Entertainment

Netflix announced on Tuesday that it has renewed The Lincoln Lawyer, the drama from David E. Kelley, for a second season. The 10-episode second season will be based on the fourth book in Michael Connelly‘s The Lincoln Lawyer series. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Neve Campbell, Becki Newton, Jazz Raycole and Angus Sampson will reprise their roles in the series that follows follows Garcia-Rulfo’s Mick Haller, a defense attorney who conducts his business out of the back seat of his chauffeur-driven Lincoln Town Car…

Stranger Things season four is now Netflix’s top English-language TV season of all time and the second-most popular series overall, behind the 2021 South Korean drama Squid Game, the streaming service announced on Tuesday. Netflix’s list of most popular titles is calculated based on viewership during a title’s first 28 days of availability. Stranger Things season four has been viewed for 781 million hours since its May 27 debut, breaking the record previously held by the second season of Bridgerton…

Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton has been cast alongside Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo in the upcoming thriller Role Play, according to Deadline. The movie follows a married couple, played by Cuoco and Oyelowo, whose life turns upside down when secrets surface about each other’s pasts. Thornton’s role has not been revealed, but sources tell Deadline he’ll play “a key figure” in the film — a mysterious stranger who encounters the couple.” Filming will kick off in Berlin next month…

Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron and Joey King have been tapped to star in an untitled Netflix romantic comedy directed by Bridges of Madison County writer Richard LaGravenese, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Details on the storyline are vague, but the streamer says it revolves around a “surprising romance” that kicks off “comic consequences for a young woman, her mother and her movie star boss as they face the complications of love, sex and identity.” Shooting is set to begin this summer…

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James Patterson is apologizing for his statement that white male writers face a “form a racism.”

Taking to Twitter Tuesday, the 75-year-old author wrote, “I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism. I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers.”

“Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard—in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere,” he added.

The apology comes after Patterson expressed his struggle to find work in the film, theater, TV, and publishing industries, calling it “just another form of racism,” in an interview published in The Sunday Times on June 12.

“What’s that all about?” he continued. “Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”

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Bradley Cooper is considered one of the hottest leading men in Hollywood, but for years he didn’t feel that way.

That was just one of the revelations from a sit-down with his pals Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes in an installment of their SmartLess podcast.

“Moving to Los Angeles for Alias [felt] like I was back in high school,” the Oscar winner recalled. “I could not get into any clubs, no girls wanted to look at me.”

He admitted, “I definitely made major breakthroughs at 29 to 33, 34, where at least I was able to stand in front of somebody and breathe and listen and talk.”

In addition to his “zero self-esteem,” Cooper said his 20s saw him grappling with depression and addiction. “I was so lost and I was addicted to cocaine — that was the other thing.”

Cooper explained he was happy he found fame at 36, when The Hangover put him back on top — and after he’d done the work on himself.

One of Cooper’s helpers to sobriety was none other than Arnett, who is in recovery from alcohol abuse.

The Arrested Development vet got Cooper on the “path of deciding to change my life,” the A Star Is Born star and director said.

Arnett said in turn, “It has been awesome seeing you in this place and seeing you comfortable. Nothing has made me happier. It’s made me happy to see you so happy with who you are.”

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Michelle Yeoh‘s madcap multiverse movie Everything Everywhere All at Once took viewers on a trip in its first week on streaming.

That’s according to Fandango’s streaming service Vudu, which showed the movie — which has the global superstar and Crazy Rich Asians lead playing multiple versions of herself and which also stars Jamie Lee Curtis — debuted in the top slot for June 6-12.

Coming out in second place is Nicolas Cage‘s comedic action movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Incidentally, both movies have both leads playing alternate versions of themselves, and another thing they have in common are “Certified Fresh” scores on the ratings aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Everything Everywhere‘s score stands at a stellar 95%, one of the highest of the year.

In third place on Vudu’s chart for the week was Downtown Abbey: A New Era, with the animated film The Bad Guys and The Lost City with Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, and Brad Pitt rounding out the Top 5.

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“How far would you go?” That’s what Netflix is asking folks in a casting call for a reality show version of the streaming service’s smash Squid Game.

Squid Game: The Challenge will pit 456 players against “a series of games inspired by the original show,” as well as “surprising new additions,” in pursuit of “a life-changing reward of $4.56 million.”

“Their strategies, alliances, and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them,” Netflix teases, adding, “The stakes are high, but in this game the worst fate is going home empty-handed.”

While the announcement doesn’t specify, it’s likely the losers won’t face brutal deaths, as did the players on the hit Korean import.

If you want to don the tracksuit yourself, there’s no need to get recruited by a creepy guy in a business suit — just head over to SquidGameCasting.com.

Meanwhile, a second season of Squid Game — the drama series, that is — is in development from creator Hwang Dong-hyuk.

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Make sure your house is in order because Downton Abbey is coming to your home via a special Peacock channel.

Ahead of its June 24 debut of the Downton Abbey: A New Era film, the streaming service announced that it has curated a channel specifically for fans old and new to catch up with the English import.

Peacock will not only be home to all six seasons of the series, which stars Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, and Michelle Dockery, but the new channel also promises a one-hour special dedicated to the fancy phenomenon.

Downton Abbey: A New Era debuted in theaters on May 20 and held its own versus rampaging dinosaurs and Tom Cruise‘s return to the Top Gun cockpit. It follows the Crawleys and their staff staging the estate for a silent film, while the rest of the gang vacations at a villa in the south of France.

The film hits HD digital on the same day of the Peacock premiere and will be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™and DVD on July 5, 2022.

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The long-running syndicated program The Wendy Williams Show is coming to an end Friday, notes Variety, which also explains the show’s titular host won’t be there to mark the occasion. 

There will, however, be “a video tribute to the iconic host,” a rep for the program tells the trade.

Health issues have kept Williams out of her throne-like hosting chair for the entirety of this season, with a rotating slate of guest hosts, including Fat Joe and Sherri Shepherd, taking up the slack. 

Shepherd, who will be in the chair for the show’s final installment, is getting her own eponymous chat show in the fall, replacing The Wendy Williams Show‘s current time slot. 

As reported, Williams has been locked in a battle with Wells Fargo after they reportedly denied her access to her bank account in February, claiming she needs supervision.

Last month, Williams appeared in a rambling Instagram Live interview with Fat Joe, during which she insisted she was “absolutely” ready to return to her program.

Fat Joe equated the situation to that of Britney Spears, whose past conservatorship previously denied her access to her assets. “Why did you just get up and leave?” Joe asked Williams about her show.

“Because somebody stopped giving me my money,” she said. 

“…I need my money. I’ll talk about it when I get my show back. I have people that will get it done. I don’t feel like I will go away. I will get bigger and bigger and bigger, and bigger, and I’ll talk about it…”

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Charlie Sheen may have had a well-earned reputation for being a wild man, but he’s still a dad, and he’s apparently none too pleased his daughter Sam “Sami” Sheen now has an OnlyFans account.

According to Page Six, Sami’s recent launch on the controversial site, which occurred shortly after she turned 18, didn’t sit well with Charlie, who blamed his ex-wife Denise Richards for letting it happen.

“She is 18 years old now and living with her mother. This did not occur under my roof,” the former Two and a Half Men star told the publication,” adding, “I do not condone this, but since I’m unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, creative and not sacrifice her integrity.”

For her part, Richards, with whom Sami now lives after a rough patch in their relationship, replied to Page Six, “Sami is 18, and this decision wasn’t based on whose house she lives in. All I can do as a parent is guide her and trust her judgment, but she makes her own choices.”

Indeed, one of the first Instagram comments Sami had in announcing her racy venture was her mom’s. “I will always support you & always have your back. I love you,” Richards posted.

Sami Sheen promised her Instagram viewers that for a subscription price of $19.99 a month, they’d “see more” of her on OnlyFans, on which she’d upload content “2-3 times a week.”

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Better get the Purell for those 76 trombones as The Music Man on Broadway’s lead, Hugh Jackman, has had to bow out once again after a second bout of COVID.

A day after performing at the Tony Awards, Jackman told his fans he’s “frustratingly” tested positive for the virus for a second time, once again forcing him to lean on his understudy Max Clayton so that the “show can go on.”

“Max and I have been working together on this show for over two years,” Jackman told his Instagram followers, “…and I can tell you…He is absolutely extraordinary. So I’m just frustrated that I won’t get to see him and cheer him on.”

The Tony winner added, “But I’ll be cheering you on in my heart, Max, and to everyone, my whole cast of The Music Man, I hate not being there, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Jackman also noted that while Broadway continues to deal with COVID, it’s brought to light how valuable understudies like Clayton are. “I’ve said it before, and will say it a million times more,” Jackman wrote. ” … Maxi and all the standbys, swings and understudies around the world, you are the true heroes of theater. You give life to the saying ‘the show must go on.'”

On The Music Man‘s official Twitter page, it noted Jackman will miss performances starting Tuesday, June 14 and will return to the Winter Garden Theatre on Wednesday, June 22.

To the understudy, the message added, “Max, you better grab your Harold Hill suitcase and get on the next train to River City!”

In December of 2021, Jackman, and then subsequently his co-star Sutton Foster, missed performances because of the virus.

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WWE star and on-screen superhero John Cena made a real-life heroic effort to surprise a super fan who escaped the war in Ukraine.

Misha Rohozhyn and his family recently fled Mariupol after their home was destroyed amid the ongoing war. Liana Rohozhyn took her son, who has Down syndrome and is nonverbal, using the excuse that they were fleeing their home to see his hero.

It wasn’t true, of course — until Cena made it happen.

“When I read about Misha’s story, it reached out to me. Not just Misha’s story but Misha’s mom as well,” Cena said in an interview with WWE.

Cena, already in Europe for work, made a quick trip to Amsterdam, where Misha and his family have relocated to just outside the city. The superstar spent the afternoon with the boy building blocks, eating cake and getting him decked out in Cena’s “You Can’t See Me” gear. He even gave Misha his own replica WWE championship belt.

Seeing his hero in person brought a joyous and tearful response from Misha.

“Misha’s ability to embrace persistence. That’s extraordinary. Those words ‘never give up,’ we’ve all thought about those in our life, they’re very powerful and I think Misha is a great example,” Cena said. “Misha’s mom, they’re two great examples of how persistence can lead to joy even during the toughest of times.”

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