Entertainment

It looks like fans want to get back to theaters, and according to Fandango, what they want to see is Black Widow.

Advanced ticket sales for standalone adventure starring Scarlett Johansson‘s titular super-spy are the biggest of the year for the retailer, outpacing Fandango sales numbers of A Quiet Place Part II and F9, which are the pandemic period’s biggest hits to date. In fact, the ticket sales for Black Widow are even besting those for pre-pandemic Marvel hits Spider-Man: Homecoming and Doctor Strange.

Fandango conducted a survey of 4,000 advance ticket buyers for Black Widow, noting — no surprise — that 97% are champing at the bit just to see a new Marvel Studios movie in theaters. Of course, 96% say they’ll stay for Black Widow’s post-credit scene — perhaps prompting the question, what’s wrong with the other 4%?

Eighty-one percent say they want to see Black Widow on the biggest screen possible, and 79% say they’ve wanted to see ScarJo in a stand-alone movie for “a very long time.”

Black Widow, which also stars Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour, opens Friday. 

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson just revealed on Instagram that his much-anticipated action comedy Red Notice will drop on Netflix on November 12. 

“I’m officially serving you your notice,” Johnson told his 252 million followers, capping it with the “siren” emoji.

In Red Notice, Johnso plays “the FBI’s top profiler,” on the hunt for Gal Gadot‘s character, “the world’s most wanted art thief,” with Ryan Reynolds playing, “the greatest conman the world has ever seen.” 

Johnson previously starred with Gadot in the fifth Fast & Furious installment, and with Reynolds in the Fast spin-off Hobbs & Shaw.

Star and co-producer Johnson shouted out his pals, saying, “Thank you to my insanely talented (and highly unattractive) costars @gal_gadot & @vancityreynolds [Reynolds] for our globetrotting heist,” revealing a photo of the movie’s stars. Wonder Woman star Gadot looks stunning in a red gown, flanked by Reynolds in a white dinner jacket, and Rock in a black tuxedo. 

For his part, Reynolds tweeted, “True story. They made my entire tuxedo out of one of @TheRock’s socks.”

Ryan added, “last piece of gossip: @GalGadot is wonderful.”

Johnson also thanked “205 million+ Netflix subscribers who are already making #RedNotice the most highly anticipated movie on the platform in 2021.” He added, “This is my career first streaming film and I wanted to make it big and special for all the fans worldwide.”

Red Notice was supposed to debut in theaters for Universal Pictures, but Netflix scooped up distribution rights in 2019. The film’s title refers to INTERPOL’s alert for the world’s most wanted fugitives.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by therock (@therock)

True story. They made my entire tuxedo out of one of @TheRock’s socks.

Also, true… #RedNotice has a release date of Nov. 12th on @Netflix.

Last piece of gossip: @GalGadot is wonderful. pic.twitter.com/pJuMMV64RF

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) July 8, 2021

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Black Widow star O-T Fagbenle admits he took a bit of a crash course in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to channel his character of Rick Mason, an ally from Natasha Romanoff’s/Black Widow’s S.H.I.E.L.D. past.

“I didn’t know anything about the dude,” Fagbenle reveals to ABC Audio, before sharing he also had a hand in cultivating his character.

“My Bible for [Rick Mason] was Eric [Pearson]’s script and figuring it out between me, Cate [Shortland], our director, and Scarlett [Johansson] — what our backstory was,” he says.  “That’s really what brought Rick Mason to the screen.”

Fagbenle, who calls Mason “Black Widow’s Q [from 007 lore], or like what Batman is to Alfred,” says his character’s connection to Romanoff is bigger than the “covert operations specialist” figure from the comics.

“[He’s] the person who like hooks up with all the gadgets and stuff — you need a ship, you need a plane, whatever,” Fagbenle says. “But what was interesting to me… is that he’s got a relationship with Natasha Romanoff which isn’t just platonic — isn’t just a work relationship.”

“There’s a deeper dynamic going on there,” he continues. “And I think that’s one of the things that’s interesting about the movie, is you get to see the 3D view of Black Widow.”

While bringing Rick Mason to life could be described as somewhat challenging, Fagbenle says keeping mum on his MCU character for three years, was actually pretty easy.

“It wasn’t that hard for me,” Fagbenle laughs. “Like on Tuesday, I’m spending time with my mom. And then in the evening, I’m talking to my niece and nephew and I’m doing work… I’m doing other stuff. So when people ask me, I’m like, ‘Oh, I can’t talk about that.’ And then I’m getting on with the rest of my day.”

Marvel Studios’ Black Widow hits theaters tomorrow.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Angela Bassett, who played Chadwick Boseman‘s onscreen mother in Black Panther, wasn’t able to reveal much about the movie’s upcoming sequel, Wakanda Forever, but did promise that the film will honor the late actor.

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Bassett — who plays Ramonda, the mother of Boseman’s character, King T’Challa, aka Black Panther — revealed just how much work and detail is being poured into the sequel, the production of which has just begun.

“There have been about five incarnations of the script and I hear another one’s coming,” she disclosed.  Because of the current fluid state of the plot, Bassett said of the movie, “I don’t know what it’s going to look like at all.”

However, Bassett assured fans the film will honor Boseman.

“Of course, with our dear king going on to glory, a lot of things had to be shifted and changed, so thankfully, Ryan [Coogler] and Joe Robert Cole, they’re just such masterful storytellers that they’ve found a way into this world,” Bassett promised. “And, hopefully it will be satisfying, I think, for the fans and it will be honorable of our Chad. We love our king.”

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced last year that the role of T’Challa would not be recast following Boseman’s death in August at age 43 after a private battle with cancer.  Instead, Feige vowed Wakanda Forever would focus on “furthering the mythology and the inspiration of Wakanda.”

The sequel is slated to premiere in theaters a year from today — July 8, 2022.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Jada Pinkett Smith is opening up her previous struggles with drugs and alcohol — including being high while working on a comedy classic film. 

During Wednesday’s episode of Red Table Talk, the 49-year-old co-host, who’s been candid about her lifelong struggles with substance abuse, revealed her own personal “eye-opening incident” that occurred while filming the 1996 comedy The Nutty Professor, which starred Eddie Murphy. 

“So I wasn’t the type of person that was drinking every day. You know, I was, like, a weekend party girl,” Jada began, explaining that she would party from Thursday to Monday mornings. 

Smith’s mother and co-host, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, then asked if her partying schedule ever “interfered with your being able to go to work.”

“I had one incident,” Smith confessed. “That was an eye-opening incident for me as well. I had one incident on Nutty Professor. I passed out. Makeup trailer,” she admitted. “I went to work high, and it was a bad batch of ecstasy.”

“I told everybody that I had taken — I must’ve had old medication in a vitamin bottle. That’s what I said. But I tell you what I did though. Got my a** together and got on that set,” Smith added. “That was the last time.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

YouTube Originals new four-part docuseries Ice Cold — which premieres today — uses the prism of hip-hop jewelry to explore deeper issues around racial inequality and the American Dream, but it didn’t exactly start out that way. Director Karam Gill tells ABC Audio that the initial idea behind the project was to use jewelry as an entry point to explore hip hop.

“Hip hop has been explored through fashion, it’s been explored through so many different avenues but not specifically jewelry,” the LA-based filmmaker shares. “The project ended up where it’s at right now just over the course of time. That story became less about just flash and prices. It’s so much deeper.” 

“… You start to realize ‘Wow this is actually a conversation about the American Dream… the perception of people based on where they come from or the economic reality of where they’re from and how our society views people,'” he explains. 

Gill goes on to note how pianist Liberace and actress Elizabeth Taylor, both of European descent, were viewed differently for adorning themselves in elaborate jewelry compared to someone like Jamaican rapper Slick Rick. “Why is that? What does that say about us?” he asks. 

While Ice Cold shines a light on some of society’s inequalities, it also dives into the hip hop subculture through a variety of different lenses — from the point-of-view of some of the genre’s biggest names like Migos, City Girls, and Lil Baby to top celebrity jewelers like Ben Baller and Johnny Dang.

The overall goal of the docuseries, though, is “to provide context.”

“I think people will have appreciation,” Gill says. “I don’t think people will be writing off rappers, hopefully, as much anymore for expressing themselves.”

Ice Cold is available to stream on Migos’ YouTube Channel. 

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Hulu has released the trailer for McCartney 3, 2, 1, the streaming service’s forthcoming series centering on an in-depth conversation between Paul McCartney and acclaimed producer and fellow Grammy winner Rick Rubin. 

Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Zachary Heinzerling and co-executive produced by McCartney and Rubin, filmmaker Peter Berg and others, the series is a exploration of McCartney’s work with The Beatles, his musical segue into “the emblematic ’70s arena rock of Wings,” and his long career as a successful solo artist.

“We were writing songs that were memorable, because we had to remember them,” Paul jokes in the trailer about his work with The Beatles, as he and Rubin explore the creation of classics like, “All My Loving,” “With a Little Help from My Friends” and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” among others featured in the just-released snippet.

According to the streaming service, the six-episode McCartney 3, 2, 1, “explores music and creativity in a unique and revelatory manner,” as Macca and Rubin have an “intimate conversation about the songwriting, influences, and personal relationships that informed the iconic songs that have served as the soundtracks of our lives.”

The series, which premieres Friday, July 16, will be available in the U.S. as a Hulu Original and internationally on Disney+ as a Star Original.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

For the first time, the Olympics is officially adding Skateboarding, Surfing and Sport Climbing to the upcoming Summer Games. 

Skateboard legend Tony Hawk and sports commentator Sal Masekela [massa-KEH-lah] helped celebrate the new additions — and what it took to get them to the Tokyo Games — with a documentary called World Debut now out on the Olympics’ YouTube channel.

Hawk tells ABC Audio that the film traces the origins of the three sports, and the hurdles they faced en route to being included in the Tokyo Olympics. “[T]here was a lot of heartbreak in that,” he explains. At times, it was looking like it wasn’t going to happen. And then it finally did receive the inclusion and then COVID hit. So there’s a lot there’s a lot of emotion in it.”

Hawk, arguably the sport’s first superstar, says of skateboarding, “It was never on the radar, it was always considered this sort of outcast activity and it grew in popularity as kids came to embrace it, [and] it will now be recognized on this international scale. And I just think it’s exciting. And I think it’s about time!”

Tony adds, “It’s exciting, especially for the new generation of skaters who now will grow up with the notion that they could be Olympians from the get-go, and that’s not something I ever imagined through my youth and not even through my 20s or even 30s.”

Masekela predicts the new additions will catch on with fans of The Games, noting, “I think it’ll be no different than what we’re used to seeing with gymnastics, with ice skating — subjective sports that are about personal expression and technique — and the audience…after…watching more and more runs and routines, getting a feel for what the high level of performance looks like.”

Sal adds, “That’s what’s so exciting about this, is that they’re going to get educated and become fans. You know, the Olympic stage, viewing a new sport and getting engaged with it and learning about its culture and its history, and its characters, and what it takes to perform, you know, from that point forward.”  

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

If swiping right isn’t your cup of tea, but high tea in the Bridgerton universe is your idea of ideal courtship, you’re in luck. 

Peacock is going back in time with an 1800s-inspired reality dating show called Pride & Prejudice. 

The streaming network announced the series with a Lady Whistledown-inspired invitation, promising “a time-traveling quest for love.”

Hopefuls can apply on a special website, which asks potential candidates the following questions: “Do you long for a night of romance, chariot rides, and balls?…Do you want to pursue love in a whimsical, international location?”

If you’re lucky enough to be selected, Peacock promises, “[W]e will transport a heroine and eligible, hopeful suitors to a beautiful, international location, where they will get to experience what dreams are made of.”

The invitation adds, “In the end, our heroine and her suitors will discover if the ultimate romantic experience will find them, true love!”

However, the romantic experience won’t be easy — and not just because of the corsets. “Only noble suitors are encouraged to take on this profound and thrilling quest, should they have the vigour to out-romance the rest,” the announcement warns.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Robert Downey Sr., the filmmaker and actor father of Robert Downey Jr., has died at 85, the Marvel movie star just announced on Instagram.

“RIP Bob D. Sr. 1936-2021,” the post begins, noting that Downey Jr.’s father died Tuesday evening.

“Last night, dad passed peacefully in his sleep after years of enduring the ravages of Parkinson’s,” Robert notes, calling his father “a true maverick filmmaker [who] remained remarkably optimistic throughout” his ordeal.

The actor then quips of Downey Sr.’s third wife, Rosemary Rogers-Downey, “According to my stepmom’s calculations, they were happily married for just over 2000 years.” He added about the music producer and writer, “you are a saint, and our thoughts and prayers are with you.”

Downey Jr.’s mother, his father’s first wife, Elsie Ann Downey, died in 2014.

Born in 1936, Robert Downey Sr. started his entertainment career as an actor after a stint in the Army, and throughout his career, he starred in TV shows and films, with credits including The Twilight Zone and Saturday Night Live on the small screen, and movies such as To Live and Die in L.A. and Boogie Nights.

However, it was his career as an avant-garde director decades earlier that left more of an impression: notably the 1969 race-based satire Putney Swope, and the 1970 comedy Pound, which ranks as a five-year-old Downey Jr.’s first acting credit. Downey Jr. also appeared in his father’s 1997 dramedy, Hugo Pool.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Robert Downey Jr. Official (@robertdowneyjr)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.