Netflix’s smash Stranger Things was on the minds — and in the living rooms — of American audiences, according to the latest ranking of streaming service aggregator app Reelgood.
Based on data from the app’s five million users in the U.S., the series topped the competition for the period of June 30 through July 6, besting #2-ranked series The Terminal List, starring Chris Pratt, on Amazon Prime.
Coming in third was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which hit Disney+ on June 22; Jeff Bridges‘ FX series The Old Man came up in fourth place, thanks to its streaming on Hulu.
In fifth place was another Hulu hit, The Only Murders in the Building.
“Robocop” – Orion Pictures Corporation/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images
The seminal sci-fi action movie Robocop turns 35 on July 17, and to help celebrate, video game developer Nacon has released a trailer for its upcoming release Robocop: Rogue City.
The film’s original star, Peter Weller, returns to voice his titular character, who was a cop named Alex Murphy until he was “killed” in the line of duty and reborn as the cyborg cop.
The trailer shows the city of Detroit as the crime-infested hellscape it was in the beloved 1987 film and lets players step into the alloy boots of the cybernetic hero to clean up the town.
The footage teases classic Robocop touches like his heads-up-display targeting system and, of course, a tangle with the monstrous ED-209 urban pacification robot.
The trailer ends with Robo approaching the screen and uttering Weller’s classic line, “Dead or alive, you’re coming with me.”
The game will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and for download on Steam.
The fourth Thor film from Marvel Studios, Thor: Love and Thunder, lands in theaters today.
The movie sees Chris Hemsworth‘s “space viking” going from “Dad bod to God bod,” shedding the pounds he was carrying in Avengers: Endgame and going on a journey of self-discovery.
Interrupting that is Christian Bale‘s Gorr the God Butcher, a formerly devout man whose god failed him, so he sets about slaying them all — including Thor.
Hemsworth recently admitted he was tiring of the character he’s portrayed onscreen since 2010 — until an infusion of fun came with writer-director Taika Waititi‘s 2017 Thor: Ragnarok. The movie made more than $854 million worldwide and reinvigorated the actor’s passion for the role.
“There was this sort of North Star, is about having fun…not getting bogged down in the serious sort of nature that we can when making films,” the actor said at a recent press event.
Hemsworth says of the director, “He loves it. He loves these stories. He loves these characters. He’s sitting there as a fan, would…telling you…what a fan would want to see…and everyone’s on board for it…”
Taika noted, “I’ve become friends with Chris. And I think just his personality and his energy and who he is the kind of person that I’d want to be on an adventure with,” adding, “I just want to tap into those qualities that he’s got and sort of make Thor more Chris, really.”
Thor: Love and Thunder implies we haven’t seen the last of the hero, about which Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige teases, “If we look at the comics as our guide, there are plenty of other incarnations of Thor that we’ve that we have yet to see.”
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.
Minari actor Steven Yeun has been tapped to star alongside Robert Pattinson in Oscar-winning Parasite filmmaker Bong Joon Ho’s next movie, according to Deadline. The yet-to-be-titled film will be a science fiction story based on Edward Ashton’s novel Mickey7, which followed an “expendable” — a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim — who refuses to let his replacement clone, dubbed Mickey8, take his place. Naomi Ackie, Mark Ruffalo and Toni Collette also star…
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reports Kazuki Takahashi, best known as the creator of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, was found dead Wednesday in Japan, according to Newsweek. He was 60. Takahashi’s body was found floating off the coast of Nago City in southern Japan’s Okinawa, wearing snorkeling equipment. The Coast Guard is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the death. A statement on the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game’s Twitter on Thursday said it was “shocked and saddened” by the news, adding that “Together with his countless fans,” the company will carry on the Yu-Gi-Oh! legacy “with all the love and care it deserves.” Newsweek reports the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise is estimated to have made some $17.1 billion…
The final season of NBC’s This Is Us leads all nominees in broadcast and cable for the 2nd annual Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards, revealed on Thursday. The show’s 12 nominations include broadcast network drama series, actress, actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, writing and directing. HBO’s Succession came in second place with 11 nominations, including cable drama series and six acting nominations, three directing nominations and one writing nomination. FX’s What We Do in the Shadows received eight nods, while ABC’s Abbott Elementary scored seven. FX’s Atlanta, Showtime’s Yellowjackets, HBO’s Euphoria and TBS’ Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail all landed six, and CBS’ Ghosts picked up five. The HCA’s broadcast network and cable awards will be held at The Beverly Hilton on Saturday, August 13, 2022, and stream the following night…
Black Bird, starring Taron Egerton and the late Ray Liotta, premieres Friday on Apple TV+. It tells the true story of a convicted drug dealer, played by Egerton, who can go free if he gets a confession from a serial killer and finds out where his victims are buried. He tells ABC Audio why the role was hard to pass up.
“It wasn’t something that I had done before and felt like, I guess, you know, the roles that I’m known for are all British roles,” he explains. “And to, I mean there’s a lot more to it than that, but there was certainly an appeal in playing not just the kind of archetypal kind of American hero role, but like a real three dimensional, complex, nuanced character from a very specific part of the country.”
I Tonya‘s Paul Walter Hauser plays the serial killer whose confession Egerton is trying to obtain in the series, and Hauser shares the secret to playing an effectively creepy character.
“You have to be willing to do an improvisational take or try something different without judging yourself because it might be brilliant and the editor might use it, and your self-doubt or your insecurity would stop you from giving your best work,” he shares. “You have to find the brilliance sometimes. You don’t just show up killing it. You got to find it most days.”
Asked whether the role gave him nightmares, Hauser says, “I have nightmares all the time, regardless of the content I’m making. So this is just like an extended nightmare where you get to live it throughout the day.”
Black Bird, starring Taron Egerton and the late Ray Liotta, premieres Friday on Apple TV+. It tells the true story of a convicted drug dealer, played by Egerton, who can go free if he gets a confession from a serial killer and finds out where his victims are buried. Egerton tells ABC Audio why the role was hard to pass up.
“It wasn’t something that I had done before and felt like, I guess, you know, the roles that I’m known for are all British roles,” he explains, adding “there was certainly an appeal in playing not just the kind of archetypal kind of American hero role, but like a real three dimensional, complex, nuanced character from a very specific part of the country.”
I Tonya‘s Paul Walter Hauser plays the serial killer whose confession Egerton is trying to obtain in the series. Hauser shares the secret to playing an effectively creepy character.
“You have to be willing to do an improvisational take or try something different without judging yourself because it might be brilliant and the editor might use it, and your self-doubt or your insecurity would stop you from giving your best work,” he shares. “You have to find the brilliance sometimes. You don’t just show up killing it. You got to find it most days.”
Asked whether the role gave him nightmares, Hauser says, “I have nightmares all the time, regardless of the content I’m making. So this is just like an extended nightmare where you get to live it throughout the day.”
Fans of Denzel Washington were wondering why the two-time Oscar winner was a no-show at the White House Thursday, and as it turns out, it’s because he tested positive for COVID.
“He feels fine,” a rep for the 67-year-old actor tells People.
The actor was to be feted with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. This year’s fellow honorees also included gold medalist Simone Biles, who at 25 became the youngest recipient of the Medal of Freedom.
Somewhat ironically, considering Denzel’s absence: One of the other recipients was Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse in New York, who became the first person in the United States to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the White House, all 17 awardees “demonstrate the power of possibilities and embody the soul of the nation – hard work, perseverance, and faith.”
“They have overcome significant obstacles to achieve impressive accomplishments in the arts and sciences, dedicated their lives to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, and acted with bravery to drive change in their communities – and across the world – while blazing trails for generations to come.”
One of the stars of A League of Their Own will be featured in Amazon’s forthcoming series adaptation of the 1992 hit.
Entertainment Weekly posted the first shot of O’Donnell as Vi, a bar owner who has a recurring role in the series. She’s apparently a “warm, gregarious” fan of the Rockford Peaches, the all-female team that takes up the national pastime when players go off to fight in World War II.
Rosie is shown wearing a grey, three-piece, pin-striped business suit in the photo.
Rosie played outspoken third basemen Doris Murphy in the Penny Marshall original, which also starred Oscar winners Geena Davis and Tom Hanks, along with Lori Petty and Madonna.
The new adaptation stars Broad City creator and star Abbi Jacobson, D’Arcy Carden, Kate Berlant and Chanté Adams. Itpromises to take, “a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the league and outside of it.”
Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson had a little throwback fun during a Thor: Love and Thunder press day Wednesday by channeling, respectively, Clueless characters Cher Horowitz and Dionne Davenport.
Portman perfectly matched Alicia Silverstone‘s character with a yellow plaid Dior miniskirt and matching blazer, over a black crop top and black Doc Martens boots; Thompson wore a black pleated dress and matching black stockings, her long hair braided like Dionne’s in the 1995 film.
“Having a clueless…moment…” Portman captioned an Instagram post, earning a comment and a repost from Cher herself, Silverstone. “Stunning. You both look amazing,” she gushed.
In the Thor sequel, Portman reprises as Dr. Jane Foster, who in this film gets to become Mighty Thor. Not all of her transformation was via special effects, her co-stars joked. “Some weightlifting?!” Chris Hemsworth joked at a recent press event. “Natalie led the charge in the gym, and [we] tried to keep up with her.”
Portman called the compliment “very sweet,” noting, “I was especially grateful to everyone’s imagination to cast a 5-foot-3 actor in a 6-foot role. I think that takes a real leap of possibility in your mind, and probably not something I will, you know, get the opportunity to do to be imagined as by any other group.”
Thompson’s Valkyrie goes through some changes herself, from a warrior to the King of Asgard — and all the meetings that entails. “She … was a professional soldier for thousands of years and now finds herself kind of stuck in bureaucracy. So she’s really missing being on the battlefield and missing her sisters. And so it’s been great fun to get to have that again with Natalie in particular as Mighty Thor.”
Thor: Love and Thunder opens Friday from Marvel Studios, a division of ABC News.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) While his career is going strong now, with the Stranger Things phenomenon, actor David Harbour wasn’t so sure after his 2019 reboot of Hellboy flopped.
Back then, he tells GQ, he reached out to another star whose career had suffered its own superheroic bomb: Ryan Reynolds.
Harbour explained, “I called him and I was like, ‘Hey man, I just need to know something. You know Green Lantern? Huge flop for you. What the f*** is that like, because I think I’m going to hit that right now.”
“Am I gonna be okay? Am I gonna survive this?” he recalls asking.
For his part, he said Reynolds was “sweet” about the situation.
Both actors have since rebounded: Harbour with his turn in the MCU with Black Widow and of course, Reynolds has been on a hot streak since 2016’s Deadpool, which the Free Guy and Adam Project star described as a make-or-break moment for his career.
In fact, he’s used Deadpool to make fun of himself for choosing Green Lantern, repeatedly — even going so far as to have the red-suited hero go back in time to shoot “Ryan Reynolds” before he could make the movie, as seen in Deadpool 2.
For Harbour, however, the fate of the project reinventing comic artist Mike Mignola‘s demonic creation is still bitter. “It was a very difficult experience because I wanted a lot out of it. I really like Mike Mignola. I like that character,” he says.
The character was previously portrayed by fan favorite Ron Perlman, in projects brought to the screen by Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro.
“[E]ven when [the reboot] was announced, I realized that people did not want that character reinvented,” Harbour expressed, calling himself “naive and optimistic” at the time.
