Entertainment

Apple TV+ has added one of the stars of its acclaimed series Pachinko to the streaming service’s upcoming live-action show Godzilla and the Titans.

Anna Sawai will join newcomer Ren Watabe, The Young Wife‘s Kiersey Clemons, Mare of Easttown‘s Joe Tippett and Versailles‘ Elisa Lasowski for the show, which is set in the so-called Monsterverse of the titular, nuclear-powered lizard and his kaiju friends and foes.

Sawai will play a former schoolteacher and “G-Day survivor” who returns to her familial home of Japan and “uncovers a family secret.”

As reported in January, the show was created by Star Trek: Enterprise‘s Chris Black and Matt Fraction, whose Marvel Comics’ Hawkeye run inspired the Disney+ series of the same name.

Emmy-nominated WandaVision director Matthew Shakman will direct the first two episodes of Godzilla and the Titans and also act as executive producer on the show.

The recent Monsterverse movies began with the stand-alone 2014 film Godzilla. That hit was followed up by 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, which hinted at an expanded universe of other Titans.

2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters was next, followed by 2021’s blockbuster Godzilla vs. Kong. The films, released by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, earned more than $2 billion worldwide — and will be followed on the big screen by another, just-announced Godzilla vs. Kong movie, set for release in theaters in 2024.

Legendary Television is producing the Apple TV+ Original series.

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Tim Allen calls the new Disney/Pixar movie Lightyear a “wonderful story,” but he admitted to Extra some disappointment in the project.

In the animated movie, Chris Evans portrays the “real life” hero of the Toy Story toy famously voiced by Allen on the big screen.

The swap was discerning to some fans of the original franchise, including Allen’s pal Patricia Heaton, who made headlines when she cried foul on Twitter.

To Extra, Allen admitted, “The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this ’cause [Lightyear] has nothing to do [with my character].”

The actor added that he’d discussed the idea of Buzz’s origins while working on the Toy Story movies, but when he heard about Lightyear years later, he thought they were making a live-action film out of the idea.

“There is now Toy Story Buzz without Woody,” Allen said, allowing of Lightyear, “It’s a wonderful story.”

Allen explained, “It just doesn’t seem to have any connection to the toy, and it’s a little… I don’t know. It just has no relationship to Buzz. It’s just no connection. I wish there was a better connection to this.”

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NBC has dropped its schedule for the upcoming 2022-2023 season, and it kicks off on Thursday, September 8 with Sunday Night Football featuring the Buffalo Bills vs. Los Angeles Rams. The next night will see the new season debut of the Capital One College Bowl, hosted by Peyton Manning.

On September 19, The Voice returns, as does the premiere of the reimagined Quantum Leap starring Raymond Lee playing Dr. Ben Song, following in the footsteps of Scott Bakula‘s time-skipping Dr. Sam Beckett.

The medical drama New Amsterdam returns at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 20 after another installment of The Voice.

Wednesday, Sept. 21 sees the return of the Dick Wolf-produced “Chicago” dramas, including Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET followed by Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.

The next night belongs to Wolf’s Law & Order, with the returns of the flagship show at 8 p.m. ET followed by Law & Order: SVU at 9 and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10.

The supernatural drama La Brea returns on September 27 at 9 p.m ET.

November 4 will see the debut of Lopez vs. Lopez, the sitcom starring George Lopez, followed by the third season premiere of Young Rock, produced by and about the early life of Dwayne Johnson.

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A documentary about the long life of 91-year-old Star Trek star William Shatner is underway, and attendees at San Diego Comic-Con will get a preview.

The as-yet-untitled feature, being crafted by the production companies Exhibit A and Legion M, the latter of which bills itself as the world’s first fan-funded movie studio, will be a deep dive into the life of the actor, recording artist and author.

Shatner joined Legion M’s advisory board in 2021.

The company teases, “From make-believe starship captain to a real-life rocketman, William Shatner has led one of the most unique and best-lived lives on the planet. And while the actor William Shatner may be recognizable around the globe, the man behind the masks is even more interesting than the iconic roles he’s played.”

For his part, Shatner explained people had wanted to make a documentary about him for years, but the nature of Agent M’s crowdfunding thrust made it a good fit: “Fans have been responsible for my career. It only seems right that they should own this doc,” he explained.

The iconic actor will take part in a Q&A with moderator Kevin Smith at Comic-Con next month, where footage of the forthcoming release will be teased.

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Vogue has revealed that Loki star Tom Hiddleston and his fiancée, Zawe Ashton, are expecting.

The fashion mag was featuring Ashton getting ready for the New York City premiere of her film Mr. Malcolm’s List, noting “the British actor’s growing baby bump…draped in a beige bead-embellished tulle gown by Sabina Bilenko Couture.”

Hiddleston and Ashton first met when they starred in the play Betrayal back in 2019, which opened on London’s West End before heading to Broadway. They made their relationship “red carpet official” at the 2021 Tony Awards.

Tom popped the question in March of this year, according to a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times; he said then of the relationship only that he was “very happy.”

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JoJo Siwa and Jesse Tyler Ferguson are joining High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

The pair will appear in guest roles, joining previously announced guest star Corbin Bleu from the High School Musical film franchise, when the show premieres July 27.

Season 3 has the Wildcats at Camp Shallow Lake, a sleep-away camp in California, as they work on staging a production of Frozen. Music from Camp Rock and the High School Musical movies will also be featured.

Siwa, who recently was runner-up on Dancing with the Stars season 30 and is a judge on season 17 of So You Think You Can Dance, will play Madison, an alum of Camp Shallow Lake. Ferguson, who starred on Modern Family and just won a Tony for Take Me Out on Broadway, will play Marvin, who is described as an old family friend of Olivia Rodrigo‘s character, Nini.

Disney+ also dropped the official trailer for season 3, giving fans an extensive look at all the fun to expect as the Wildcats set out to put on yet another show-stopping production.

The cast of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series also includes Joshua Bassett, Sofia Wylie and Julia Lester.

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George Clooney and his pal — and Ocean’s Eleven co-star — Julia Roberts reunite in the trailer to the new romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise. The pair play a former couple who married impulsively, and then divorced bitterly, who travel to Bali to prevent their daughter from making the same mistake. The film debuts in October…

Emmy and Oscar winner Kate Winslet is following her Mare of Easttown role with another HBO limited series. Deadline reports the actress will produce and star in Trust, an adaptation of a bestselling book from Hernan Diaz. Set in New York City in the Roaring ’20s, the book centers on a rich financier who has his secretary ghostwrite a memoir that bends the truth about his wife and his life …

HBO Max has released the raunchy trailer for the third season of its animated series Harley Quinn. Kaley Cuoco reprises her voice role as the titular anti-hero, who in the teaser reunites with GFF Poison Ivy, voiced by Lake Bell. Also along for the ride is Ron Funches as King Shark, J.B. Smoove voicing Frank the Plant, Alan Tudyk as both Clayface and The Joker, Christopher Meloni as Commissioner Gordon, and Diedrich Bader as Batman/Bruce Wayne. The “mayhem and madness” kicks off with three episodes on July 28… (Trailer contains uncensored profanity.)

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In the new film Rise, streaming exclusively on Disney+, brothers and newcomers Uche and Ral Agada play Giannis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo in the true story about the inspirational family that changed the world of professional basketball.

Uche knew the basics – that the Antetokounmpos immigrated from Nigeria to Greece and that Giannis eventually found success in the NBA draft – but there was still a lot he had to learn about the family.

“I knew that they had humble beginnings. I didn’t understand the extent of how hard it was, how difficult it was to survive,” Uche told ABC Audio.

Ral echoed his brother’s sentiment. “We went where they grew up and I saw that they lived in a one-bedroom apartment with four 6-foot-plus boys,” he said. “It just made me extremely grateful for what I have.”

There was much for them to be grateful for, especially the opportunity for the brothers to act alongside each other, telling a story about brotherhood and family.

“These guys, they all root for each other, they are happy for each other and all push each other. And I think it’s the same for Ral and I,” Uche said.

He added, “We both want to see each other improve and get better. I definitely think that’s something that we all have in common.”

Rise had its Greek premiere this week, which was held at the Sepolia Basketball Court in Athens. The Antetokounmpo family and the Agada brothers were all in attendance.

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Kevin Bacon has officially joined in on the TikTok Footloose challenge.

The actor, who played Ren McCormack in the 1984 classic, shared a video of himself trying the viral dance challenge with his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, on Tuesday.

“I don’t remember this being part of the original #Footloose choreography but figured we’d give it a spin,” he captioned the clip.

The challenge is set to the film’s theme song of the same name by Kenny Loggins.

It’s unclear when the dance sequence became a popular trend on the platform but fans loved Bacon’s attempt at it.

“Just like that, I’m back in high school in 1984,” one user commented. Bacon himself liked the comment.

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After former Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes filed a racial discrimination suit against the Bravo network and the producers of the show in the spring, she is reportedly negotiating a settlement.

This week, an Atlanta judge granted an extension until August 19 to settle the dispute, according to Page Six.

Leakes, who appeared in 11 seasons of RHOA, filed the lawsuit in April, claiming that she suffered years of racist remarks from former co-star Kim Zolciak-Biermann. The 54-year-old entertainer says that Bravo, NBCUniversal and show executive producer Andy Cohen “fostered a corporate and workplace culture in which racially-insensitive and inappropriate behavior is tolerated — if not, encouraged.”

Leakes also claims that as a result of her lawsuit, she was blacklisted and prevented from working.

As previously reported, NeNe is also facing another legal battle: she is being sued by the estranged wife of her boyfriend, Nyonisela Sioh. Malomine Tehmeh-Sioh alleges that Leakes was having an affair with Nyonisela while he was still married to her and broke up their relationship. Malomine claims she suffered “emotional distress, humiliation and loss of affection.”

Earlier this month, NeNe responded to the lawsuit on Instagram.

“I’m already out here a husband stealer and this is too much. And ain’t nobody out here stealing husbands. Are they? I would never,” she said, before adding, “Nobody wants to steal nobody else’s problems.”

Leakes previously said that Sioh brought joy to her life after the loss of her late husband, Gregg Leakes, who died in September after a battle with colon cancer.

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