While the Denis Villeneuve film Dune scored six Oscars Sunday night, he and the craftspeople behind it are already working on its sequel.
Backstage at the Oscars Sunday night, with his newly-engraved Academy Award in hand, cinematographer Greig Fraser dropped some hints about the follow-up. Fraser has logged an impressive filmography of late, having spent time behind the camera not only for the sci-fi epic, but also The Batman, Rogue One: A Star Wars story, The Mandalorian, and the Oscar winning Zero Dark Thirty.
“Well, I can’t give you any scoops, I hate to say it,” Fraser said, adding with a smile, “I’ve been trained by the House of the Mouse at Lucasfilm to not give you any scoops, so I won’t tell you anything beyond that.”
He continued, “But I can tell you that this is a bigger story. I read the script, and I’m more blown away by this script than I was by Part One.”
Fraser also said, “I’m more excited. In fact, I was sitting in a meeting with Denis and Patrice and Paul [Dune‘s Oscar winning production designer Patrice Vermette and VFX supervisor Paul Lambert] the other day at Denis’ house, talking about this film. And I turned to Denis, and said, ‘I can’t believe these people pay us to do this. Like this is ridiculous. They pay us to make these movies, which are so exciting and so amazing.'”
Fraser allowed, “So I can tell you it’s bigger and better and amazing, so I apologize for not giving you more than that.”
(SAFFORD, Ariz.) — As the search for a missing 12-year-old Arizona girl entered its second week, the child’s mother spoke out, saying, “I’m scared to death.”
Betty Taylor was reported missing by her family eight days ago after she told her father was going for a walk and never returned to her home in Safford, Arizona, according to the Graham County Sheriff’s Office.
Over the weekend, community volunteers fanned out across the Graham County town, passing out missing person flyers to raise awareness about the child’s disappearance.
Police have also used helicopters, search dogs and drones to look for the girl, and officers on horseback and all-terrain vehicles have combed the desert area around the small town at the foot of the Pinaleno Mountains in southeast Arizona, about 130 miles from Tucson.
“I’m scared to death about what she’s going through. I don’t know if she’s out there on her own. I don’t know if she has a safe place to be. I don’t know if she’s eating,” the girl’s anguished mother, Bonnie Jones, told ABC affiliate station KNXV in Phoenix.
Betty was last seen on March 20 when she left her home at about 11 a.m., telling her father, Justin Taylor, she was going for a walk, according to a statement from the Graham County Sheriff’s Office. When she failed to return home by 6 p.m. that day, the family went searching for her before reporting her missing at 8 p.m. that night, according to the statement.
The girl is described as 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 135 pounds with hazel eyes and shoulder-length brown hair with red highlights. She left her home wearing a black sweatshirt with white letters on the front, a neon-colored baseball cap, blue jeans and turquoise and pink Vans tennis shoes.
She was also carrying a purple JanSport backpack, according to the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff’s officials asked that anyone with information about the girl’s whereabouts immediately call 911 or contact investigators at (929) 428-3141.
John Legend, a 12-time Grammy Award-winning artist, will be honored with the Recording Academy’s first-ever Global Impact Award during the Black Music Collective event, the organization announced Monday.
The inaugural event will bring together Black creators and business leaders, across all genres, with a mission of setting goals and continuing to build up the Black community.
“It is our distinct honor to celebrate John Legend as the inaugural recipient of the Recording Academy Honors’ Global Impact Award,” says Valeisha Butterfield Jones, co-president of the Recording Academy. “John is one of the most important artists of our time, someone who leads by example and pushes important boundaries consistently across music, philanthropy and activism. His contributions and impact to music and our culture are unparalleled.”
Club Quarantine DJ D-Nice will provide music throughout the night, while Summer Walker is set to perform and MC Lyte will take on host duties in celebration of Legend, his career achievements and his charitable efforts.
The invite-only event will take place at Resorts World Las Vegas during the Grammy Week festivities on Saturday, April 2, a day before the 64th Grammy Awards.
The tour kicks off July 8 in Detroit and as of now, it’s scheduled to wrap up August 12 in Norfolk, Virginia. Lilith Czar is also on the bill, but on Instagram, Halestorm notes that they’re also “incredibly excited” about another support act taking part in the trek, TheWarning, the all-female Mexican hard-rock band that are famous for their viral cover of Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman.”
“If you are not hip to their noise, that’s about to change!” reads the message.
Tickets for the trek go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. local time.
Halestorm’s new album, Back from the Dead, will be out May 6. It includes the previously released singles “Back from the Dead” and “The Steeple.”
(WASHINGTON) — Jared Kushner, former President Trump’s son-in-law who served as a senior West Wing aide during the Trump administration, is expected to appear voluntarily before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as early as Thursday, according to multiple sources familiar with the plans.
A spokesman for the committee did not respond to a request from ABC News seeking comment on plans to question Kushner, which could be postponed or delayed.
Plans are for Kushner to appear virtually before the panel, according to sources.
Kushner was traveling back to Washington, D.C., from Saudi Arabia on Jan. 6 when the attack on the Capitol began, and did not return to the White House when he landed.
According to ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in his book “Betrayal,” Kushner avoided the White House because he thought he would get in a “fight” with the president, Kushner told a GOP lawmaker one day after the riot.
Kushner’s wife Ivanka was with Trump at the White House that day, and repeatedly tried to get him to help stop the riot at the Capitol, according to Karl. The committee has been negotiating with Ivanka Trump over whether she will cooperate with the panel’s inquiry in recent weeks.
Kushner held a broad portfolio in the White House — covering the federal coronavirus response and Middle Eastern peace efforts — but kept his distance from efforts to challenge and overturn the election results.
But he was still seen as a key figure in the West Wing; in text messages obtained by the committee, Ginni Thomas — the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — suggested to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that she was in contact with Kushner regarding Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who repeated and promoted unfounded conspiracy theories about widespread voting fraud.
The panel could ask Thomas to voluntarily cooperate with its investigation in the coming days, sources tell ABC News.
Carrie Underwood had a very special guest join her onstage during REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency.
The American Idol winner offered the crowd at Resorts World a sentimental moment when she invited her mother, Carole Underwood, onstage to sing with her. In a video recorded by a fan in the audience, the two performed Carrie’s 2007 hit, “All American Girl,” the mother and daughter laughing throughout the performance as they attempted to stay in tune with each other.
“You held that out a long time,” the Grammy winner praised her mother as she belted out the song’s final note, the two ending the display with a hug.
“‘If you wanna go, I’ll take you.’ These might have been the most pivotal words anyone has ever spoken to me. I was busy talking myself out of trying out for American Idol and my mom said these words…the rest is history,” Carrie recalls on Instagram, alongside a series of photos of her and her mom singing. “Tonight, I got to sing with her on stage in front of the most incredible crowd in #LasVegas ❤️ Life sure is amazing! Thanks, Mom, for everything!”
Carrie continues her Las Vegas residency through May 21.
C Flanigan/WireImage for Kaaboo Del Mar via imageSPACE
Aerosmith just announced that it will return to the stage this year for the first time since the start of the pandemic for a new series of Las Vegas residency shows, but now comes word that founding drummer Joey Kramer won’t be joining the band.
According to a statement that Aerosmith shared with USA Today, Kramer has “regrettably made the decision to sit out the band’s concerts in 2022 so he can focus his full attention on his family during these uncertain times.”
The 71-year-old musician’s hiatus is described as “a temporary leave of absence,” and the statement notes that “he and the band look forward to his future performances with Aerosmith.” Filling in for Kramer will be the group’s drum technician, John Douglas, who previously took over for Joey at select shows in 2019 when Kramer was injured.
In early 2020, Kramer sued his band mates when they decided to not allow him to perform with the group when they played the Grammy Awards ceremony because they felt he hadn’t sufficiently recovered from then-recent injuries he’d suffered.
He was subsequently invited to rejoin Aerosmith when they began their February 2020 Las Vegas residency.
As previously reported, Aerosmith’s 2022 residency features 24 dates, broken up into three eight-show engagements taking place at the Dolby Live at Park MGM theater from June 17 to July 8, from September 14 to October 5, and from November 19 to December 11. Tickets for the residency dates go on sale to the general public this Thursday, March 31, at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster.com.
The band also has a previously announced September 8 concert at Boston’s Fenway Park with Extreme scheduled.
(TALLAHASSEE, Fla.) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics.
The bill bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and states that any instruction on those topics cannot occur “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” according to the legislation, HB 1557.
“We will make sure that parents can send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination,” DeSantis said before signing the bill Monday.
The legislation states that the Florida Department of Education would have to update its standards in accordance with the requirements.
Under this bill, parents can also decline any mental, emotional and physical health services available to their children at school, and schools will be required to notify parents of their child’s use of school health services unless there is reason to believe “that disclosure would subject the student to abuse, abandonment or neglect.”
Parents could sue their school district if they believe there is a violation of any of these requirements or restrictions.
The bill is expected to go into effect July 1.
“I think the last couple years have really revealed to parents that they are being ignored increasingly across our country when it comes to their kids education. We have seen curriculum embedded for very, very young children, classroom materials about sexuality and woke gender ideology. We’ve seen libraries that have clearly inappropriate pornographic materials for very young kids,” DeSantis claimed at the signing.
The bill has stirred debate and controversy nationwide.
Critics say that this ban is aimed at ridding classrooms of LGBTQ content and discussion.
They say it will harm LGBTQ youth by shunning representation and inclusion in classrooms, putting the mental health and safety of this group at risk.
“Let us be clear: Should its vague language be interpreted in any way that causes harm to a single child, teacher or family, we will lead legal action against the State of Florida to challenge this bigoted legislation,” local LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Florida said in a statement.
They also said erasing the presence of the LGBTQ community from lessons implies students should be ashamed or should suppress their gender identity or sexual orientation.
Legislators against the bill argued that students are aware of gender identity and sexual orientation at a young age and said schools should be allowed to offer spaces to discuss these topics.
The Biden administration has denounced the legislation and met with LGBTQ youth and their families in the state.
“Laws around the country, including in Florida, have targeted and sought to bully some of our most vulnerable students and families and create division in our schools,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
He added: “My message to you is that this administration won’t stand for bullying or discrimination of any kind, and we will use our authorities to protect, support and provide opportunities for LGBTQI+ students and all students.”
Supporters of the bill say that these discussions and decisions should be left to the parents.
“What we’re preventing is a school district deciding they’re going to create a curriculum to insert themselves,” Rep. Joe Harding, the sponsor of the bill, told ABC News on the podcast “Start Here.”
He added, “Families are families. Let the families be families. The school district doesn’t need to insert themselves at that point when children are still learning how to read and do basic math.”
“This bill is not intended to hurt students,” added Florida state Sen. Kelli Stargel in debate on the legislation. “This bill is not intended to out gay children. This bill is intended to strengthen the family.”
More than six in 10 Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found.
(AUSTIN, Texas) — As wildfires continue to blaze through central Texas, one particular fire named Das Goat Fire has prompted Gov. Greg Abbott to declare a state of disaster, saying these wildfires pose an imminent threat of widespread or severe damage.
The Das Goat Fire resulted from a vehicle fire on Friday in Medina County and has now spread across the county and burned over 1,000 acres so far.
In a recent press conference, the governor said 19 state agencies and over 200 firefighters were currently responding to the disaster.
“The State of Texas continues to collaborate with local officials on the ground and respond to fire activity to keep Texans safe,” Abbott said.
Three homes have been lost and 37 others have been threatened, according to the governor.
Due to the high winds, dry heat and drought conditions, many areas throughout Texas will remain under a high to extreme elevated fire risk.
For those who may have been displaced or evacuated due to the fire, there is shelter currently at Loma Alta Middle School and more shelters will soon be announced.
(NOTE LANGUAGE) LOL if you thought for a second Ludacris lost his rap steelo.
The 44-year-old rapper dropped a minute-and-three-seconds of lyrical genius in his response to fellow Atlanta rapper Omeretta The Great‘s “Sorry Not Sorry.”
The original track shook up both the airwaves and social media for its catchy yet controversial lyrics. In the song, Omeretta lists names of towns she says are “not Atlanta,” including Ludacris’ place of fame, College Park.
“I was born in Illinois, mama making hella noise,” Luda starts in the response track. He then goes on to enlighten listeners of his Atlanta journey including getting rich, going to school and contributing “millions of dollars” to the city of Atlanta.
Though it seems to be a diss track to those who may be from Atlanta outskirts, Omeretta posted the response track on Twitter in support saying, “Luda popping his s***.”
Fans went wild. And then begged for more from Luda. Not sure if more is coming but for now this viral, one minute, reminder verse should do the trick.
