Entertainment

The whisky often flows on the long-running Starz series Outlander, and that love of a dram carries over into star Sam Heughan’s real life.

The Scottish actor, who plays Jamie Fraser on the series, founded his own spirits brand, Sassenach Spirits, and is now releasing a cocktail book about his passion called The Cocktail Diaries: A Spirited Adventure.

The book contains recipes from simple to complex, and features anecdotes from Heughan’s life and travels. There are even some cocktails that would get Jamie Fraser’s stamp of approval.

“Jamie Fraser obviously is a Scotsman through and through, and he even has his own whisky in the Outlander series, the Jamie Fraser Special,” he says. “And I would say the Rob Roy or the Bobby Burns [would be his favorite].”

With the eighth and final season of Outlander set to premiere next year, Heughan says he has plans for a celebration event and a special release from his spirits brand. “There might be even a special cocktail as well,” he says. “I’ll have to think of one.”

He’s also been thinking of ways to take his business to the next level, hinting that opening his own bar would be “a dream.” In the meantime, he teases Sassenach Spirits — which currently produces whisky and gin — is releasing a Scottish vodka next. 

As they say in Scotland, slàinte!

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Jimmy Kimmel is coming back to ABC.

The Walt Disney Company has announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” a statement from the company reads. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

ABC preempted Kimmel’s late-night talk show on Sept. 17, after comments Kimmel made regarding Charlie Kirk‘s death. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr called for Kimmel’s suspension over the comments before ABC’s decision was announced.

At the time, a network spokesperson said that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be “preempted indefinitely.”

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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In the original novel The Wizard of Oz, Glinda is the Good Witch, but in the upcoming film Wicked: For Good, Ariana Grande says we’ll see the moment when Glinda chooses that path thanks to new songs written just for the film.

As previously reported, Wicked: For Good will feature a new song for Ariana’s Glinda, called “Girl In the Bubble,” and a new song for Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba, called “No Place Like Home.” Ari tells Empire magazine that the new song marks a turning point in Glinda’s life. 

“We get to see [Glinda] decide, ‘I’m going to change the course of Oz. I’m going to become deeply, truly good and make a safe space for people,’” she explains. “She earns her title for real, and we get to see that self-discovery. I’m so grateful for that song, because she deserves it as a character.”

Ari tells the mag that leading up to that moment, “It’s traumatic event after traumatic event after traumatic event” for Glinda, “and they’re all shaping her and propelling her into her actual goodness, that has quietly been there all along, but she wasn’t ready for it yet.”

“Even in the first film you get to see those layers slowly peeling away, but in this film, it’s rapid and urgent,” she adds. “It goes even deeper than imaginable.”

Wicked: For Good hits theaters Nov. 21, the same day the film’s soundtrack drops. The final trailer will arrive on Wednesday.

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Tom Holland has suffered a mild concussion while on the set of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

ABC Audio has learned that Holland will take a few days off from filming the upcoming superhero movie to recover from the injury. No one else was injured during the incident. Sony, which is producing the film along with Marvel Studios, is trying to figure out a plan to continue filming without Holland. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day started production in August. At the time, Sony released a video of Holland on day one of the set wearing a brand-new Spider-Man suit.

“It’s day one, my fourth-ever day one on Spider-Man. It’s funny, putting the suit on, it feels different this time, somehow. It’s also the first time we ever had fans on set day one, so it’s really exciting to share this with them,” Holland says in the video. “We’ve got some familiar faces on set. I’m just going to do my best, hopefully get it right, no pressure.”

Returning cast members in this new film are Zendaya and Jacob Batalon. Joining the franchise this time around are Liza Colon-Zayas, Tramell Tillman and Sadie Sink. Other Marvel mainstays are set to appear in this film, including Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/the Hulk and Jon Bernthal as Frank Castle/the Punisher.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into movie theaters on July 31, 2026.

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Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek has announced he will miss the hit show’s one-night-only stage reunion Monday night and will be replaced by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Van Der Beek, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in 2023, wrote in a social media post Sunday that he would miss the charity event due to two stomach viruses.

The actor shared his disappointment over missing Monday’s reunion, a charity fundraising event to support F Cancer and Van Der Beek.

“This is the evening I’d been looking forward to MOST since my angel [and former Dawson’s Creek co-star] Michelle Williams said she was putting it together, way back in January,” he wrote. “So you can imagine how gutted I was when two stomach viruses conspired to knock me out of commission.”

Van Der Beek expressed regret that he would not “get to stand on that stage and thank every soul in the theater for showing up for me, and against cancer, when I needed it most.”

Van Der Beek followed up the disappointing news of his absence with the update that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel would instead take his spot in the role of Dawson.

“But I DO have an understudy,” he wrote. “A ridiculously overqualified replacement who would have been #1 on my wishlist (had I ever dreamed he’d be available). Someone my kids would definitely consider an upgrade over me.”

Van Der Beek signed off by asking the crowd to “enjoy all the love in that room” Monday night and to “shine some on my family.”

He added, “I will be beaming and receiving from afar in a bed in Austin. And thank you @lin_manuel. You were a hero to my kids before… now you’re a demigod.”

ABC News has reached out to a representative for Van Der Beek for comment.

Along with Miranda, Monday’s Dawson’s Creek charity show will feature former stars Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil, John Wesley Shipp, Mary-Margaret Humes, Nina Repeta, Kerr Smith, Meredith Monroe and Busy Philipps.

The show will include a live reading of the Dawson’s Creek pilot episode, which first aired in 1998.

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Jessica Chastain is reuniting with her The Help co-star Octavia Spencer in an upcoming holiday film. Variety reports that the pair will star in Deck the Y’alls, a comedy from the writer of Girls Trip. They join a cast that also includes Wanda Sykes. The film follows a New York baker who falls for a younger Southern gentleman and clashes with his overprotective matriarch when she visits his family for the holidays …

Gina Carano has found her first TV role since her time acting on The Mandalorian. Deadline reports that Carano will star in a Las Vegas-set TV series called Logan Reign. The actress will play a legal assistant by day who fights crime at night …

Dexter showrunner Clyde Phillips is sharing his thoughts on the cancellation of Dexter: Original Sin. In a recent interview on the Dissecting Dexter podcast, Phillips made his first pubic comments about how Showtime rescinded the spinoff series’ second season, which had been renewed prior to the Paramount-Skydance merger. “It was a tough phone call that I got,” Phillips said. “They had already picked up the show, and I had informed all the writers and all the actors. Then they un-picked it up. … It wasn’t handled well, and I’m not happy about it.” …

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle is still slaying it at the box office.

The anime film fended off competitors to remain at #1 in its second week, adding an additional $17.3 million, according to Box Office Mojo. It previously debuted in the top spot with $70 million.

The football-themed horror movie Him, produced by Jordan Peele, was the weekend’s highest-grossing new release, coming it at #2 with $13.5 million. 

Another horror film, The Conjuring: Last Rites, took #3 with $12.95 million. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and The Long Walk rounded out the top five, each with $6.3 million.

Here are the top 10 films at the box office:

1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – $17.3 million
2. Him – $13.5 million
3. The Conjuring: Last Rites – $12.95 million 
4. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – $6.3 million
5. The Long Walk – $6.3 million
6. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey - $3.5 million
7. The Senior – $2.773 million
8. Toy Story – $1.4 million
9. Sight & Sound Presents: NOAH Live - $1.386 million
10. Weapons – $1.26 million

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The Sundance award-winning film Plainclothes hits select theaters on Friday.

It is the first feature from director Carmen Emmi and stars Tom Blyth as Lucas, an undercover cop assigned to entrap and arrest gay men. Lucas finds himself caught in a double life when he falls for a target, Andrew, played by Russell Tovey.

Blyth told ABC Audio that Tovey is “an icon,” and that he’s always admired the actor — enough to even suggest him for the role when Emmi asked Blyth who should play the part.

“He was like, ‘If you have any ideas for who could play Andrew, send them my way.’ And pretty much the only person I came up with was Russell,” Blyth said. “And when I did, Carmen said, ‘It’s funny because I really had him in mind when I was writing the role.'”

Tovey said the themes of the film are universal.

“It’s proudly queer in its storytelling, it’s also universal in their connection. We all want love, we all have forbidden fruit, we’ve all experienced that in our times, and it’s families and it’s your work and who you are at work, who you are with your friends, who you are with your lover,” Tovey said. “We can all connect to this film on a total universal level.”

Not only is the film relatable, its themes are “vital and necessary,” Tovey says.

“The state of the world, the way that civil liberties are being reversed and rights are being stripped back and people are being demonized, we have to just keep showing queer representation and the existence and authentic lives of people. Otherwise you can deny that they’re ever there and that’s what’s happening — people are being denied their existence.”

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Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford are back in the White House together in the official trailer for The Diplomat season 3. The West Wing costars play husband and wife in this new season, with Janney’s Grace Penn now president of the United States. Keri Russell stars alongside Rufus Sewell in season 3, which debuts Oct. 16 on Netflix …

The official trailer for Tim Robinson‘s new comedy, The Chair Company, has arrived. Robinson stars as Ron, who witnesses a big problem in the trailer for the upcoming HBO Max show. The series, which comes from Robinson and his I Think You Should Leave co-creator Zach Kanin, premieres on Oct. 12 …

It is almost time to say goodbye to Outlander. The eighth and final season teaser trailer for the fantasy romance series has arrived. Fans will be able to witness the conclusion to the long-running series in early 2026, STARZ has announced. Season 8 finds Jamie and Claire confronted with what they’re willing to sacrifice for the place they call home …

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Art imitated life in more ways than one in the new film The Lost Bus. The movie is inspired by the true events of the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated Paradise, California, but it also has a real-life connection for star Matthew McConaughey.

The actor’s teenage son, Levi McConaughey, and his mom, Kay McConaughey, play his son and mom in the film – casting McConaughey attributes to director Paul Greengrass.

“I never thought it was something I’d do,” he tells ABC Audio. “I’ve been in scenes with my mother before, but that’s because Richard Linklater just cast her [in 2011’s Bernie] and put her to sing with me and I didn’t know about it.”

“But then my son taking an interest in it and then auditioning for it and getting it and then mom coming out to have the three of us in a scene, that did feel quite special,” McConaughey says.

McConaughey plays Kevin McKay in the film, a school bus driver, who, together with schoolteacher Mary Ludwig, played by America Ferrera, must save 22 children from the fast-moving wildfire. Both he and Ferrera got to meet and speak with their real-life counterparts.

“It was so beautiful to hear her talk about how the children really surprised her and rose to the occasion and comforted each other,” Ferrera says of meeting Ludwig. “And it’s gonna make me teary even thinking about it, but the heroism of these children on this bus, and how they rose to occasion and were wonderful for each other.” 

The Lost Bus hits theaters Friday and premieres on Apple TV+ Oct. 3.

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