Entertainment

The new movie Luck is all about, well, Luck!

The Apple TV+ film hits the streamer Friday, and Jane Fonda stars as a dragon who is one of the creatures who controls all the luck in the world. While the premise seems simple enough, Fonda tells ABC Audio the film has a strong message. 

“Good luck makes no sense without bad luck. The two, in a way, go together symbiotically, they’re the opposite sides of the same coin,” she explains.  “Don’t reject bad luck. You can learn from it. It can turn into good luck if you’re willing to learn the lessons from it.”

Fonda adds, “You know, there’s a there’s an expression that I love – God doesn’t come into us through our successes and our awards…God comes into us through our wounds.”

So can you actually control your own luck?

“I think that if during your lifetime you are intentional about the way you live that you are creating your own luck,” the Academy Award winner shares, adding that wisdom doesn’t come from experiences alone, but from reflecting on those experiences.

Whoopi Goldberg also lends her voice to the film as a character who works at the place in the universe where all the luck is made and distributed. She believes luck isn’t permanently good or bad, it ebbs and flows.

“I think we sometimes just assume things are going to continue on the way that they are. You know, whether it’s bad or good. And you find yourself going, is the moon in retrograde? Is this ever going to get better? And then suddenly you wake up and you think, wait a minute, this is a pretty good day. Hey, this is all right. You know, and you live in that for a while.”

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ABC Audio has confirmed that Keanu Reeves has just inked a deal to star in and produce his first TV series, and backing him are none other than Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.

According to the streaming service, Devil in the White City “tells the story of Daniel H. Burnham, a demanding but visionary architect who races to make his mark on history with the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, America’s first modern serial killer and the man behind the notorious ‘Murder Castle’ built in the Fair’s shadow.”

It’s not clear which character Reeves will play in the series, which is based on Erik Larson‘s book of the same name. Variety explains the book had been optioned by DiCaprio in 2010 with an eye toward his playing Holmes in another big-screen collab with Scorsese.

Years before that, the project was to be a vehicle for actor-producer Tom Cruise, but it didn’t get off the ground.

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If you only see one movie this year with Oscar-winning English Patient star Juliette Binoche driving a big rig, make it Paradise Highway.

Frank Grillo had a laugh with ABC Audio about that would-be tag line for the new thriller, but he says playing her shady brother was nothing short of a dream.

Grillo plays Dennis, the about-to-be-freed convict brother of Binoche’s Sally, a truck driver who he pressures into smuggling for him to keep him safe behind bars.

However, things take a turn when one of Sally’s “packages” turns out to be a trafficked little girl (Hala Finley).

Another Oscar winner, Morgan Freeman, plays an investigator on their trail.

“It was a dream for me because she’s just someone I admire so deeply as an actor,” Grillo says of Binoche. “She’s ‘all in’ all the time.”

He adds of the thriller, “It was heavy stuff, but we had such a good time.”

The actor, a veteran of Oscar winner Zero Dark Thirty, as well as the blockbuster Purge films, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War for Marvel Studios, is earning a reputation as the hardest working actor in movies.

In 2021, he starred in a slew of projects, including Copshop, the action film he co-produced with Gerard Butler; the medical fraud drama Body Brokers; and the Hulu action film Boss Level. He also reprised his character Brock Rumlow/Crossbones in Marvel Studios’ animated What If…?

Other than Paradise Highway, which is now in theaters and On Demand, Grillo has been hard at work on no fewer than six other movies, including the lead as Ferruccio Lamborghini in the biopic about the genius car inventor.

Long story short, he’s so busy he can’t keep track of them all.

“You know, my agents yesterday said to me, ‘Hey, dude, after the fall, you need to go away for a while,'” Grillo says, laughing. 

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Longtime contributor Ana Navarro and former Trump administration staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin were announced Thursday as permanent co-hosts on The View.

This comes as news Sunny Hostin, the show’s resident legal analyst, also re-upped her contract to sit alongside Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Sara Haines.

Griffin is replacing Meghan McCain as the show’s conservative voice, though Navarro has also identified as Republican — despite her outspoken distaste for Republicans like Griffin’s former boss, as well as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In a statement, The View‘s executive producer, Brian Teta, said of Navarro, “Ana has made an indelible impact on The View since the first time she joined us at the table. She is a strong, independent thinker with savvy insight, not to mention that she is whip-smart and fiercely funny.”

Teta said of Griffin, “We promised to take a little time to fill the seat and we have found the right match and a welcome addition to the show with Alyssa. She is willing to share her unique political experience and brings a strong conservative perspective while holding her own in tough debates with her co-hosts and guests on both sides of the aisle.”

Backstage, Griffin mentioned this to ABC News, saying, “I think that women’s voices are so powerful and having women from totally different backgrounds, you know, speaking out on the issues that oftentimes our politicians even kind of avoid tackling is so important. So I’m so, so excited.”

Navarro noted, “It’s been a long time coming, but this is the right time in my life, and I think for the show. And it’s always a privilege to have a platform like the one The View provides … And so I’m very thankful to be part of that panel.”

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) ABC Audio has confirmed Idris Elba is reteaming with his Hobbs and Shaw director David Leitch — the guy behind Brad Pitt‘s new movie Bullet Train — for a Netflix-bound spy thriller called Bang!.

Based on the Dark Horse Comics books from Matt Kindt and Wilfredo Torres, the film will have Elba playing a secret agent sent to take down a terrorist organization that may be linked to “a science-fiction author … whose books may hold the key to either saving reality or destroying it.”

Incidentally, the 2020 books feature a review quote from none other than Keanu Reeves — Leitch’s pal and John Wick star — who called the series, “A great, f****ed up blend of James Bond and Tintin.”

The latter refers to Belgian cartoonist Hergé‘s beloved comic series about a globe-trotting reporter and adventurer.

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Sydney Sweeney made headlines recently with her claim that despite appearing in some of TV’s hottest shows — including HBO Max’s Euphoria and The White Lotus — she can’t afford to take time off just yet.

Now, CamSoda, an adult live-streaming platform, wants to help the sexy 24-year-old actress — with an offer of $15,000,000 to perform 12 one-hour long live cam shows.

In a letter to Sweeney, CamSoda’s VP, Daryn Parker, writes, in part, that they saw her statement, and “now that you’re a rising sex symbol — and considering you said you’d never stop doing nude scenes — I think there is an opportunity for us to work together so that you can afford a six-month break and pay your bills.”

The letter then offers Sweeney “up to $15,000,000 to perform 12 one-hour long live cam shows on our website. That should hold you over during your break from Euphoria and other acting endeavors so you can afford your lavish L.A lifestyle.”

In an apparent final dig at Sweeney, the letter ends, “Please get back to me at your earliest convenience. I’d hate for you to be forced to sell your $3,000,000 home in L.A. to make ends meet.”

Sweeney will be seen in the upcoming Sony Pictures feature Madame Web, slated for a January 13, 2023 release.

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Batgirl star Leslie Grace has responded after Warner Bros. made the surprise move to cancel the nearly-completed film.

With a series of pictures and behind-the-scenes videos posted to Instagram, the former In The Heights star seemed to take a defiant tone regarding the decision.

“On the heels of the recent news about our movie ‘Batgirl,’ I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over 7 months in Scotland,” she expressed.

“I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process!” Grace said. “To every Batgirl fan – THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, “my own damn hero!”

Grace also added a page from a Batgirl comic, with the character narrating in part, “I have to find another path….Not a fate that begins and ends on page one.”

Meanwhile, Hollywood is still buzzing about Warner Bros. studio’s decision to never let the movie see the light of day. While the official reason given has to do with studio leadership and strategy changes, the New York Post reports the film also was testing “in the 30s” out of 100 with audiences, and HBO Max head Casey Bloys “did not want it anywhere near his streaming service.”

One source tells the paper, “Of course if it were good they’d release it. They think Batgirl is a super important character, and they can’t stick her in a huge dog.”

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Warner Bros. on Wednesday announced that Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to director Todd Phillips’ follow-up to the 2019 blockbuster Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Batman’s titular foe, will hit movie theaters October 4, 2024, according to Variety. In contrast to the first film’s dark tone, the follow-up will be a musical, with Lady Gaga reportedly on board to play the Clown Prince of Crime’s co-conspirator, Harley Quinn. Joker earned more than $1 billion globally and earned Phoenix an Oscar…

NBC’s longest-running entertainment series, Days of Our Lives, will be moving to the network’s streaming arm, Peacock, starting September 12, the network announced on Tuesday. The daytime drama will be replaced by NBC News Daily, an hour-long show anchored by Kate Snow, Aaron Gilchrist, Vicky Nguyen and Morgan Radford. NBCUniversal Television and Streaming chairman Mark Lazarus in a statement on Wednesday said the move is reflective of NBC’s “broader strategy” to “strengthen engagement with viewers.” The shift, adds Lazarus “enables us to build the show’s loyal fanbase on streaming while simultaneously bolstering the network daytime offering with an urgent, live programming opportunity for partners and consumers.” Days‘ upcoming 58th, will make it the second longest-running soap in American TV history, behind ABC’s General Hospital…

Variety reports that HBO’s dark comedy series The White Lotus will return for its second season in October. The upcoming installment will take place in Sicily, and once again, a Four Seasons Hotel will stand in for Mike White’s fictional luxury chain of White Lotus hotels, specifically the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in the exclusive Sicilian resort town of Taormina. Season two will star F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Tom Hollander, Haley Lu Richardson, Aubrey Plaza and Michael Imperioli. Jennifer Coolidge will also return for season two…

The Flight Attendant‘s Zosia Mamet has been tapped for a role in Madame Web, alongside Dakota Johnson, who stars as the titular Marvel character, according to Deadline. Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced and Tahar Rahim also star in the film from S.J. Johnson, executive producer and lead director of Netflix’s acclaimed Marvel series, Jessica Jones…

Sunny Hostin has inked a multiyear, multi-million-dollar deal to continue as co-host on The View through 2028, according Variety. Hostin has been a co-host on the daytime panel show since 2016. Aside from co-hosting The View, Hostin will reportedly continue to appear in special projects for ABC, such as Soul of a Nation, and provide commentary on shows like 20/20, Good Morning America and Nightline…

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John Legend and Chrissy Teigen are expecting a baby!

The Cravings cookbook author, 36, announced the news in an Instagram post on Wednesday, revealing that she’s expecting another baby after undergoing in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

“The last few years have been a blur of emotions to say the least, but joy has filled our home and hearts again,” Teigen wrote alongside a photo of herself showing off her baby bump. “1 billion shots later (in the leg lately, as you can see!) we have another on the way.”

“It’s been very hard keeping this in for so long!” she added.

Teigen, who is already a mom to 6-year-old Luna and 4-year-old Miles, expressed her apprehension around sharing her pregnancy news and talked about the nerves she would feel after each appointment.

“Every appointment I’ve said to myself, ‘OK if it’s healthy today I’ll announce,’ but then I breathe a sigh of relief to hear a heartbeat and decide I’m just too nervous still,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever walk out of an appointment with more excitement than nerves but so far, everything is perfect and beautiful and amazing.”

It’s unclear if Teigen will be having a baby boy or girl, but many of her fans and friends flooded her comments section sharing their warm wishes and congratulatory messages, including fellow “Cravings” co-author Adeena Sussman.

“We’re waiting for that little bebé with open arms,” Sussman wrote.

The announcement comes nearly two years after Teigen shared the heartbreaking news that she suffered a miscarriage. A few days before sharing the news, she told her followers that she had been admitted to the hospital due to “excessive bleeding.”

Teigen and Legend were going to name that baby Jack.

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Yvette Nicole Brown has been a part of Star Wars, The Muppets, The Avengers, and so many great franchises in her career, but there’s one thing that would really make her life complete.

“I still haven’t done Sesame Street,” she tells ABC Audio. “In my mind, I always thought to myself, if I ever get asked to do Sesame Street, it would mean I had finally really made a mark in this industry…Like I became the person in this industry that I hope to be….So I’m just praying one day it comes.”

Brown’s latest project is the Disney+ special LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation, which features characters from the recent film franchise including Finn and Rey. The Community alum voices General Leia and Lt. Valeria, and she sets up the premise of the special for us:

“Well, it takes place right after Rise of Skywalker and Finn and all his friends who’ve been through a lot, [so] he says, ‘let’s take a vacation.'” she explains. “And so they leave to go on the vacation and get separated. And then Finn has this vision of three Force ghosts. There’s Leia and Anakin and Obi-Wan. And they tell him about vacations they’ve been on that didn’t go quite as planned.”

Brown has described herself as a “nerd,” and not just for sci-fi and fantasy.

“Being a nerd just means you just love something so much. And I’m a nerd about puzzles. I’m a nerd about knitting, I’m a nerd about naps,” she insists.

“You can be a nerd about a thousand things,” adds the 50-year-old actress. “I’m a nerd about my dog Harley, you know?” 

LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation hits Disney+ on Friday.

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