick Ferrell and Ben Frost dove deep into what made the slasher flicks endure, he got it. 

“You know what it is, I think, and this is going to sound crazy talking about these low-budget horror films, but they have in their own way, a lot of heart,” he says. “It is a very, very simple antagonist. And everybody just gets out of his way or not! But there’s a charm to these films!”

Volk-Weiss notes another key element: casting. “Maybe these aren’t people that are going to get Oscars for best acting. I get it. But they had charisma. They had charm. Yes, most of them were good-looking, but they had charisma!”

Movies That Made Us’ look into 1986’s Aliens is also eye-opening: it features an interview with James Remar, who was fired from the film after shooting started because of a drug arrest, forcing James Cameron to replace him as Hicks with Terminator veteran Michael Biehn.

“I still cannot believe we got Remar,” Volk-Weiss admits. “By the way, even when I was interviewing Sigourney [Weaver], I told her…and she was like, ‘Really?!’ 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Amazon has has tapped Insecure star Yvonne Orji to host the second installment of Yearly Departed, a comedy special that says good-bye to everything left behind in 2021.

Similar to the first installment, Yearly Departed will feature an all-female lineup of guests, who will tackle some of 2021’s most notable topics including, the climate crisis and navigating Zoom. Yearly Departed will premiere sometime December. The lineup of guests have yet to be announced.

In other news, Michael B. Jordan is explaining why he signed onto the Denzel Washington-directed film A Journal for Jordan. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jordan says joining the cast was a no-brainer because of the “opportunity to work with Denzel.”

“When [San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg] Popovich, or somebody gives you a call, it’s like, ‘Oh, [shoot]. OK. Yeah, yep. I’m showing up.’ Whatever it is, we gotta figure it out,” he says. “But I think the opportunity to work with one of my mentors and somebody that I idolized, to be able to learn from him and be directed by him, was priceless.”

As previously reported, the film, also starring Chanté Adams, is based on Dana Canedy’s New York Times best-selling memoir of the same name. It’s inspired by Canedy’s love affair with First Sergeant Charles Monroe King, who was killed in 2006 in Iraq when his son, Jordan, was just seven months old. The story centers on the journal King left behind for his son, filled with important life lessons. 

A Journal for Jordan will play in limited release on December 10 in New York and LA and then go to wide theatrical release on December 22.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Moments after William Shatner touched down to Earth after becoming the oldest human being to ever travel to space, he was overwhelmed.

Shatner recounted his feelings to Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos about what he’d seen, and what he was feeling, particularly the “fragility” of our planet’s blue sky. 

“You shoot through it all of a sudden, as if you whip…a sheet off you when you’re asleep, and you’re looking into blackness, into black ugliness,” the Star Trek star recalled, clearly overcome.

Continuing to try to explain the experience, he said, “You look down and there’s the blue down there and the black up there…[Down] there is Mother Earth and comfort, and [up] there is death? I don’t know, is that death? Is that the way death is? Whup! and it’s gone? Jesus.”

Shatner wiped away tears while he kept on speaking with Bezos, as crew members scurried around the New Shepard capsule that the actor had just exited. 

“What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. It’s so filled with emotion about what just happened. I just it’s extraordinary, extraordinary,” Shatner said to Bezos.

“I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it,” Shatner added, before the two men embraced.

Bezos called Shatner’s words “beautiful.”

The Star Trek actor, famous for playing Starship Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk, blasted off into space at 10:50 a.m. Eastern time, along with microbiologist Glen de Vries, Planet Labs founder Chris Boshuizen and Blue Origin’s Audrey Powers.

Minutes after their launch, their capsule landed flawlessly on the Texas desert.

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Before The Amazing Race was sidelined because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Phil Keoghan logged some 200,000 miles a year as the host of the show. 

But with William Shatner‘s historic blast-off this morning, ABC Audio asked the multiple Emmy winner if he’d follow in Shatner’s footsteps for a new kind of travel.

“Like, in a heartbeat,” Keoghan said. “I was like, ‘Man, I wish I could be there!'”

Keoghan then noted that he “could see a future season of Amazing Race” featuring contestants making a similar journey. Imitating himself as the show’s narrator, he added, laughing, “Teams must now make their way into space…with William Shatner at the helm!” 

The host said of the historic trip, “I’m really happy for him. What a full circle, right?… [He] starts off pretending to go to space and then ends, you know, he’s 90 years old, and he really does go to space! Captain Kirk, beam me up!”

Keoghan’s new hit series, Tough as Nails, is now in its third season, and airs tonight on CBS. The show, which highlights the hard work of everyday heroes, is running as the U.S. is facing a supply crisis, due in part to a lack of such people Keoghan calls the “backbone” of the country.

“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” he says of the serendipitous timing of the new season.

The show excels at “opening people’s eyes up…[pulling] back the curtain a wee bit…to see some of the things that maybe we take for granted,” Keoghan explains.

He adds, “And this is the time to acknowledge those people who have helped us get through the pandemic and who make the country function, quite frankly, because without them, things would just stop functioning.”

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Zendaya‘s new film Dune isn’t out for another week, but she’s already ready for a sequel. 

Opening up to InStyle magazine, the 25-year-old actress revealed, “We’ll see how the first [movie] goes, but I’m ready to do a second.”

“Whenever they call, I’m here,” she continued. “[Co-star] Timothée [Chalamet] is an extraordinary talent and just a lovely person — he’s become my family.”

The Disney channel alum added that she “had such a fun time” making Dune, which hits theaters October 22 and also stars Jason Momoa.

In addition to opening up about the upcoming film, Zendaya shared a bit about her seemingly on-again beau Tom Holland and what she admires most about him.  

“There are many things, obviously, that I appreciate,” she began. “In an actor way, I appreciate that he really loves being Spider-Man.”

“It’s a lot of pressure — you take on the role of a superhero wherever you go. To the little kid who walks by, you are Spider-Man,” the Euphoria star explained. “I think he handled that so well. And seeing him at work, even though he’s not a Virgo [laughs], he is a perfectionist.”

“He’s a fun time,” she admitted. “Very charismatic, can make anybody feel comfortable and have a good laugh and a good chat.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

William Shatner has officially become the planet’s oldest space traveler.

The Star Trek actor, famous for playing starship Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk, blasted off into space at 10:50 a.m. Eastern time, aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, along with microbiologist Glen de Vries, Planet Labs founder Chris Boshuizen and Blue Origin’s Audrey Powers. 

The mission, officially designated NS-18, took off a little later than originally predicted, and made Shatner, who turned 90 in March, the oldest human being to venture to space — or at least, just over the edge of it in a sub-orbital flight.

The flight was delayed for nearly an hour but went off apparently flawlessly, lasting ten minutes from liftoff to the touchdown of the capsule in the West Texas desert.  All four astronauts hugged Blue Origin boss Jeff Bezos after their safe landing.

New Shepherd‘s capsule ascended to just past the Karman Line, which is the officially recognized point where Earth’s atmosphere ends and what is considered to be space begins.  The imaginary line is located 62 miles, or 330,000 feet, above the Earth’s surface.

Shatner was the third crew member to board the capsule with his fellow crew members, each of whom rang a ceremonial bell on a tower platform before boarding.

Shatner’s feat surpassed a record set by 82-year-old astronaut Wally Funk, who blasted off on the New Shepard in July.

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Kim Kardashian will be the only one with the keys to her and Kanye West‘s mansion in Hidden Hills, which is valued at $60 million.

TMZ reports that Kardashian filed paperwork on Tuesday to obtain sole ownership of the property, effectively dispelling rumors that she and Ye have reconciled following her Saturday Night Live hosting debut.  It’s reported that the two agreed on a buyout price and that their negotiation was “extremely cordial.”

According to the legal documents, Kardashian and her four children have resided in the sprawling California estate since February, when the former couple first filed for divorce.

Kardashian and the Donda rapper first purchased the home in 2014 for a cool $20 million before extensively renovating it. When the remodeling was complete, the pair then purchased the neighboring 1.5 acre property in 2019 for an additional $3 million — bringing their estate’s total lot size to eight acres.

The news comes shortly after Kanye listed his 7,000-acre ranch in Wyoming for sale, which he retreated to when rumors first surfaced that he and Kim were having marital problems.  Ye is asking for $11 million for that property.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) It’s been five years since Dwayne Johnson sparked reports of a feud with Vin Diesel and, in a new interview, Johnson reflects on his now-infamous remarks.

While filming The Fate of the Furious in 2016, the actor took to Instagram and slammed his male co-stars who fail to “conduct themselves as stand-up men and true professionals” and dubbed them “candya****.”  

Though he deleted the post, the Jungle Cruise star told Variety he doesn’t regret expressing himself.

“I meant what I said,” he shared. “I mean what I say when I say it. But to express it publicly was not the right thing to do.”

“It wasn’t my best day… I shouldn’t have shared that,” Johnson continued. “Because at the end of the day, that goes against my DNA. I don’t share things like that. And I take care of that kind of bulls*** away from the public. They don’t need to know that. That’s why I say it wasn’t my best day.”

Johnson said there was a silver lining from the whole debacle and revealed that, while “it caused a firestorm,” it sparked a conversation on set because “every single crew member found their way to me and either quietly thanked me or sent me a note.”

It also resulted in a much-needed meeting with Diesel.  “I wouldn’t call it a peaceful meeting,” Johnson admitted.  “I would call it a meeting of clarity. He and I had a good chat in my trailer, and it was out of that chat that it really became just crystal clear that we are two separate ends of the spectrum. And agreed to leave it there.”

He also defined what a candya** is: A person who makes life harder for others because they are “completely full of s***.”

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This morning, William Shatner blasts off with three others on board Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket, bound for space. 

The moment is being eagerly anticipated by Trekkies the world over, including Brian Volk-Weiss, the producer of Netflix’s popular Movies That Made Us series. But Volk-Weiss explains the significance of the event isn’t lost on those who couldn’t tell a Klingon from a Vulcan.

“My wife is not a Trekkie at all. Maybe she’s even an anti-Trekkie. She gets it. The symbolism that up until this year, nobody ever thought Captain Kirk would actually go to where Captain Kirk worked. Like she got it.”

Volk-Weiss continued, “I thought my Star Trek bias and my history bias … like, I wasn’t sure if I could be a fair judge. But I mean, it’s nothing short of amazing. Yes, he’s lived a long time, but the fact that within his own lifetime, what literally would have been thought impossible — I think even in January — is happening.”  

Shatner, who turned 90 in March, will be the oldest person to reach space, surpassing a record set by 82-year-old astronaut Wally Funk, who blasted off on the New Shepard in July. 

Shatner will join microbiologist Glen de Vries, Planet Labs founder Chris Boshuizen, and Blue Origin’s Audrey Powers when New Shepard‘s 18th mission, NS-18, blasts off Wednesday morning.

The event is now scheduled for 10 a.m. Eastern, depending on weather and other conditions at Blue Origin’s launch site in Texas.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The new limited series Dopesick premieres today on Hulu.

Michael Keaton stars as a small-town doctor who thought he was helping his patients with pain by prescribing the painkiller OxyContin, but instead ended up getting people he knew and loved addicted to opioids. Keaton tells ABC Audio he thinks his show will make people angry.

“How could you not be angry at something as large as Big Pharma, and in this case, we gotta say it, the Sackler family,” asks the actor, referring to the owners of Purdue Pharma and Mundipharma, the pharmaceutical companies at the center of the opioid crisis that have faces criminal charges, bankruptcy and billions in fines as a result.  “People…most of them…we could categorize as the have-nots…they’re the victims,” he continues. “How do you not get angry?”

“I hope they’re mad,” adds Dopesick creator Danny Strong, who also hopes the series will inspire people to take action.

“I hope they have an understanding of what happened. I hope that this might inspire some push for change, particularly with the revolving door in government in which people that are overseeing these companies, pharma companies in particular, that are supposed to be there to protect and regulate the public from a criminal company like Purdue Pharma,” Strong adds. “Instead of regulating them they go and they work for them.”

Dopesick also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Will Poulter, Kaitlyn Dever and Rosario Dawson.

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