Entertainment

Matthew Hutchins, the widower of slain Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, took to Twitter to note the latest in his extended family’s plight in their native Ukraine.

Hutchins explained Friday that his sister-in-law, Halyna’s sister Svetlana, “made it safely from Kyiv to Romania with her 3 year old daughter and will continue onwards to Western Europe.”

He added, “Parents stayed in Kyiv to prepare for the worst.”

Hutchins also noted that his mother-in-law, Olga, is “still working as [a] nurse at the hospital where she worked for 30+ years.”

Last week, Matthew Hutchinssaid “Halyna’s family is trapped” in the war-torn country. He also voiced support for the Ukrainian people, saying in part, “Ukraine’s defender are inspiring the world with their bravery. Keep telling the truth about Putin’s invasion and atrocities.”

Hutchins lobbied people to “support refugees,” and support the locals fighting the Russian Army, “with aid and any intervention possible to protect the Ukrainian citizens and their independence.”

Haylna Hutchins, the mother of the couple’s 9-year-old son, Andros, was fatally wounded on October 21, 2021, when a pistol allegedly aimed at her by Alec Baldwin discharged on the movie’s New Mexico set. The live round that had been loaded into the pistol also struck and injured the movie’s director Joel Souza.

A criminal investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

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Star Trek reboot star Chris Pine is letting slip a bit about his upcoming adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game and, in doing so, he’s dropping some fan favorite titles to compare it to. 

The upcoming film will star Pine, as well as Fast and the Furious mainstay Michelle Rodriguez, former Bridgerton hunk Regé-Jean Page, and Sophia Lillis from the It movies.

Pine tells Collider, “The way that I’ve been describing it, it’s like Game of Thrones mixed with a little Princess Bride, just a smidge of [Monty Python and the] Holy Grail; it’s somewhere in that ballpark.”

He adds, “It’s poppy, it’s ’80s heartfelt’, there’s a bit of Goonies in there.”

While it remains to be seen if it will work — “Who f***ing knows?” he admits — Pine says, “What I will say is we had a hell of a fun time making it. There was [sic] a lot of laughs.”

He allows, “I think we got a good shot.”

As far as adapting the beloved board game, there’s a pretty low bar for success: A 2000 movie starring Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, Marlon Wayans, and American Beauty‘s Thora Birch was a critical and box office failure; let’s just say D&D fans perceived it like rolling a 1 on a D20 die.

Delayed by the pandemic, Paramount Pictures has Dungeons & Dragons slated for a March 3, 2023 release.

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Jennifer Lopez shared a behind-the-scenes look at one of the biggest moments of her current movie rom-com, Marry Me — the one when she returns to Bastian, played by Maluma, to perform their romantic ballad.

The video was shared Friday on her Facebook, which shows Jennifer walking into Madison Square Garden while the movie crew is hard at work giving the venue a movie makeover, from arranging flowing curtains to setting up the sparking backdrop.  The clip shows just how much work was put into filming the brief, but impactful scene.

Other footage shows Jennifer rehearsing with Maluma on stage so they could get the shot just right.  The “On the Floor” singer previously revealed Maluma was doing an actual concert at the venue when filming the movie and it was decided she would crash it to film Marry Me — so the audience in the movie was composed of real fans and not extras.

The scene was one of the movie’s climaxes, where Jennifer’s character, Kat, earns her first Grammy nomination and accepts the invite from her cheating ex, Bastian, to celebrate the honor at his concert in Madison Square Garden.  

Marry Me, also starring Owen Wilson, arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on Tuesday, March 29.  It is also streaming on Peacock premium, where it currently claims the title as the streaming service’s most-streamed day-and-date title.

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Count Krysten Ritter as one of the fans who are psyched that Netflix’s Marvel shows are now available on Disney+. 

Ritter, who played the titular heroine Jessica Jones, posted to Instagram a photo of herself in costume, noting, “Guess who’s a Disney princess now?” along with a winky, and the “bicep flex” emoji. 

She also reminded her 1.4 million followers to “(re)watch” her character’s adventures “now streaming on her new home.”

Ritter became a fan favorite for playing Jones, who was blessed/cursed with super-strength by a shadowy organization’s experimentation on her. Jones for the most part tries to hide her powers — although as the series shows, they come in handy during her day job as a private eye.  The series won acclaim for its frank portrayal of weighty topics like addiction and sexual abuse, and Ritter’s portrayal of the hard-drinking, no-nonsense character.

The well-reviewed Jessica Jones ran for three seasons on Netflix, ending in 2015 as part of a move to consolidate all Marvel content under the Marvel Studios umbrella.  Ritter told ABC Audio the character was the “role of a lifetime” for her, and one she’d be willing to revisit. 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) New on demand is the thriller A Measure of Revenge, in which Oscar winner Melissa Leo plays a heartbroken actress looking to avenge the overdose death of her musician son. 

Leo’s character, Lillian, strikes up an unlikely partnership with Bella Thorne‘s Taz, as the grieving mom hunts down the guys who led to her son’s death. 

Thorne, who was a late addition to the cast, said working opposite someone of Leo’s caliber was “F***ing amazing!”

The outspoken singer and actress went on: “I’ve been such a fan of her work for so long that when Jen Gatien our producer brought it to me, I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll work with her, like totally! Whatever role it is, I will work with her!”

She adds, “I learned so much from her that that will help me in my future. That was really important. And you know, how do I soak in someone’s just effortlessness of the way they do what they do?”

Thorne admits, “I just got so lucky that it was her and how sweet and endearing [she was] and immediately takes me in and makes me feel so welcome… I was just constantly blown away.”

The admiration goes both ways. For her part, Leo explained, “The thing about it is, is that Bella was the very best thing about shooting this movie. When you get a young actor who is hungry and eager and willing and open and talented and delightful and dear, well, that’s that’s the cherry on top of Bella.” 

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) After Kanye West was suspended from Instagram for his racist digs at Trevor Noah, the Daily Show host says the recording artist’s recent behavior “breaks my heart.”

Ye went after Noah for his support of Kim Kardashian in light of attacks Kanye made against his ex wife and her current boyfriend Pete Davidson. Noah, who grew up with an abusive father, said in part on his show, “What [Kim is] going through is terrifying to watch, and it shines a spotlight on what so many women go through when they choose to leave.”

TMZ posted a screencap of Noah’s Instagram Story about the situation.

While admitting the racist version of “Kumbaya” that Kanye used to diss him was “funny as s***,” Noah said that West was still an “indelible” part of his life. 

“I thought differently about how I spent my money because of you, I learned to protect my child-like creativity from grown thoughts because of you,” Noah wrote. “S***, I still smile every time I put on a seatbelt because of you,” he continued, a callback to West supporting the devices for saving his life in a serious car accident.

“It breaks my heart to see you like this,” Noah expressed, adding, “I don’t care if you support Trump and I don’t care if you roast Pete. I do however care when I see you on a path that’s dangerously close to peril and pain.”

Noah also commented, “I’ve woken up too many times and read headlines about men who’ve killed their exes, their kids and then themselves. I never want to read that headline about you.”

Trevor also added optimistically, “hopefully, one day we’ll all be laughing about this.”

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Two weeks after Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher started a GoFundMe for Ukraine, the couple updated their followers on Instagram to say that their $30 million goal has been met.

“We just want to say, we hit our goal,” Kunis said in a video posted Thursday. “Over 65,000 of you donated. We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the support. And while this is far from a solution for the problem, our collective effort will provide a softer landing for so many people as they forge ahead into their future of uncertainty.”

“Our work is not done,” Kutcher added. “We’re gonna do everything we can to ensure that the outpouring of love that came from you all as part of this campaign finds maximum impact for those in need.”

The couple went on to thank those who donated and promised to make sure the money goes toward those in need overseas. They also encouraged people to continue donating to them or other foundations working to help Ukraine.

The couple announced they started the GoFundMe earlier this month in the wake of the Russian invasion. They kickstarted their “Stand With Ukraine” effort with $3 million of their own money.

Kunis also opened up about being “proud” of her Ukrainian roots.

“I was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, in 1983. I came to America in 1991 and I have always considered myself an American. A proud American,” she said. “I love everything that this country has done for myself and my family, but today I have never been more proud to be a Ukrainian.”

Kutcher chimed in, “And I’ve never been more proud to be married to a Ukrainian.”

The GoFundMe fundraiser benefits Flexport and AirBnB’s relief efforts, the couple said. The freight transporter and the rental service “are actively on the ground providing help to those who need it most,” they said.

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Tom Hiddleston, star of Marvel’s Disney+ series Loki, is engaged to actress Zawe Ashton, according to Us Weekly.

The couple sparked engagement rumors at Sunday’s 2022 BAFTA Awards, where the 37-year-old actress was photographed with a diamond ring on her left hand.

Hiddleston, 41, and Ashton reportedly met on the set of the West End’s 2019 production of Betrayal, in which they both starred.

Tom and Zawe have reportedly been living together in Atlanta Georgia, according to the outlet, but have been keeping their relationship low key. They made their red carpet debut at the 2021 Tony Awards.

Hiddleston briefly dated Taylor Swift in 2016.

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Pete Davidson won’t be blasting off to space this month after all.

Late Thursday evening, Jeff Bezos‘ space exploration company Blue Origin tweeted that the 20th flight of its New Shepard rocket will now be blasting off on Tuesday, March 29, and “Pete Davidson is no longer able to join the NS-20 crew on this mission.” 

The company added, “We will announce the sixth crew member in the coming days.”

The stand-up comic, Saturday Night Live cast member and King of Staten Island star was supposed to be aboard the space exploration company’s fourth human flight on March 23.

His fellow travelers were to be Party America CEO Marty Allen; property developer Marc Hagle and his wife Sharon Hagle, who runs a science education non-profit; entrepreneur Jim Kitchen; and Commercial Space Technologies president Dr. George Nield.

For the record, former Obama White House staffer and Designated Survivor actor Kal Penn tweeted a “raised hand” emoji in response to Blue Origin’s announcement, to try to fill Pete’s seat.

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The Flight Attendant‘s second season takes off April 21 on HBO Max. The premium cable channel dropped the new teaser trailer on Thursday. Kaley Cuoco returns as flight attendant Cassie Bowden, who is now “living her best sober life in Los Angeles while moonlighting as a CIA asset in her spare time,” per HBO. “But when an overseas assignment leads her to inadvertently witness a murder, she becomes entangled in another international intrigue”…

Squid Game breakout HoYeon Jung has been tapped for a role in writer-director Alfonso Cuarón’s upcoming thriller series Disclaimer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The South Korean model-turned-actress joins stars Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen and Kodi Smit-McPhee in the series that follows Blanchett’s “successful and respected television documentary journalist whose work has been built on revealing the concealed transgressions of long-respected institutions.”  However, she herself ends up as the key character in a novel written by a widower — played by Kline — that reveals a dark secret she thought was buried in her past. Hoyeon plays Kim, who is described as an “ambitious, hardworking, and eager-to-please” employee of Blanchett’s character…

CBS has cast Alice Eve as the star of its Early Edition reboot, according to Variety. She’ll play an “ambitious but uncompromising” journalist named Beth, who “starts receiving tomorrow’s newspaper today and finds herself in the complicated business of changing the news instead of reporting it.” Eve’s credits include recurring roles on the TV series Entourage and Iron Fist. She’s also appeared the films She’s Out of My League, Men in Black 3, Star Trek Into Darkness and Before We Go…

Hulu has revealed a first look at the upcoming original limited series Candy, starring Jessica Biel, Timothy Simons, Melanie Lynskey, Pablo Schreiber and Raúl Esparza. The series, set in 1980, is based on the true story of Texas killer Candy Montgomery, a wife and mother who seemed to have it all before inexplicably killing her church friend with an ax. Candy premieres May 9, kicking off a five-night event leading up to the finale on May 13…

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