Entertainment

Twisted Metal, Anthony Mackie‘s action-comedy show based on the hit Sony PlayStation game series of the same name, will unspool on the streaming service Peacock. 

As previously reported, the project is being executive-produced by Deadpool and Zombieland screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, and written by co-executive producer and Cobra Kai writer Michael Jonathan Smith.

The games center on tricked-out vehicles and burned-out drivers going at each other in a post-apocalyptic world, though the half-hour, live-action series will be more fleshed out than that.

The series will have Marvel movie star Mackie playing John Doe, a motor-mouthed, amnesiac milkman who must travel across the wasteland in his souped-up milk truck to deliver an important package.

“With no memory of his past, John gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his wish of finding community come true, but only if he can survive an onslaught of savage vehicular combat,” Peacock teases.

The network adds, “With the help of a trigger-happy car thief, he’ll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck,” referring to the character that gamers know as the maniacal marauder Sweet Tooth.

In a new statement, Jeff Frost, president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, and Jason Clodfelter, co-president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, enthused, “Michael…and Rhett and Paul have ingeniously brought this high-action comedy to life, and we are so fortunate to have Anthony at the center of the show.”

They add, “We look forward to this incredible team blowing audiences away with this twisted and inventive concept.”

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The critically acclaimed FX comedy Better Things debuts its fifth and final season today. Star and creator Pamela Adlon based the show — in which she plays Sam, a single mom with three daughters — on the trials and tribulations of her own life.

“I feel like in a way, FX paid for my therapy and you guys all watched it like The Truman Show,” she jokes to ABC Audio. 

“You know, Sam is like me in a cape. It’s like the worst of me and the best of me,” Adlon says, explaining her personal pride in the show’s success. “And if something happens to me in life, I could be in my car driving home, reflecting on it, saying, ‘Ah would have been so bad if this happened.’ Put in the show. ‘It would have been so good if I just said this one thing,’ put it in the show.”

She adds, “I have this saying — bad for my life, good for my show.”

Adlon admits that she had mixed feelings when she learned this season would be the last for Better Things.

“When it was presented to me…at first it was a stomach ache, like, ‘Oh, I can’t believe this is going to be the last,'” she admits. “And by the end of the conversation, I got really excited because I thought, oh, it reinvigorated me.” 

Better Things airs 10 p.m. Monday nights on FX.

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The final trailer for Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man adjacent action film Morbius just dropped, showing star Jared Leto torn between his character’s horrific vampiric super powers, and his alter-ego’s dedication as a life-saving scientist.

An attempt to cure himself, and humanity, of a deadly disease, Dr. Michael Morbius’s treatment gives himself all the powers of a real-life bloodsucker, and more: Flight, inhuman speed and the ability to vanish are on full display in the trailer. 

“Now, I face a choice,” Morbius tells a mentor, played by Jared Harris. “To hunt and consume blood, or die.”

“We all have monsters within us,” Harris’ character advises. “It’s up to us to control it.”

“What if I can’t?” Morbius replies.

While his anti-hero’s place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has not been confirmed, the trailer shows him sharing the screen with a baddie who is part of it, Michael Keaton‘s Adrian Toomes, was the heavy in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

“You’ve been given a gift,” says the guy who fought Spidey as The Vulture. “It’s time you let go of who you used to be, and discover who you’re meant to be.”

Matt Smith, plays this movie’s heavy, Loxias Crown, who also partook in Morbius’ treatment. He has other ideas for his life change: “Just accept who you are!” he tells him: “You’re the bad guy!”

Morbius, which also stars Tyrese Gibson and Bokeem Woodbine, opens April 1.

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(SPOILER WARNING) “Tom’s a really bad liar.” That’s what fellow Brit, and fellow Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield had to say about Tom Holland, during a recent interview with BBC Radio regarding the very moment that Holland nearly spoiled the movie’s rumored multiverse-mashing three Spider-Man plot. 

While sitting down with Garfield, host Ali Plumb showed an older clip from his interview with Holland and Zendaya, when her boyfriend accidentally gave away that it wasn’t he who saves her character MJ in a key No Way Home moment.

“It was quite a scary stunt,” Holland said about MJ’s scaffolding fall, “It looked great — I wasn’t there, of course.”

Plumb recalls trying to work out in his head what Holland meant: “‘If he’s not there, how does he save…?'”

The host emphasized the seconds after Holland said it, and in hindsight, the panic is evident. “You can see moment when [Tom’s] soul left his body,” Plumb says, to which Garfield — the Spidey who actually does the saving in the scene — laughs hysterically. 

“God, bless him,” Garfield says. “I love him. Never change,” he advised his co-star.  

Incidentally, Garfield also chatted about the lengths he went to to keep it quiet that his pal Charlie Cox was also in the film as Matt Murdock/Daredevil — including booking two tables in the dark corner of an Atlanta restaurant, and conversing next to each other while “staring at the wall.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home swings home on digital March 22 and on 4K UHD & Blu-ray on April 12.

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With a production dogged by the pandemic, and an injury to its 79-year-old lead, Harrison Ford, franchise producer Frank Marshall revealed over the weekend that the fifth Indiana Jones movie has finished production. 

In a tweet that was re-tweeted by director James Mangold, Marshall displayed a crew hat reading “Indy,” in that unmistakable slanted Raiders of the Lost Ark font. “That’s a wrap!” he declared.

Last August, Mangold tweeted that the production hadn’t been severely affected by a fight scene snag that left Ford with an injured shoulder, seemingly throwing water on reports that it had left the shoot “in chaos.”

Indiana Jones 5 was initially slated to hit theaters July 9 of 2021, but was pushed back to July 29, 2022 over pandemic concerns, and recently moved again to a June 30, 2023 opening date.

The as-yet-untitled fifth Indy adventure also stars Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Shaunette Renée Wilson, and Boyd Holbrook.

The film is being produced by Lucasfilm, which is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.

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Variety reports that Steven Spielberg is developing an original feature film based on Frank Bullitt, the fictitious San Francisco cop first played by Steve McQueen in the 1968 thriller Bullitt. The original was based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness, which followed Bullitt’s investigation into the death of a mob informant that he was tasked with protecting. No script is in place for Spielberg’s remake, and no deals have been set…

Who’s the Boss and Taxi alum Tony Danza has been tapped to star in Hulu’s adaptation of Darby Harper Wants You to Know, according to Deadline. He joins Riele Downs, Auli’i’ Cravalho, Asher Angel, Chosen Jacobs and Derek Luke. The plot follows high schooler Darby Harper, who after suffering a near-death experience as a child is granted the ability to see ghosts, and subsequently runs a business counseling local spirits on the side. Danza is currently touring with his live show, Tony Danza: Standards & Stories… 

This Is Us actress Lyric Ross has joined the cast of Marvel’s Disney+ series Ironheart, alongside Dominique Thorne as the titular character and Anthony Ramos, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ironheart — a.k.a. Riri Williams — was introduced in the Marvel comics in 2016 as a 15-year-old MIT student who designs a suit of armor similar to Iron Man’s. Ross will play Williams’ best friend. Ramos’ character has yet to be revealed, though sources tell THR he could be the show’s villain…

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With no new major releases, this weekend’s box office top five was a repeat of last weekend’s.

Uncharted held on to first place, earning an estimated 23.2 million dollars in its second week of release. That puts the film’s current domestic tally at $83.3 million. Uncharted is now the top-grossing film of the year so far, surpassing Scream‘s $77.7 million.

Dog followed in second place, delivering an estimated $10.1 million. Its two-week stateside total now stands at $30.8 million.

Back at third place was Spider-Man: No Way Home, with an estimated $5.7 million. After 11 weeks, No Way Home has collected $779.8.

Disney and 20th Century’s murder mystery Death on the Nile earned an estimated $4.5 million, putting its three-week domestic total at $32.8 million. Death on the Nile has been more popular overseas, where it grabbed $68 million, bringing its worldwide haul to $101 million.

Jackass Forever took in an estimated $3.1 million in its fourth weekend of release. It has earned $52 million so far.

Elsewhere, rock band Foo Fighters‘ horror-comedy Studio 666 bowed in eighth place with an estimated $1.5 million.

Cyrano, the romantic musical drama starring Peter Dinklage as the titular character, opened in limited release, collecting an estimated $1.4 million from 797 locations.

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The 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were presented Sunday night at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. Here are the winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
CODA

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Will Smith, King Richard

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Troy Kotsur, CODA

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
No Time to Die

Television
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Succession

Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Ted Lasso

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
Squid Game

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Michael Keaton, Dopesick

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Jean Smart, Hacks

Lifetime Achievement Award
Helen Mirren

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Jay-Z and Silk Sonic were among the music winners Thursday during the fourth night of the 53rd NAACP Image Awards non-televised award categories.

Hova and Jeymes Samuel won Outstanding Soundtrack for The Harder They Fall, and Silk Sonic, consisting of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, was honored for Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration.

Saweetie received the Outstanding New Artist award, and Anthony Hamilton was recognized as Outstanding Male Artist. Jazmine Sullivan won three awards: Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding R&B Song for “Pick Up Your Feelings,” and Outstanding Album, for Heaux Tales.

As previously reported, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will receive the President’s Award, which is given to those who have dedicated their time to public service. They will appear during the televised portion on Saturday, February 26 at 8 p.m. ET on BET.

In other news, Mike Epps has been waiting for years to star in a Richard Pryor biopic, and now he’s portraying the iconic comedian in a new docuseries. The Dolemite Is My Name star appears as Pryor in the upcoming series Winning Time, about the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA dominance in the 90s, which premieres March 26 on HBO

“It’s never easy to fill the shoes of our greats but I am humbled and honored to have gotten this opportunity,” Epps commented as he shared an Instagram photo from the set

Finally, Essence reports that Colin Kaepernick has launched a program to assist families who have experienced police-related deaths. “The Autopsy Initiative is one important step toward ensuring that family members have access to accurate and forensically verifiable information about the cause of death of their loved one in their time of need,” the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback said in a statemen

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While producers behind the 94th annual Academy Awards hope a triple bill of hosts — Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall — will goose viewer numbers, a new survey shows who plans to watch the ceremony. 

A OnePoll survey of 1,000 people shows that 74% want to tune in this year, with 56% admitting they’re going to try to watch as many of the nominated films as they can before March 27, when the telecast airs live on ABC. Indeed, with so many nominated movies available on streaming services — including Spencer on Apple TV+, and tick…tick…BOOM! and The Power of the Dog on Netflix — it’s easier to be in the know than ever before.

Forty percent said the Oscars help “recognize filmmakers whose work wouldn’t otherwise be able to compete with billion-dollar blockbusters.”

On the other hand, 13% claim to be “actively disinterested” in the awards show, while 23% labeled the Academy Awards overrated.

The poll also asked what respondents thought were 2021’s biggest Oscar snubs — including Nicolas Cage in Pig, Lady Gaga in House of Gucci, and Jennifer Hudson in the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect. 

And 39% of those polled said that, in spite of more nominations for people of color since the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still “hasn’t done enough to recognize filmmakers from different viewpoints and backgrounds.”

It should be noted that this poll was conducted before the Academy’s controversial decision not to air several award wins live, including categories like Best Editing and Sound, so it’s not known if that would have dampened any of the enthusiasm from that 74%.

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

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