Entertainment

Netflix on Sunday released a quick teaser for season two of Squid Game, along with a message from creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk announcing the return of the hit drama series. “Red light… GREENLIGHT! Squid Game is officially coming back for Season 2!” reads the message on the streamer’s official Twitter page, alongside an animation of the gigantic animatronic doll that features heavily in the Squid Game pilot. “It took 12 years to bring the first season of Squid Game to life last year. But it took 12 days for Squid Game to become the most popular Netflix series ever,” Hwang wrote in a separate tweet. “As the writer, director and producer of ‘Squid Game,’ a huge shout out to fans around the world. Thank you for watching and loving our show.” He also revealed that protagonist actor Seong Gi-hun and the masked antagonist the Front Man — played respectively by Lee Jung-jaeLee and Byung-hun — will both return…

HBO has canceled its dark romantic comedy Made for Love after two seasons. “We are tremendously grateful for the truly spectacular journey of these past two seasons, courtesy of Alissa Nutting, Christina Lee, Cristin [Milioti], Billy [Magnussen], Ray [Romano] and the entire Made for Love cast and creative team – especially Zelda the talking dolphin and everyone’s favorite synthetic love interest, Diane,” reps for HBO Max said in a statement obtained by Variety. “Like a Gogol chip, the series will always be on our minds.” Made For Love, HBO Max’s first original series. described as “a poignantly humorous story of modern love and divorce”…

Ben Affleck has added Jason Bateman, Viola Davis, Chris Tucker and Marlon Wayans to the cast of his untitled docudrama for Amazon Studios, documenting for the true-life story of former Nike executive Sonny Vaccarro, according to Deadline. Affleck is also starring in the film, along with his Good Will Hunting partner Matt Damon. Production started production Monday in Los Angeles…

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Jurassic World: Dominion opened in first place this weekend with an estimated $143 million domestically — just $5 million shy of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom‘s pre-pandemic opening gross four years ago.

The third and supposedly final film in the Jurassic World trilogy — which stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, as well as the original trilogy’s trio of Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill and Laura Dern — has earned $245.8 million overseas, where it opened a week ago. Dominion’s total worldwide gross currently stands at $389.1 million.

Top Gun: Maverick dropped to second place, despite earning finishing the week strong with an estimated $50 million, bringing its three-week domestic gross to $393 million.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness conjured up a third-place finish with an estimated $4.9 million haul, putting its six-week domestic box-office total at $397.8 million. The Benedict Cumberbatch-led film has fared even better internationally, where it’s collected $532.4 million. Its current worldwide total now sits at $930.2 million, making it the top-grossing global release of 2022.

Fourth place belongs to The Bob’s Burger Movie, which added an estimated $2.3 million to its three-week earnings, for a total of $27.1 million in North America. Its combined worldwide gross is $28.8 million.

Rounding out the top five is the animated comedy adventure The Bad Guys with an estimated 2.2 million. That brings its domestic haul to $91.5 million, to go along with $131.6 million overseas, for a global box-office tally of $223.1 million.

 

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The 75th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Ariana DeBose, were handed out Sunday at Radio City Music Hall and carried live on CBS.

Here’s the complete list of winners.

Best Play
The Lehman Trilogy

Best Musical
Girl From the North Country

Best Musical
A Strange Loop

Best Revival of a Play
Take Me Out

Best Revival of a Musical
Company

Best Book of a Musical
A Strange Loop

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
SIX: The Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Deirdre O’Connell, Dana H.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Myles Frost, MJ

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Matt Doyle, Company

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Patti LuPone, Company

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bunny Christie, Company

Best Costume Design of a Play
Montana Levi Blanco, The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gabriella Slade, SIX: The Musical

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Natasha Katz, MJ

Best Sound Design of a Play
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Gareth Owen, MJ

Best Direction of a Play
Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy

Best Direction of a Musical
Marianne Elliott, Company

Best Choreography
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ

Best Orchestrations
Simon Hale, Girl From the North Country

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If the water in your glass is trembling, it could be from the dinosaurs stomping over the global box office.

With a strong $18 million from Thursday night sneak previews in the States alone, Jurassic Park: Dominion is off to a dino-sized start, with a take that has already topped $110 million worldwide, according to Deadline.

The film that reunites Jurassic World franchise stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard with the heroes of the original Jurassic Park — Jeff Goldblum, Sam Neill and Laura Dern — got a head start in theaters in nearly 60 territories beyond our shores, but it officially opened in the U.S. Friday.

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Becoming Elizabeth, a new series that chronicles the English monarch’s origin story, premieres Sunday on Starz. Alicia von Rittberg stars as a teenage Elizabeth I, and she and the show’s cast told ABC Audio they were eager to explore a period of history not often portrayed on screen.

“She’s just so wise beyond her years that I think it’s just mind blowing,” von Rittberg says of getting to portray the younger Elizabeth.

Tom Cullen, who plays Elizabeth’s scheming stepfather, Thomas Seymour, argues that although there have been other projects about the final Tudor monarch, this one stands out.

“This is a period of history that I had just no idea about,” he says. “And for me, I couldn’t believe it, because it feels so important to understand one of the most iconic characters that’s ever lived.”

As part of the cast’s deep dive into this mysterious time period, they learned a lot about their characters — including some surprisingly scandalous facts.

Jamie Blackley, who plays Elizabeth’s close friend Robert Dudley, and Jessica Raine, who plays Elizabeth’s stepmother, Queen Catherine, shared what they uncovered.

“Apparently [Dudley] had an insatiable sex drive, and he kept a bottle of lotion by his bed!” Blackley says with a laugh.

Raine says she learned Catherine “was prone to using foul language when she was angry.” “It instantly made me love her even more,” she admits.

Meanwhile Romola Garai, who plays Mary Tudor, learned who her character actually was. “When they originally sent the scripts … I thought that was Mary Queen of Scots!” she says. “Mary Tudor has been sort of slightly ignored by the history books — unfairly — because I think she was a really interesting woman.”

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Fox announced Friday that former King of Queens star, and former Dancing with the Stars guest judge, Leah Remini is replacing Matthew Morrison on So You Think You Can Dance.

As reported, the Glee alum was reportedly terminated from the program following a network investigation into allegations he sent “inappropriate” messages to a contestant.

Fox made no mention of Morrison in the announcement, noting only that actress and author Remini will join fellow judges Stephen “tWitch” Boss and JoJo Siwa, and host Cat Deeley, beginning with the show’s 300th episode, airing Wednesday, June 15.

In a statement, a “thrilled” Remini said, “I look forward to guiding these incredibly talented artists through this competition as a fan of the show and a great admirer of dancers. I can’t wait to see the artistry that the contestants bring to the stage!”

Incidentally, Remini is besties with a very famous dancer: former In Living Color “Fly Girl”-turned recording artist and actress Jennifer Lopez.

People insists Morrison was fired after he “crossed the line” with “flirty” messages to the unknown contestant that made her feel uncomfortable.

For his part, Morrison insisted last Friday on Instagram that he only sent a single message to the contestant, regarding a possible job as a choreographer. He called the accusations from the contestant “blatantly untrue.”

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On Sunday, AMC launches its new thriller series Dark Winds. Based on author Tony Hillerman‘s “Leaphorn and Chee” book series, Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon star as a pair of Navajo police officers investigating a series of murders and a violent bank robbery.

The 1970s-set thriller series was produced by Hillerman fans Robert Redford and George R.R. Martin, whose book series A Song of Ice and Fire became the HBO hit Game of Thrones. 

For Native Americans McClarnon and Gordon, apart from the thrill of working on a project based on beloved characters, the “Southwestern film noir” was a game changer for representation.

McClarnon, who is an executive producer in addition to playing the no-nonsense investigator Joe Leaphorn, explains, “We had two Native EPs and we put together a Native writing room, as well as Native directors and Native crew, Native actors and actresses.

“So it was exciting to be a part of something that was committed to allowing us to tell our own stories, to contextualize Tony Hillerman’s books through a Native perspective,” he says. “It’s an exciting time for Native representation in media right now.”

Gordon, who plays Leaphorn’s new deputy Jim Chee, agrees. “It’s an incredible and powerful thing to witness … It’s been years and decades and a century in the making, you know, when film first started the depictions of Native people,” he says. “It’s amazing.”

McClarnon says he “loves” his character, adding Hillerman’s best-selling series “did most of the heavy lifting.”

“I have … a wealth of material to draw from about Joe Leaphorn. All I had to do was put on the uniform and bring my own life experiences to that character.” 

Dark Winds airs at 9 p.m. ET on AMC and streams on AMC+.

 

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Just a week after its third season premiere, the Emmy-nominated skewed superhero series The Boys is getting a fourth, Amazon Studios has announced.

The show’s new season kicked off with three episodes on Friday, June 3, with a fourth dropping Friday on the streaming service. The season will conclude Friday, July 7.

Developed by Seth Rogen and his partner Evan Goldberg, The Boys is based on the graphic novel series from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, and centers on The Seven, a team of super-powered people who are anything but super people, led by Antony Starr‘s Homelander.

Standing against them are The Boys, a collection of mortals, led by Karl Urban‘s Billy Butcher and Jack Quaid‘s Hugh Campbell.

In a statement, the show’s executive producer, Eric Kripke, said, “Speaking for the cast and crew, we’re so grateful to Sony, Amazon, and most of all the fans for embracing the show and allowing us to make more.”

He added, “We’re thrilled to continue Butcher and the Boys’ fight against Homelander and the Seven, as well as comment on the insane world we’re living in.”

Referring to a particularly graphic scene in the season’s first episode, featuring a character with Ant-Man-like powers, Kripke joked, “Also, this is the first time in history that exploding genitalia has led to further success.”

The show also spawned an animated spin-off, The Boys: Diabolical, which also streams on Amazon Prime.

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Multitalented star Jennifer Hudson has already earned an Emmy, a Grammy and an Oscar for her work in entertainment over the course of the last two decades. The 40-year-old actress is one step closer to achieving EGOT status: she just has to win a Tony Award at Sunday’s ceremony.

Hudson is nominated as a producer for A Strange Loop, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical written by Michael R. Jackson that follows a Black queer man who tries to write a musical while struggling with identity, among other things. The musical leads this year’s nominations with 11, including Best Musical, the category in which Hudson is recognized.

This year’s nod isn’t the first time Hudson’s name has been mentioned in Tony Awards conversations. After receiving zero nominations in 2016 for her highly regarded performance as Shug Avery in The Color Purple, the incident became known as one of the most infamous award show snubbs.

Previous wins that contribute to Hudson’s EGOT status include a Daytime Emmy for executive producing the 2020 animated film Baby Yaga; Grammys in 2017 for The Color Purple and in 2009 for Best Album; and an Academy Award in 2007 for Dreamgirls.

Should A Strange Fruit win Best Musical at the 75th annual show, which broadcasts live on CBS Sunday at 8 p.m., the American Idol alum will join a small list of EGOT winners, including John Legend and Whoopi Goldberg.

Other notable celebs one award away from the high ranking are Viola Davis, Common, Billy Porter and Cynthia Erivo.

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With Top Gun: Maverick still flying high in theaters, the 1986 original is maintaining air — or, more accurately, streaming — superiority for a fifth straight week.

The film starring Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer and Kelly McGillis topped the list of all streaming competition once again, according to streaming service aggregator app Reelgood.

Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+ ranked second for this week, and Netflix’s powerhouse Stranger Things finished in third place.

Rounding out the Top 5 for this week were Amazon Prime’s The Boys and The Northman on Peacock, according to real time data from the app’s 5 million users.

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