Entertainment

Amazon Prime Video has debuted the trailer for Catherine Called Birdy, Lena Dunham‘s new film about girl’s search for gender equality. The third feature film from the creator of the HBO series Girls, is set in a Medieval English village in 1290, where teen Lady Catherine, a.k.a. Birdy — played by Bella Ramsey — is assigned to find a husband. Her greedy but poor father, portrayed by Andrew Scott, wants to capitalize to save their manor, but Catherine refuses to comply. Joe Alwyn, Ralph Ineson, Billie Piper, Isis Hainsworth and Russell Brand also star. Catherine Called Birdy opens in limited release September 23 and streams on Amazon Prime Video October 7…

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law star Tatiana Maslany will executive-produce and star in the upcoming AMC series Invitation to a Bonfire, the cable channel announced on Wednesday. Inspired by Vladimir and Vera Nabokov’s co-dependent marriage, the series, per AMC, follows Zoya — played by Skins‘ Freya Mavor — “a young Russian immigrant and groundskeeper, who is drawn into a lethal love triangle with the school’s newest faculty member — an enigmatic novelist, portrayed by Pilou Asbæk — and his bewitching wife,” played by Maslany…

The official trailer for the dark comedy/thriller The Menu dropped on Wednesday. The film follows “a couple — played by The Queen’s Gambit‘s Anya Taylor-Joy and Mad Max: Fury Road‘s Nicholas Hoult — that travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef — portrayed by The Grand Budapest Hotel‘s Ralph Fiennes — has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.” John Leguizamo, Judith Light and Hong Chau also star. The Menu’s release date is currently set for November 18…

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It’s time to hit the field once again with the Rockford Peaches!

The movie A League of Their Own is now a TV series, debuting Friday on Prime Video, starring D’Arcy Carden and Melanie Field as 1940s women who just want to play ball.

Fans of the 1992 film are sure to be fans of series as well, according to Carden, who tells ABC Audio the series was able to “kiss the movie.”

“We’re doing our own thing. But there’s a lot of, I always think of it as like little kisses to the movie. And winks,” she says. 

One nice thing about the series is that there is more time to explore the storylines.  

“Like so much of the league was queer. There was such a vibrant Black baseball, and really amazing pitchers like Toni Stone, Mamie Johnson, Connie Morgan, who played in the Negro Leagues,” Destra Tedros Reff, one of the writers and Executive Producers of the show, explains. “And the movie, just to tell a sports of sports movie about females at the time was sort of revolutionary. And so this, it’s really the opportunity we have right now to really step deeper into the story.”

While the series does make nods to the film, it’s not a copy. 

“The world doesn’t need this movie again. The movie’s so good,” Will Graham, another one of the writers and Executive Producers, says. “What we wanted to do was really take that platform and widen the lens and just tell a deeper range of stories but with the humor and heart and flawed characters and the comedy that Penny (Marshall) and the cast brought to this story.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Johnny Depp‘s return to the cameras after his legal victory in his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard is already underway.

The French film company Why Not Productions has released an image of the actor in full historical dress and make-up as King Louis XV in French director Maïwenn’s based-on-real-life love story Jeanne du Barry.

The actor, who is fluent in French, is pictured in profile in a king’s finery: wearing a powdered wig tied into a ponytail and topped with a white, feathered hat. Masking his eyes is a provocative black blindfold.

According to Variety, the film follows the titular character whom the director is playing herself: Jeanne was a courtesan who managed to charm the monarch while keeping her class and profession a secret to him.

The film got underway weeks ago, the production company revealed, and is shooting on location in and around France.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The concept of fans dressing up like their favorite pop culture characters, as they recently did at San Diego Comic-Con, may seem like a new phenomenon, but it’s not.

That’s one of the findings from Andrew Liptak, author, journalist and, yes, cosplayer, in his new Simon & Schuster book: COSPLAY: A HISTORY – The Builders, Fans, and Makers Who Bring Your Favorite Stories to Life.

While the term “cosplay” surfaced in 1984 — a Japanese amalgam of “costume and play” — it’s thought one of the first costumed gatherings happened at the first World Science Fiction Convention held in 1939.

“I looked at the history of conventions and fandom and sort of traced, like, where was the first place people started wearing costumes, like, 1939 in New York City,” Liptak tells ABC Audio.

“And then, you know, what are earlier examples that go further beyond that? So we found examples from the early 1900s, mid 1800s.”

He even learned there was a Roman emperor who’d dress up as Hercules and had busts made of himself in costume.

“At the heart of this is, like, you are trying to find your fellow tribe of fellow fans,” Liptak says of the hobby. “Because, you know, we want community. We want to have things in common with people. We’re tribal species, and we’re a storytelling species.”

Liptak marvels, pun intended, at how mainstream cosplay has become. “One of the fun things about Ms. Marvel [is that] cosplay is central in the plot of a Marvel TV show … I mean, it’s not only Ms. Marvel, but … Taco Bell had a commercial with cosplayers in it, The Big Bang Theory … you know, that was a big mainstream introduction for a lot of people that, you know, this is a thing.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Dropout‘s Amanda Seyfried admits to having some regrets about filming a nude scene when she was 19 years old, saying she did it because she felt it was the only way to keep her job.

“Being 19, walking around without my underwear on — like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen?” the 36-year-old actress tells Porter. “Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That’s why.”

Seyfried says she “wishes she could be coming up now, in an era where intimacy coordinators are an on-set requirement and actors are in a better position to speak up.”

Seyfriend received her first Emmy nod last month for her performance as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu’s The Dropout.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Discovery+ has announced an “explosive” look into the salacious allegations that have derailed the career of The Lone Ranger and The Social Network star Armie Hammer.

Hammer was accused of rape and abuse, and of sending a series of direct messages that dealt with sex and cannibalism. Hammer’s attorneys have claimed all of his relationships have been consensual.

“The accusations of rape and abuse brought against Armie Hammer in the last few years are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Hammer family,” the network teases.

Hammer is the son of businessman Michael Armand Hammer and a great-grandson of the oil tycoon Armand Hammer.

“Featuring exclusive access and shocking revelations, the documentary takes viewers inside the Hammer family’s dark power plays over the course of three revealing hours,” Discovery+ continues.

Jason Sarlanis, the streamer’s head of crime and investigative content, adds, “With House of Hammer, we witness truly disturbing details and sinister secrets that money and power couldn’t hide forever.

“This documentary provides an important platform for the incredibly courageous women who came forward to share their stories, and we hope their courage inspires others to continue meaningful conversations around abuse in our society.”

The trailer for the series features voicemails purportedly from Hammer, who is reportedly in treatment for alcohol and other addictions.

The series debuts September 2.

(Video contains censored profanity)

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Mad Man veteran Jon Hamm is joining another acclaimed series.

Apple TV+ announced the addition to the cast, noting the Emmy winner will play Paul Marks, a “corporate titan who sets his sights” on the network on which the series’ The Morning Show airs.

The show’s second season centered on drama within UBA, the fictitious network on which the series’ AM chat show airs, and also the personal struggles of both Reese Witherspoon’s anchor Bradley, and her disgraced colleague Alex, played by Jennifer Aniston.

The network says season three of the show, starring and produced by Witherspoon and Aniston, gets underway later this month.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

A lot of fans are boldly going with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, according to Paramount+.

The prequel series set a record for the streaming service as the most-watched original series in the Star Trek franchise over its first 90 days and ranked as one of Paramount+’s top two original shows overseas.

The series, which stars Anson Mount as U.S.S. Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike — Captain Kirk’s predecessor at the starship’s helm — launched in May.

The show is one of a quintet of new Trek shows available on the streaming service, including Picard and the animated comedy show Star Trek: Below Decks, all produced by Alex Kurtzman.

George Cheeks, president and chief executive officer at CBS, celebrated in a statement: “Over the past six years, Alex … and his amazing team have brilliantly created and carefully curated a new Star Trek universe for Paramount+ with five complementary series – each different in tone, style, story and in some cases target audience.”

He adds, “Each series is a success in its own right, and now the franchise’s newest edition, Strange New Worlds, is earning critical acclaim and delivering notable performance achievements on the service.”

The new series also stars Rebecca Romijn as Pike’s Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Neve Campbell is opening up about her future — or lack thereof — in the Scream franchise.

The actress, who played hard-to-kill heroine Sidney Prescott in five Scream films, announced in June that she was stepping away from the series over an apparent salary dispute.

In a statement at the time, she said, “I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.”

She called the move a “very difficult decision.”

However, Campbell recently told Entertainment Tonight the coffin isn’t nailed shut on her possible return to the series.

“I care about these movies,” Campbell said. “If they were to come to me with an amount that felt in keeping with … the value that I bring them, I would certainly consider it.”

The Party of Five alum praised the directors of the fifth Scream movie, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and wished them luck on the next film.

However, she stood firm in her decision to walk away from the series: “My feeling truly is, had I been a man in this franchise — 25 years, five movies — the offer would have been very different,” she said, explaining women should be “on par financially with men.”

“I fought for a long time to have that be a part of my life and … I really just didn’t feel that what was offered to me really equated to what I bring to these films — the value that I bring to these films and that Sidney brings to these films,” she said.

“The idea of being on set and feeling taken for granted or taken advantage of just seemed impossible for me to endure, to be honest.”

Scream 6 is reportedly set for a 2023 release.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The Hollywood Reporter made headlines Tuesday with an exclusive story that the beleaguered Golden Globe Awards were returning to former home at NBC sooner than most predicted.

The trade reported the show could return to the network on January 10, 2023.

However, the network has made no formal announcement, and a source told ABC Audio the headline was “premature.”

ABC Audio reached out to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group behind the once-annual event, and the organization apparently won’t be commenting on the news.

The Golden Globes found itself embroiled in controversy early in 2021, after accusations of sexism and racism were leveled at the organization. The HFPA had long maintained its status in Hollywood despite having zero minority journalists in its voting ranks and engaging in other “unethical conduct,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

What’s more, its former president was ousted after an email from him surfaced in which he allegedly referred to Black Lives Matter as a “racist hate movement.”

In response, NBC severed its ties with the organization, as stars like Scarlett Johansson, Shonda Rimes and Mark Ruffalo publicly dragged it. Tom Cruise even went so far as to return his three acting trophies from the organization in protest.

The HFPA subsequently vowed it would be making “transformational changes” to boost minority membership and representation, and increase transparency into the organization and its inner workings.

The Globes didn’t air in 2022, though they were held at a private event in Beverly Hills that was shunned by the industry at large.

While the annual event was a ratings draw for the network, it remains to be seen if it will be embraced again by the entertainment industry if the show does get back on the air as quickly as The Hollywood Reporter is predicting.

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.