What Star Wars fans had been speculating since it was announced Rosario Dawson‘s former Jedi Ahsoka Tano was getting her own Disney+ spin-off has come to pass: Ezra Bridger will appear in the show.
The young Jedi character was created for the animated series Star Wars: Rebels, but will be making his live-action debut in the forthcoming Disney+ series, with King Richard actor Eman Esfandi playing the part, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
Fans had been positing Ezra would reappear in Ahsoka for some time: In season 2 of The Mandalorian, Dawson’s character revealed she’s hunting the Empire’s fearsome Grand Admiral Thrawn. Star Wars: Rebels‘ finale showed the military genius vanishing into hyperspace during a climactic clash with Bridger, never to be seen again — evidently until the new show starts.
Ahsoka will also star Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Australian actor Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Ukrainian actress Ivanna Sakhno. Hayden Christensen will also star in the series, the latter reprising his role as Ahsoka’s former master, Anakin Skywalker.
When Daniel Craig declared that the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, would be his final appearance in the iconic franchise, many fans called for Idris Elba to be the next 007.
As the five-time Emmy nominee travels around the world, he is frequently identified as Craig’s successor.
“Every corner of the world I go — and I’m talking about different cultures — they always go, ‘Bond!'” Elba said in the latest episode of UninterruptedThe Shoppodcast, which is executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter.
Despite fans’ hopes, the 50-year-old actor from London says being cast as the famous British spy is not on his wish list.
“It is not a goal for my career,” Idris said bluntly. “I don’t think that, you know, playing Bond will satisfy some of my personal goals.”
Elba, whose latest film, Three Thousand Years of Longing, opened August 26, knows that being cast in the role would not solely be his decision.
“I feel it is beyond me at this junction. It’s beyond me. You know, it’s not a question of, ‘Should I?’ ‘Do I?’ ‘Will I?’ It is what the will of the nation dictates sometimes,” the Luther TV star continued.
“I’m not that guy,” Idris added, “but in everyone’s world I might be.”
Enjoy the weekend with new singles, albums and videos for the culture.
John Legend, Legend— This double album features Rick Ross, Jazmine Sullivan, Saweetie and more. “It’s an expression of deep appreciation and understanding of all the music and influences that made me the artist I am, my wife and family, and all the loves in my life, all the stories that led me here,” the EGOT winner says in a statement.
Megan Thee Stallion featuring Lil Kim, “Plan B” remix — This profanity-laced track ignited a controversy as 50 Cent accused Kim of dissing Nicki Minaj’s young son in the song. The Queen Bee replied on her Instagram Stories, “I never said a word about anyone’s child/ Please feel free to listen to the song where we were clearly talking about an EX.”
Megan Thee Stallion featuring Key Glock, “Ungrateful” — In the video for this track from Thee Stallion’s new album, Traumazine, Megan is in high fashion as she appears in separate all-black and all-white outfits at a cemetery funeral.
Roddy Ricch featuring G Herbo and Doe Boy, “Ghetto Superstar” — This is Roddy’s sixth collaboration with his favorite producer, Mustard. Ricch is opening for Post Malone’s Twelve Carat Toothache Tour, which kicks off Saturday in Toronto.
Bryson Tiller, “Outside” — Tiller’s first new single of 2022 samples 2005’s “Wait (The Whisper Song)” by the Ying Yang Twins. “‘Outside’ is the polar opposite of what everyone is used to hearing from me,” Tiller said in a statement. “Normally we would release a song intended to put people deep in their feelings, but this song is ANTI-FEELS.”
Summer Walker, Spinall, DJ Snake and Ayanna, “Power (Remember Who You Are)” — Dr. Dre mixed this collabo for the short film, The Flipper’s Skate Heist.
Barns Courtney has premiered a new song called “Supernatural.”
The track is the first offering from the “Fire” artist’s upcoming third album, which will, as a press release puts it, follow an “elaborate narrative centered [on] a post-apocalyptic cult leader.”
“Supernatural” is available now via digital outlets, and you can watch its accompanying video streaming now on YouTube.
Courtney’s most recent album is 2019’s 404, which includes the singles “99” and “You and I.” He also released an EP titled Hard to Be Alone in 2020.
You can catch Courtney live on his upcoming U.S. tour, kicking off September 17 in Kansas City, Missouri. Earlier this year, Courtney opened for My Chemical Romance in Europe.
The L.I.F.E. Project, the band featuring Stone Sour guitarist Josh Rand and vocalist Casandra Carson, has released a new single called “Dying of the Light.”
The track is available now via digital outlets and is accompanied by a video featuring footage from The L.I.F.E. Project opening for Alice in Chains, Breaking Benjamin and Bush‘s summer tour. You can watch that streaming now on YouTube.
“Dying of the Light” follows The L.I.F.E. Project’s self-titled debut EP, which was released in 2021. The band also dropped a covers EP, featuring renditions of songs by the Big Four thrash bands — Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax — earlier this year.
As for Stone Sour, the Corey Taylor-fronted rockers have been on hiatus since completing the tour behind their latest album, 2017’s Hydrograd.
Sammy Hagar & The Circle have released a third advance track from their forthcoming studio album Crazy Times, an expanded and updated version of “Funky Feng Shui,” which first appeared on their 2021 record, Lockdown 2020.
To accompany the song, which is available now via digital formats, Hagar and his band have debuted its music video on the Red Rocker’s official YouTube channel.
The cartoonish clip features Sammy and his bandmates — bassist Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson — playing the song on a Hollywood street while a giant woman in a tight-fitting red dress looms over them.
Regarding the making of the video, Hagar says, “[It] was a blast because the Director kept screaming ‘Just remember there’s gonna be a 50 foot woman stepping over you guys while you’re performing’ – ha ha! I love this song and this video is more fun than a frog in a glass of milk.”
“Funky Feng Shui” began as a jam that Hagar and The Circle would play backstage to warm up before shows. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Sammy and the band remotely recorded an abbreviated version of the tune that wound up on their Lockdown 2020 collection. Hagar completed the song while working on Crazy Times, and he and The Circle then recorded the extended version for the new album.
As previously reported, Crazy Times, which can be preordered now, will be released on CD and via digital formats on September 30, while standard black-vinyl and limited-edition red-vinyl LP versions will follow on October 28.
Prior to “Funky Feng Shui,” Hagar and the band released two other advance tunes from the album — the title track and a cover of Elvis Costello‘s “Pump It Up” — along with companion videos.
Central Park, the animated musical comedy from creator and star Josh Gad, is back with its first three episodes of season 3 on Apple TV+.
The sitcom centers around the Tillerman family as they strive to save Central Park from being bought up by money-hungry land developers. Gad developed the show with Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, and gave ABC Audio insight into how they brought the series to life.
“I basically said, ‘I want to do a musical. Here’s who I would love to work with. Here are the people that I think would be great.’ And then we started developing characters around them,” Gad said.
First, he wanted to “build a show around these people,” he said, and then “kind of figure out what the characters are. It was more of a proof of concept for us, like, does a musical animated series work?”
Four Emmy nominations and three seasons later, Gad says he thinks that part of the show’s success should be credited to the location of Central Park itself.
“It’s a place that is a melting pot of society where you can be the richest person in the world, or you can be somebody with no money, and the two of you are on equal footing in this park,” Gad said. “It is a park that belongs to everyone.”
These themes of belonging resonate with Emmy Raver-Lampman, who voices Molly Tillerman in the series.
“At the core of it, and the thing that I am learning from Molly — not learning, but the thing that I am constantly reminded about — is her love for her family,” Raver-Lampman said. “I just admire that so much. She’s helped me grow and actively pursue being a better daughter myself.”
(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Kay is expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to Southern California on Friday, as well as some relief from a prolonged heat wave, as it moves in from Mexico.
Kay made landfall Thursday over the Baja California Peninsula as a Category 1 hurricane, before weakening and downgrading to a tropical storm. The storm has brought heavy rainfall to the area, with flash flooding and landslides possible across the Baja California peninsula and portions of mainland northwestern Mexico through Saturday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.
A flood watch has been issued for parts of California, just outside of Los Angeles and San Diego, as well as southwestern Arizona and parts of Nevada, including Las Vegas. Rainfall totals are expected to range from 1 to 2 inches close to the coast, with up to 8 inches possible inland.
“Flash, urban, and small stream flooding” is likely across Southern California, Arizona and southern Nevada, the National Hurricane Center said.
The tropical system is also bringing strong, gusty winds, and a high wind warning has been issued for Southern California, including San Diego. Some spots of the San Diego County mountains saw gusts reach over 90 mph Friday morning, with the strongest winds still expected this afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service in San Diego said.
The region will get some relief from triple-digit temperatures thanks to the tropical storm, with record-breaking heat expected to wane Friday.
The storm is forecasted to travel north parallel to the coast of Baja California Friday, before veering left and moving farther offshore.
The last time a tropical system was close enough to Southern California to have impacts was in 2018.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Earl is bringing tropical storm conditions to Bermuda, with winds over 100 mph.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for the island, which has been hit with tropical storm-force gusts and swells.
As it moves away from Bermuda, Earl is forecast to become a powerful post-tropical cyclone on Saturday. “Dangerous” rip currents are likely across the Western Atlantic through the weekend, including Bermuda, the East Coast and portions of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland through the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.
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(BLOOMINGTON, Ind.) — Indiana Special Judge Kelsey Hanlon has agreed to preside over a lawsuit brought by abortion providers challenging the state’s abortion ban after two judges recused themselves from the case. A near-total ban on abortions is set to go into effect in Indiana on Sept. 15.
Plaintiffs have asked the court for a preliminary injunction to stop the ban’s implementation until the lawsuit is resolved.
Monroe Circuit Court Judge Holly Harvey recused herself from presiding over the lawsuit last week. Her office declined to comment to ABC News on her decision. The case was transferred to Judge Geoffrey Bradley, but Bradley declined jurisdiction of the case on Thursday without listing a reason for his recusal in court filings.
Indiana’s ban makes it a felony to provide abortion services and only allows for three exceptions, according to the lawsuit. Abortions up to certain stages in pregnancy are permitted if the woman’s life is in danger, the fetus is diagnosed with a fatal anomaly or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest, according to the lawsuit.
Providers who violate the ban will have their license revoked and could face between one to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The lawsuit also alleges that the ban infringes on a resident’s right to privacy, therefore violating Indiana’s guarantee of equal privileges and immunities. Moreover, the law violates the state constitution’s due course of law clause because of its unconstitutionally vague language, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit was filed by abortion providers including Planned Parenthood, the Lawyering Project, the ACLU of Indiana and WilmerHale on behalf of abortion providers including Planned Parenthood, Women’s Med Group Professional Corp and All-Options. The suit was filed against members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana and county prosecutors.
Hanlon scheduled an initial telephone hearing for Monday.
Paul McCartney and Queen Elizabeth II in 2012; Dave Thompson – WPA Pool/Getty Images
Following Queen Elizabeth II‘s death Thursday at age 96, Sir Paul McCartney issued a brief statement paying tribute to the monarch. But now the rock legend has penned a lengthy homage looking back at all the times he met the queen.
In the message, which was posted on his official website, McCartney starts by noting, “I feel privileged to have been alive during the whole of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. When I was 10 years old I entered an essay competition in Liverpool and won my division for my essay about the British Monarchy so I have been a fan for a long time.”
He also recalls watching the queen’s 1953 coronation on a black-and-white TV.
Sir Paul says he met Queen Elizabeth “eight or nine times,” adding that “each time she impressed me with her great sense of humour combined with great dignity.”
The first time McCartney met the queen was in October 1965, when The Beatles received the Member of the Order of the British Empire honor.
One of the most memorable occasions, according to Paul, was in 1997 on what he describes as “a very proud day for me” — receiving his knighthood.
“I felt very honoured to be offered a Knighthood and of course it would have been rude to turn it down!” he says.
Other meetings took place in 2002 and 2012, respectively, when Paul performed at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
McCartney recalls that the last time he saw Queen Elizabeth in person was in 2018, when she presented him with the Companion of Honour medal.
As Sir Paul recalls, “I shook her hand, leaned in and said, ‘We have got to stop meeting like this,’ to which she giggled slightly and got on with the ceremony.”
