Entertainment

Fans of Dancing with the Stars took a trip to the happiest place on earth when the cast celebrated Disney Heroes Night and saluted animated heroes from Snow White to those who will appear in the upcoming feature, Encanto.

Because the night was full of Disney magic, no one was sent home on Monday.  However, the cast can’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet!  Instead, they have to perfect an entirely different routine for when DWTS returns on Tuesday to celebrate Disney Villains Night.

That meant several competitors turned up the heat to let the audience know they are in it to win the Mirrorball Trophy.  Both NBA legend Iman Shumpert and country singer Jimmie Allen pushed themselves on the ballroom floor and earned the judges’ high praise for their efforts.

Allen, who again tugged on the heartstrings by opening up about losing his dad to kidney failure in 2019, celebrated his father’s life with his Mulan-inspired Paso doble.  The “Make Me Want To” singer also crushed the Mickey Moves challenge, where all competitors had to include a set of specific moves into their routine, and earned himself the first two bonus points of the season.  

However, The Office alum Melora Hardin demonstrated the greatest improvement with her dazzling Jungle Book-inspired quickstep that the judges dubbed the best dance of the night.  They handed her the first straight nines of the season for an overall score of 36 out of 40.

Meanwhile, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Brian Austin Green could be in danger of going home, as he’s currently sitting at the bottom of the pack with a dismal 25 out of 40.  The judges found his waltz to Snow White’s “Someday My Prince Will Come,” a little TOO romantic and requested that he and partner/girlfriend Sharna Burgess dial it down for next time.

Find out who goes home when Dancing with the Stars celebrates Disney’s fearsome villains when it returns Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Here are the current standings:
Melora Hardin, The Office actress, with Artem Chivensky — 36/40
JoJo Siwa, Nickelodeon star, with Jenna Johnson — 35/40
Olivia Jade, influencer, with Val Chmerkovskiy — 35/40
Suni Lee, Olympic Gold medalist, with Sasha Farber — 33/40
Jimmie Allen, country music singer, with Emma Slater — 32/40
Amanda Kloots, The Talk co-host, with Alan Bersten — 32/40
Michael “The Miz” Gregory, WWE superstar, Witney Carson — 31/40
Melanie C, Spice Girl, with Gleb Savchenko — 31/40
Iman Shumpert, NBA player, with Daniella Karagach — 30/40
Kenya Moore, former Miss USA, with Brandon Armstrong — 29/40
Cody Rigsby, Peloton instructor, with Cheryl Burke — 27/40
Matt James, former Bachelor, with Lindsey Arnold — 26/40
Brian Austin Green, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, with Sharna Burgess — 25/40

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William Shatner will make history Wednesday as he boldly goes where few have gone before while aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard launch vehicle.

The Star Trek actor who played the iconic Captain Kirk joined Good Morning America on Monday along with his fellow flight crew members as they anxiously await their delayed departure.

“I’m deeply disappointed because I was building up the enthusiastic response, now we have to wait another day,” Shatner said. “[But] it’s really worth it. What’s a day with this extraordinary experience that we’re about to have?”

The 11-minute ride to the edge of space about 60 miles above the earth’s surface comes just two months after the first successful Jeff Bezos-owned space flight with Wally Funk, 82.

Shatner, 90, is set to become the oldest person ever to go to space, and will hit weightlessness in zero gravity for about four minutes.

His fellow passenger, Blue Origin crew member Audrey Powers, told GMA that this trip and opportunity was a long time coming.

“They offered me the opportunity to represent all those great people and sit in the seats, so I could not be more overwhelmed at the opportunity,” she said. “I feel an enormous sense of responsibility to represent this team.”

For his part, Shatner joked to GMA‘s T.J. Holmes that he’s not thinking of his trip as inspiring others.  “No!” he said to laughs. “I’m taking it as an experience!”

Shatner said he expects plenty of Captain Kirk references as the world watches him and the crew in flight.

“Actually, I haven’t heard ‘Shatner’ in a long time,” he said with a laugh.

New Shepard’s 18th mission, NS-18, has targeted liftoff for October 13, at 8:30 a.m. CT from Launch Site One in West Texas.

 

 

 

 

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CBS has given full-season orders to two of its brand-new spin-offs: NCIS: Hawai’i and FBI: International. 

The first, part of the long-running NCIS franchise, stars Vanessa Lachey as the first female special agent in charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor; the latter is the third FBI series following Dick Wolf‘s 2018 original FBI, and its hit 2020 spin-off FBI: Most Wanted. 

FBI: International launched last month as part of a massive crossover event with the other two programs, which exist in the same universe and the casts of which routinely come together to tackle the same case. 

Julian McMahon, who stars as the team leader on FBI: Most Wanted, loved passing the torch. He says he can’t get enough of the crossover events. “Oh, I love it, absolutely love it. What a gift!” he expressed to ABC Audio. 

“First of all, it’s just great to be able to hang with those guys and work together,” McMahon says. “I call it playing because we get to kind of create these characters, and do scenes together and whatever else there is. And that’s always fun. But also just to kind of create this kind of a three part, almost two hour long kind of journey is really a different kind of element for us.”

McMahon explains, “[I]t’s a really kind of dynamically different environment with which to work, you know, so it’s really fun doing something that starts so hot and just keeps on building.”  

CBS’ “FBI block” of shows airs Tuesday nights starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.

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Tom Felton, who played antagonist Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series, recently learned that he has even less in common with his character.

Apparently, Felton believed that he was a Slytherin, like Draco.  However, he was in for quite the shock when he discovered that he is better suited for Gryffindor — Slytherin’s bitter rival in the books and movies — after taking the Sorting Hat challenge on the Wizarding World website.

Taking to Instagram, Felton wore a green and silver scarf — reflecting Slytherin’s colors — and even had the house’s banner hanging in the background during his video reveal.

“I am Draco Malfoy in a muggle disguise,” Felton, 34, opened before noting that the first Harry Potter movie — Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone — turns 20 years old on November 14.  In order to celebrate the milestone, Felton decided to “put all rumors at rest” about where his true allegiance lies.

The video picks up after the British actor learns what house he was sorted into and he remarks in disbelief, “Really? Ugh” before revealing through gritted teeth, “I’m a Gryffindor.” 

Students sorted into Slytherin are known for being cunning and ambitious, while Gryffindors — like Harry Potter — are noted for their bravery and determination.

Felton then pretends to sob uncontrollably before calling upon his “fellow TF” and buddy, singer Tom Fletcher, to take the quiz and sort himself into Slytherin to restore balance.

This is actually the second time Felton was placed in house Gryffindor.  In a 2015 tweet, he said he was heartbroken to learn that he was better suited for the red and gold after taking the sorting test on the now-defunct Harry Potter fan website, Pottermore.

 

 

 

 

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Apple TV+’s critically-hailed sci-fi epic Foundation has been picked up for a second season by the streaming service, so cast members need to get their dancing shoes ready. 

That’s because Lee Pace, who plays the series’ villain, Emperor Day, has a habit of starting dance-offs on set — even though one led to his Guardians of the Galaxy character’s defeat. And while he told ABC Audio he didn’t get a chance to repeat the activity on Foundation, he’s got his eyes on a certain co-star for season two.

“Jared Harris, I’m calling you out!” Pace said with a laugh about his Emmy-winning co-star. “Let’s see what moves you got!”

For her part, co-star Lou Llobell, who plays Gaal [Gail] Dornick, is ready. “I will take Lee on,” she joked. “I can’t promise anything, but, that would be a great experience.”

Llobell also praised her co-star, who at 6 foot 5 made a visually intimidating foil for the actress, who plays a genius mathematician from a backwater planet with knowledge that threatens the galactic empire, ruled by Pace’s Brother Day.

“Lee was great,” the actress enthuses. “I mean, he’s an amazing person off-camera as well, and we all get along like the whole cast got along so well, which I’m very grateful for.”

Llobell adds, “But…it was pretty intimidating to see. I mean, I’m five foot two and Lee’s like, six foot however. And so looking up at him and it was perfect for me in that moment, especially for me playing Gaal as well.” 

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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory fans will soon learn the untold origin story of Mr. Willy Wonka himself.

While Roald Dahl‘s 1964 novel didn’t explore Wonka’s background — nor did its 1971 movie adaption — a 2005 retelling of the book starring Johnny Depp took a crack at it.  The reboot framed the eccentric chocolatier’s ambitions around his joyless upbringing, where he was raised by his candy-hating father, who was a dentist.

Timothée Chalamet stars as the titular candy confectioner in the upcoming 2023 movie and on Sunday, he shared a first look of the anticipated film to his Instagram.

“The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last,” he captioned the post, a direct quote spoken by the late Gene Wilder in the 1971 movie.  

One still shows Chalamet glancing devilishly to the side while standing in the snow.  His costume seems to blend the styles worn by Wilder and Depp’s respective Wonka interpretations, with the Dune star wearing a brown top hat similar to the one seen in the 1971 film and a maroon jacket that more closely resembles the one Depp wore in the reboot. In addition, Chalamet’s brown and curly hair reflects the way Wilder styled his in the 50-year-old classic — unlike the sleek brunet bob Depp rocked over 15 years ago.

A second photo is a closeup of what appears to be a cane, with its intricate top opened up like a flower, revealing a little purple box tied in a red ribbon at the center.

Wonka — also starring Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson and Keegan-Michael Key — is currently filming and will tell the story of how the titular character came to open a world-famous chocolate factory, including how he met his future employees, the Oompa-Loompas.

 

 

 

 

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After months of speculation, Matthew McConaughey has hinted that he might sit out Texas’ upcoming gubernatorial election.

When asked about running for governor in 2022 during his chat on the New York Times‘ Sway podcast, McConaughey, 51, replied, “Is politics an embassy for me to be of the most use to myself, to my family, to the most amount of people in my life moving forward?”

“Taking sides on a political issue right now, to me, precedes the discussion of something larger and much more important,” he said, touching upon the country’s identity crisis. “Do we really want to be a United States of America?… It’s a question we got to answer.”

“Why is our nation’s trust level so low with our leaders, with ourselves, with each other?,” he remarked. “Before I start hopping in the middle of politics going, ‘Well, this is where I stand here, and this is where I stand here.’ Everybody needs to be in the conversation to answer [these] questions.”

“I do not think we’re in a good place [as a nation,]” McConaughey added, but the self-described optimist said he’s excited for the future because “we’re in a place where it’s an amazing opportunity right now.”

McConaughey also offered his opinions on hot-button issues like mask mandates, voting rights and Texas’ restrictive abortion ban. Calling it “a small investment” to wear a mask, the actor voiced support for mandates. He also declared “it should be easier to vote” for all Americans “of age” and without a “criminal record.”

He was less forthcoming about the subject of abortion, however.  Although he expressed disapproval of Texas’ abortion law, McConaughey declined to reveal his stance on the matter because, “We’ve been trying to figure out that, and how to play God with that situation, since the beginning.”

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Anthony Anderson may be making a return to the upcoming revival of Law & Order.

In an upcoming episode of Rachel Ray‘s syndicated talk show, obtained by Deadline, Anderson, who played Detective Kevin Bernard for two seasons, says he’s already been approached about making a return on the Emmy-winning crime drama.

“I did have a conversation with Dick Wolf,” Anderson says of the show’s creator. “I will just say that. So, we’ll see what the future holds.”

As previously reported, NBC has greenlit season 21 of Wolf’s Law & Order, 11-and-a-half years after it was abruptly canceled. Like previous seasons, the show will once again center on “the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders.”

Although casting details have yet to be announced, the new season of Law & Order is expected to feature many of the same characters from the original series, including Jack McCoy, who was played by Sam Waterson.

Anderson’s interview with Rachel Ray will air October 14. Check your local listings to watch live.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) It’s pretty much a fact that parents of young children will have to sit through their fair share of endless kids’ songs sing-alongs — “Baby Shark,” anyone?

For Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, however, his three-year-old daughter Tiana made him sit through a never-ending rendition of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” during a recent car ride.

The singing kept going for so long, the Jungle Cruise star even took out his phone to capture the moment.

“Keep in mind I started shooting this after 15 minutes straight of listening to this song,” he captioned the hilarious Saturday video update, which shows Tiana singing away in her car seat. “I even tried to draw the note out at the end to give the feeling that the song was ending… Clearly it wasn’t. Ever. Going. To End,” the Rock lamented.

The video shows the ultra-relatable moment where Johnson thinks Tiana has run out of steam, but she instead sparks up another round, which causes her father’s eyes to momentarily widen in dread.  However, the former WWE star shakes it off by encouraging his little one, “Just keep singing, baby!  I love it!”

The video ends with hr Rock muttering just loud enough for the camera to hear that he thinks “life is but a nightmare,” a play on the song’s final verse.

While Johnson may never want to hear that nursery rhyme again, he offered some sound advice to parents who may be struggling with a similar problem, which is, “Sometimes we just gotta sit back, laugh and surrender to rowing the boat gently down the f****** stream.”

 

 

 

 

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The eagerly awaited James bond film No Time to Die, originally slated to hit theaters in 2020, fell short of expectations, but still delivered one of the year’s biggest debuts by topping the box office with an estimated $56 million.

The 25th Bond film, starring Daniel Craig in his final bow as 007, was predicted to pull in $60-$70 million. Its predecessor, Spectre, opened to $70.4 million in in 2015. The franchise’s biggest haul belongs to Craig’s Skyfall which raked in $88.4 million back in 2012.

It’s a rosier picture overseas, where No Time to Die debuted two weeks ago. It’s earned $257.3 million so far for a global total of $313.3 million.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which debuted last week with a record-breaking $90.1 million domestic haul, fell to second place with an estimated $32 million. That brings its current totals to $141 million stateside, a shade under $185.6 million globally.

Landing in third was The Addams Family 2, which scared up an estimated $10 million in its second week, bringing its current worldwide tally to $35.7 million.

Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings took fourth place with an estimated $4.2 million in its sixth week of release. Its domestic haul now stands at just south of $212.5 million, bringing its worldwide total to over the $400 million mark.

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

Rounding out the top five is the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, delivering and estimated $1.5 million in its second weekend. The film, which is also available to stream for free on HBO Max, has brought in an anemic $10.3 million worldwide.

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