Entertainment

While Marvel Studios is characteristically mum so far, The Hollywood Reporter says a 2024 Fantastic Four reboot could have found its director in Matt Shakman, who called the shots on the Emmy-nominated Marvel series WandaVision for Disney+.

Shakman is a veteran of both comedy and epic storytelling, with credits that range from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to Game of Thrones.

The project is key for the studio, as Fantastic Four — the stretchy genius Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic; The Invisible Woman/Sue Storm; the self-immolating Human Torch/Bobby Storm; and the Hulk-strong and made of stone The Thing/Ben Grimm — are referred to as “Marvel’s First Family” by comic die-hards.

That said, the team that debuted in 1961 has had trouble finding a footing on the big screen: There were a pair of films in the early 2000s, but they weren’t well received by fans — with the exception, by and large, of the performance of eventual Captain America Chris Evans, who played Johnny.

In 2015, then-rights-holder 20th Century Fox tried to reboot the superhero quartet, but the project was beset with problems and was a total failure at the box office.

Disney’s acquisition of Fox brought Fantastic Four under the Marvel Studios umbrella, and studio head Kevin Feige announced in 2020 that a Marvel Cinematic Universe film was on its way with Spider-Man series director Jon Watts at the helm, but he left the project earlier this year.

Fans only recent MCU glimpse of F4 was over the summer, with John Krasinski playing Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness — but that was understood to be one version of the hero and not necessarily the one we’ll see going forward.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke posted a cryptic TikTok about a cheating ex amid her divorce from Matthew Lawrence.

“When he said he would never talk to her again yet I found text messages, viagra, and a necklace hidden in a pair of his shoes,” she wrote, alongside a video of herself flashing a somber look and Adele‘s “Set Fire to the Rain” playing underneath.

Burke, 38, captioned the post, “The last time is absolutely right! Goodbye forever…#exessucks #thelasttime #goodbyeforever #hopeitwasworthit.”

The 42-year-old Boy Meets World and Mrs. Doubtfire actor hasn’t publicly commented on their split, and neither has referenced cheating in association with the divorce.

Burke and Lawrence tied the knot in 2019. She filed for divorce this last February.

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HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, will live to fight for a second season.

The decision to renew the show comes before the second episode aired, but it’s a bit of a no-brainer: The series, starring Paddy Considine, Matt Smith and Olivia Cooke, drew nearly 10 million viewers for its debut last Sunday night, making it the largest audience for any new original series in the history of HBO.

What’s more, the show was strong on streaming, too: Via HBO Max, Dragon torched all new streaming titles for the week of August 18 through August 24, according to data from the streaming service aggregator app Reelgood.

The show also lit up social media: On premiere day, House of the Dragon was the longest trending topic on Twitter, ranking #1 for 14 hours straight, and trended #1 on Google Trends, according to HBO.

HBO Vice President of Programming Francesca Orsi noted, “Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV,” adding, “We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with season two.”

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Sylvester Stallone plays a former superhero trying to put his past behind him in Amazon’s new action film Samaritan, which debuts Friday.

However, his young neighbor, played by Javon “Wanna” Walton is convinced the lowly garbageman is actually the titular unbreakable hero, who saved Granite City 25 years ago from his evil twin, a nemesis named, well, Nemesis.

Game of Thrones vet Pilou Asbæk plays a gang leader who idolizes Nemesis, and wants to take over the city.

The movie wasn’t based on an existing comic, and Sly’s character isn’t your typical supe, Stallone said at a recent press event. “You can’t do 29-year-old Rambo kind of a thing because you also have to honor who you are, your age — that’s the part of it: That you’re not who you were, but you’re still there.“

He adds of his character, who goes by Joe, while he’s been in hiding: “His strength would be in his resolve and he still has great physical power as opposed to speed. He can’t fly…He’s not jumping through the air. He’s not that kind of guy.”

Sly adds he’s, “a hero that is very regular and does irregular things…It’s like if Rocky was a superhero, it’s something that is identifiable and street-like.”

He says of the film, “It’s not set in some super fantastic universe. It’s set among brick and concrete and identifiable situations that we all the neighborhoods we live in. And that’s what I liked about it.”

As for his young neighbor, Joe reluctantly takes a shine to him, even as he’s forcing him back into the superhero business. “And this kid is dragging me back into my memories. He’s making me face who I was. I don’t want to go there. I left it behind.”

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After a successful televised trial run last summer, Jerry O’Connell will host a star-packed TV game show version of the popular party game Pictionary. Launching on September 12, national daytime TV game show will feature celebrity captains, including Cristela Alonzo, Amanda Seales, Loni Love, Ross Mathews, Amanda Kloots, Akbar Gbajabiamila, and former newscaster Natalie Morales, “two teams of three as players draw clues for teammates to guess winning words or phrases.” O’Connell, who continues to co-host CBS’ The Talk, called the Mattel game a “family favorite” growing up…

Joe E. Tata, who played the Peach Pit diner owner Nat Bussichio on all 10 seasons of the original Beverly Hills, 90210, died Wednesday night, his daughter, Kelly Katharine Tata, announced on a GoFundMe page. He was 85. Joe was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018 and had been moved in April to the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, according to Kelly. “Today we lost my dear friend and TV boss Joe E Tata. Nat Bussichio was a huge part of Beverly Hills 90210 and Joey was a huge part of my life…There will never be another,” Tata’s 90210 co-star Jason Priestley wrote on social media on Wednesday. Ian Ziering called Tata “one of the happiest people I’ve ever worked with, he was as generous with his wisdom as he was with his kindness”…

Entertainment Weekly reports Anne Hathaway has just been tapped to lead the cast of the film adaptation of a popular fan-fiction book inspired by former One Direction member Harry Styles, The Idea of You. The Prime Video movie, based on Robinne Lee‘s 2017 debut novel of the same name, will be directed by The Big Sick, The Eyes of Tammy Faye and The Dropout helmer Michael Showalter, who will also produce alongside Hathaway and Gabrielle Union. Production begins in October. A release date has not been set…

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A day after a jury awarded Vanessa Bryant $16 million in her invasion of privacy trial against Los Angeles County over photos taken at the scene of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter, her lawyer revealed she’ll be donating the proceeds to her Mamba and Mambacita Foundation.

“From the beginning, Vanessa Bryant has sought only accountability, but our legal system does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline. Those measures are the responsibility of the Sheriffs and Fire Departments — responsibilities that Mrs. Bryant’s efforts have exposed as woefully deficient, even giving amnesty to the wrongdoers, her lawyer wrote in a statement on Wednesday.

“Mrs. Bryant was courageous and never faltered, even when the County attempted to force her to submit to an involuntary psychiatric examination. She is deeply grateful to Ralph Mendez and Luella Weireter, the good Samaritans who brought to light the decades old practice of taking and sharing photos of accident and crime victims for no legitimate purpose,” the statement continued. “It is Mrs. Bryant’s hope that this important civil rights case will put to a stop this abhorrent and callous behavior.”

“Mrs. Bryant intends that proceeds from this judgment will go to the Mamba and Mambacita foundation to shine a light on Kobe and Gigi’s legacy,” it concluded.

Kobe Bryant and their daughter, Gianna, were headed to a basketball game at his Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks along with others connected to the basketball program on Jan. 26, 2020, when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed in Calabasas. All nine people on board were killed.

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Much has been made of Pete Davidson‘s allure with the women of Hollywood, but he’s managed to attract one very hard-to-get male star — for his new comedy series Bupkis, that is.

Oscar winner Joe Pesci — who of late only, and rarely, works if it’s for his Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese — has signed onto the comedy show, which has been described as a Curb Your Enthusiasm-like look at Davidson’s life.

Officially, the streaming service calls Bupkis, which also stars Sopranos Emmy winner Edie Falco as Pete’s mom, “a heightened, fictionalized version of Pete Davidson’s real life.”

It’s not known who Pesci will play, but he is being billed as a series regular.

Incidentally, it will be the first time Pesci plays for the small screen since a short-lived ABC cop dramedy from 1985 called Half-Nelson.

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A famous superfan got his wish: It was officially announced Thursday that The Walking Dead‘s Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be joining Amazon’s hit The Boys for its fourth season.

The show’s official Twitter feed dropped big news Thursday, noting, “Chuffed to welcome @JDMorgan to The Boys S4. Can’t confirm if he’s gettin’ any tights, though.”

The reference was to a meme photo of JDM talking about going on the show at some point, the caption quoting him saying, “Get me some tights. I’m ready for some tights.”

For his part, Morgan tweeted he’s “SO DAMN STOKED!” to come aboard, and thanked both Amazon Studios and AMC for working around his schedule for The Walking Dead spin-off, Isle of the Dead.

Morgan has been trying to make this happen since 2020, reaching out on Twitter to Eric Kripke, the executive producer of both The Boys and of Supernatural, the long-running CW series in which Morgan starred as the dad to Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles‘ characters.

Morgan noted then he’d join The Boys “in a heartbeat!”

Fast-forward two years and Ackles made his unforgettable entrance into The Boys universe in this past third season, playing Soldier Boy, a boozing, womanizing, super-powerful supe who is essentially Captain America’s flip side.

Earlier this year, he and Kripke plotted to Variety how they’d love to reunite all of Supernatural‘s Winchester clan on the Emmy-nominated show.

Also weighing in on the news was Karl Urban, The Boys‘ Billy Butcher, who noted of JDM’s participation in season 4: “Mind blown. Can not wait.”

Morgan replied, “Man!! I can’t wait!! We gonna PLAY!!”

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Star Trek veteran Nichelle Nichols, who passed away in July, is getting ready to follow some of her former colleagues into the stars.

Her son Kyle Johnson has signed up with Celestis, the company that has launched some of the cremated remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, those of his widow, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, and those of James “Scotty” Doohan into space via rocket.

The company is also letting fans pay tribute to Nicholls, who famously played Lt. Nyota Uhura on the show and its spin-off movies, and who in real life recruited diverse applicants for NASA’s ranks.

Celestis is gathering messages to the actress and activist on a special tribute page. The messages — or music or art and other commemorations — will be digitized and stored aboard the Enterprise Memorial Spaceflight that is scheduled for launch later this year.

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As reported back in July, ABC is throwing Norman Lear a party for reaching the 100-year milestone, and as we predicted then, some big names have stepped up to celebrate.

Jimmy Kimmel and Jennifer Aniston will take part in Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter, which will air on Thursday, September 22, at 9 p.m. ET and stream the next day on Hulu.

Oscar winner Octavia Spencer has also been put on the guest list for the celebration of the legendary producer of TV classics like All in the Family, The Jeffersons and Good Times. Emmy winner Amy Poehler will also make an appearance.

Kimmel produced star-packed live stagings of Lear shows All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons and The Facts of Life, the latter of which saw his pal Aniston playing the show’s blond beauty queen Blair.

Other famous faces are likely to appear for what the network is calling a “one-night-only celebration” that “features intimate conversations, special performances and surprise reunions that pay homage to the man behind some of television’s greatest stories …”

For his part, Lear said, “I’ve always believed music and laughter have added time to my life. I’ve seen a lot throughout my 100 years, but I would’ve never imagined America having a front-row seat to my birthday celebration.”

“Even this I get to experience,” he concluded.

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