Entertainment

Elf is considered a holiday staple and fans have long wondered why the popular film doesn’t have a sequel.  Star Will Ferrell revealed in a new interview that he stopped it from being made.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor opened up about his decision to table Elf 2, saying it had nothing to do with money.  In fact, he says he was offered a handsome $29 million to reprise the lovable Buddy the Elf.

According to the actor, he hints the only good thing about the potential sequel was the paycheck.

“I would have had to promote the movie from an honest place,” Ferrell reflected, “which would’ve been, like, ‘Oh no, it’s not good. I just couldn’t turn down that much money.'”

Noting of the script’s rehashed premise, he said he mulled over what his motivation would be for doing such a film and confessed, “I thought, ‘Can I actually say those words? I don’t think I can, so I guess I can’t do the movie.'”

Elf, also starring Zooey Deschanel, Ed Asner and James Caan, danced into theaters in October 2003 and Ferrell admits he once thought the now iconic Christmas film would be the death of his acting career.

There was a moment, he admits, when he was in New York City wearing Buddy’s fashionable yellow tights and thought to himself, “Boy, this could be the end.”

Then the movie charmed its test audience, with the actor gaining hope — especially after one test group of what appeared to be “USC frat boys” also enjoyed the feel-good film.

Elf proved to be a hit and a boon for Ferrell’s career, amassing $222.3 million during its box office run and, according to some critics, is considered one of the greatest Christmas films of all time.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

It took some doing, but independent studio A24 has come up with a giveaway to promote its thriller Lamb that’s as weird as the Icelandic import itself.

While the gag gives away a spoiler the movie holds onto — painstakingly — for a majority of its running time, the studio is giving away a baby doll of the movie’s half-human half lamb hybrid, Ada [AH-dah].

The dark folktale from Icelandic directing newcomer Valdimar Jóhannsson stars Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason as a childless couple who discover one of their sheep has birthed a hybrid child. Ada is an offspring with a human body and a lamb’s face — and the couple decides to raise her as their own, as people in Icelandic films might wont to do. 

A24 is giving people the chance to follow in their footsteps with its #AdoptAda contest. Just post a video about why you should be Ada’s primary caregiver, tagging @A24, and use the hashtag #AdoptAda for a chance to bring Ada home. 

Ada comes complete with her trademark galoshes, overalls, and a cable knit sweater to complete her baby lamb ensemble.

“Baba Ada can be yours forever,” the odd little online ad notes, giving you “the gift of a lifetime: parenthood.”

It also warns, “Protection from other sheep not included.”

Submission videos can be shared on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, and a winner will be announced Monday, November 1.

i

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Flatiron Books has announced it will release Matthew Perry‘s first book, a memoir from the Friends veteran that not only dishes on his time on the beloved sitcom, but also details his personal battles. 

The book is as yet untitled.

“Perry takes readers behind-the-scenes and onto the soundstage of the most successful sitcom of all time while opening up about his private struggles with addiction,” the publisher promises.

“Candid, self-aware and told with his trademark humor, Perry vividly details his lifelong battle with the disease and what fueled it despite seemingly having it all,” continues the description, which also says the book, “the first from a cast member of Friends, is unflinchingly honest, dishy, and hilarious.” 

Flatiron teases, “[T]his is the book that Friends fans have been waiting for but will also shed a powerful light for anyone who is in their own battle for themselves or a loved one.”

The memoir will be released in the fall of 2022.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Ryan Reynolds covers the November issue of WSJ. Magazine, which named him the publication’s 2021 Entertainment & Entrepreneurship Innovator.

The actor and producer was hailed for his efforts as a marketing guru, with viral ads for not only his 2016 hit Deadpool, but clever spots for his companies Mint Mobile and Aviation American Gin. Some interview highlights:

For Deadpool, Reynolds saw getting creative control of the then-obscure property a make-or break moment for his career.  “While I was obscenely privileged to star in movies, a lot of times they weren’t working,” he admits. “That’s when I said, ‘I need to have some authorship here.'”

The movie became an unlikely blockbuster, and spawned a franchise.

Deadpool also taught him “invaluable life lessons,” many of which insped his company Maximum Effort, which produces everything from hits like his recent movie Free Guy, to viral ads.

“We had so little to make that movie and even less to market the movie,” said Reynolds. The unconventional character meant “marketing it had to step outside any semblance of normalcy.”

He says of Maximum Effort, “We love storytelling. Marketing, to a certain extent, is diet storytelling…,” noting that the “scrappy” ads focus on character over budget.

Reynolds admits, “I tend to bite off way more than I could or should chew,” and blames it on a “Canadian sensibility.”

“I fixate on things….I lay awake at night, wrapping and unwrapping every possible scenario,” he declared, then quipping, “I slept at a perfect right angle for so many years.”

Ryan says he tends to, “pave over anxiety with work and, to a lesser extent, achievement.”

He says, “You want to tick boxes sometimes. So these days, my goal is to be as present as I can and not just tick a box just to do it. I’m fully embracing and living that right now. It’s been amazing.” Making a “check mark” in the air with his finger, he adds, “OK. Heartfelt personal-growth quote: check.”

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The final season of black-ish has added a real-life icon to its lineup.

On Thursday, the show announced via social media that former First Lady Michelle Obama will be making a guest appearance on the eighth and final season of the ABC comedy. “#blackish is going all out for the final season! We are honored to have trailblazer @michelleobama join us as an upcoming guest star,” reads the Instagram caption of a photo of Mrs. Obama with the black-ish cast. While details on Mrs. Obama’s appearance are few, this isn’t the first time she’s appeared on a popular sitcom. The former First Lady also guest starred on the sixth-season finale of Parks and Recreation. The final season of black-ish is set for sometime in 2022.

In other news, The CW has tapped Taye Diggs and recording artists Ne-Yo and Eric Bellinger to headline two upcoming variety specials. The three will star in The Black Pack: We Three Kings and The Black Pack: Excellence, which will highlight Black performers. We Three Kings will premiere on November 29 and feature classic Christmas music, comedy and dance. It will also have appearances by Bre-Z, Tank, Sevyn Streeter and Jordin Sparks.  The Black Pack: Excellence will air sometime in 2022 and will commemorate the Juneteenth holiday with music, dance and guest stars. It will also include a tribute to original Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr.

Finally, Deadline has learned that Isaiah Mustafa has been added to the cast of Boy Kills World, a forthcoming action film set in a “dystopian fever dream reality.” The film follows Bill Skarsgard as Boy, a deaf mute who’s trained by a mysterious shaman and becomes “an instrument of death.” A release date for Boy Kills World has yet to be announced.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by black-ish (@blackishabc)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

As Kristen Stewart committed to transforming into the late Princess Diana for the movie Spencer, the actress recalled one fleeting scene that gave her goosebumps.

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, the 31-year-old admitted it felt “so spooky” to wear a replica of the late royal’s wedding dress, even if it was for a brief moment.

“When we put that dress on, it is embedded in a montage that kind of flashed her life before you. Even though the movie takes place over a three-day period… We still wanted to give a taste of the scope of her life,” Stewart explained.  “Kind of touch on every part, even if it was in kind of lyrical dance. And the wedding dress is embedded in that montage and putting that on was a spooky day.”

As for what Stewart star had to do while wearing a replica of the wedding gown, she revealed, “We didn’t have to do the wedding scene but I still had one walk, walking outside of this castle.”

Stewart says director Pablo Larraín encouraged her to turn that brief scene into a standout, as it was a pivotal moment in Diana’s life.

“[He] was like, ‘Take everything you learned about that day, all of your emotional responses that you have accumulated, put them all right here. What does it feel like to believe in an ideal that then becomes very, very apparently farcical?'” she recalled him saying, adding that he wanted her to “let your heart break in a moment.”

When asked what she hopes the Royal Family will say, should they watch Spencer, said Stewart, “I would say is that we led with love and curiosity. And professed to know nothing. We’re literally just sort of admirers.”

Spencer arrives in theaters on November 5.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

If you’re still trying to figure out what to do for Halloween and you really want to commit — and you live in New York or LA — you’re in luck. 

Netflix is taking over mobile barber trucks in both cities on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to give patrons free Tiger King custom haircuts “based on signature looks from the show.” 

So if you’re looking for that perfect Joe Exotic mullet, or an 80s-era feathered ‘do to match your Carole Baskin get-up, you’re in luck.

Appointments can be made in advance at TigerKingExoticCuts.com — but be warned, the site seems slammed already. 

Walk-up appointments will also be taken if there’s availability on-site. 

Patrons can opt for The Joe, described as “the quintessential mullet”; “The Tease,” the Baskin-inspired “long hair tease with flowered crown,” or “The Tiger Tail,” which is tiger-striped colored hair spray.

Tiger King 2 will drop on Netflix on November 17. If you need some style inspiration, the trailer was just released.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Why call professional paranormal investigators and eliminators when you’ll soon be able to DIY, thanks to an upcoming offering from Hasbro Pulse.

The company that produces high-quality replicas of movie props in addition to hyper-detailed toys, has announced its looking to arm you with your own proton pack, the gear the Ghostbusters have strapped to their backs in the original two Ghostbusters films, and in the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Calling it the “ultimate ghost bustin’ adult collectible roleplay item,” the Plasma Series Spengler’s Proton Pack is an exacting replica of the beloved prop from the classic films, laser-scanned from the screen-used prop, scaled to adult size, and featuring movie-accurate lights and other details. 

The item is being made available through Hasbro’s HasLab project, a development outlet that, rather shrewdly, lets fans crowd-fund the item. 

You can pre-order and back the Ghostbusters Plasma Series Spengler’s Proton Pack HasLab project for $399.99 on the HasLabs site. The crowdfunding campaign needs 7,000 backers by December 12 — and it’s already halfway there, less than a day after it was announced.

Needless to say, the piece will make a fine cosplay companion to Hasbro Pulse’s previously-released Spengler Neutrona Wand, the ‘busters’ “gun” that lets them lasso slimers and and other ectoplasmic entities. 

The proton pack has become one of cinema’s most iconic props, and until now, cosplayers and other movie fans had to go about building them themselves, some spending thousands in the process.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife hits theaters November 19.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Hasbro Pulse (@hasbropulse)

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Costumes emulating both the players and the guards from Netflix’s smash Squid Game are flying off shelves for this Halloween season, but one New York school district has given them the red light.

According to local news site CNY Central News, principals at several upstate New York elementary schools have banned the costumes. 

Administrators at Mott Road, Enders Road, and Fayetteville Elementary schools sent emails to parents about the restriction, which also applies to the kids “playing” Squid Game themselves during free time.  The breakout South Korean import involves unwilling participants who play kids’ games to win a massive cash prize.  But if they lose, they’re executed.

“We have observed that some students at recess have been playing a version of the squid game which is intended for mature audiences, ages 16 and older,” reads the email from Mott Road Elementary school that was apparently not proofread by the English department. 

Superintendent Dr. Craig Tice also issued a message about it, reading in part, “Due to concerns about the potential violent nature of the game, it is inappropriate for recess play or discussion at school. Additionally, a Halloween costume from this show does not meet our school costume guidelines due to the potential violent message aligned with the costume.”

Looks like the kids will have to save their money from babysitting or paper routes instead of going for that 45.6 billion won cash prize.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.