Entertainment

Tom Holland's Romeo gets his Juliet for West End theater production

Good Morning America

On Thursday, The Jamie Lloyd Company announced the full cast for Tom Holland's West End return with William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, including his star-crossed titular other half: Francesca Amewudah-Rivers.

The actress has a handful of theater credits under her belt, but only appeared on the fourth and fifth seasons of the BBC's Bad Education on TV.

Also starring in the play are theater vets Tomiwa Edun, recently seen in Argylle, playing Capulet; Freema Agyeman, who appeared in The Matrix Revolutions, as Nurse; and as Friar, Michael Balogun from 2019's TV adaptation of War of the Worlds.

As reported, the production about the tragic lovers will be staged at The Duke of York's Theatre in London. According to the theater's website, it promises to be "a pulsating new vision of Shakespeare’s immortal tale of wordsmiths, rhymers, lovers and fighters."

Holland will start his run on Saturday, May 11, and the play is slated to run through August 3.

Tickets are already sold out.

 

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TV magic: Data shows some 'Sex and the City' characters would have trouble affording NYC IRL

HBO/Newsmakers via Getty Images

With Sex and the City episodes now on Netflix, new fans are enjoying seeing what Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte were up to in New York City back in the day. 

However, their glam life as seen on TV would have run into some harsh financial realities in real life, according to data crunched by online casino company Nieuwe-Casinos.

Using various sources like the job site Glassdoor, the company put the salary of Sarah Jessica Parker's columnist Carrie Bradshaw at around $49,300 per year back when the show premiered 1998.

However, her "lifestyle costs" — which include everything from those Cosmos with the gals to smoking and of course her outfits — were more than $38,500 per year. 

At one point, the company points out Carrie says she spent 40 grand on shoes alone, meaning for all the glamour of the show, her character in reality could never afford it.

As an attorney, Cynthia Nixon's Miranda Hobbes' salary in 1998 would be nearly $90,000, so while her lifestyle expenses would be steep at more than $38,000, she'd have her head above water. 

Kim Cattrall's sassy Samantha Jones would be pulling in around $55,000 as a publicist in 1998, though all those drinks, hair appointments and we assume birth control would run her more than $38,400. This doesn't account for her extensive clothing collection. 

Finally, Kristin Davis' Charlotte York was an art gallery owner in 1998, pulling in around $53.5 a year, but minus brunches, taxis and drinks, she'd be left with just nearly $16,000. 

Methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Hugh Grant as Tony the Tiger, Amy Schumer and more in trailer to Jerry Seinfeld's 'Unfrosted'

Netflix

Jerry Seinfeld's near-obsession with breakfast cereals on Seinfeld was channeled into his directorial debut, Unfrosted, the Netflix film about the birth of the Pop Tart.

The trailer for Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story, also starring Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer, Christian Slater, Hugh Grant as Tony the Tiger and Bill Burr, among many others, has just popped up online.

Set to David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel," the snippet starts with a dramatic rocket launch countdown from the point of view of a Pop Tart heating up inside a toaster.

The visual syncs with what Jerry previously revealed about the 1963-set project: The story of the pastry's invention "is told like The Right Stuff."

"I believe we have split the atom of breakfast," Jerry's Kellogg executive Bob Cabana exclaims of the discovery.

There's a space race of sorts going on between "sworn cereal rivals" Kellogg's and Post "to create a pastry that will change the face of breakfast forever."

To help their chances of beating Amy Schumer's Post president, Cabana "stacks the deck with ringers," including Chef Boyardee (Bobby Moynihan) and fitness icon Jack LaLanne (James Marsden).

The race "to reinvent breakfast" goes all the way up to the White House, with Burr playing JFK. "You have to win," he says, asking for a progress update. McCarthy's character unveils a "not to scale" sketch of the Pop Tart.

"What are you guys, five years old?" JFK blasts back. "Little John-John draws better than that, and I think there's something wrong with him."

Netflix calls the film "a wildly imaginative tale of ambition, betrayal and menacing milkmen — sweetened with artificial ingredients."

The movie, which also stars Sebastian Maniscalco, Peter Dinklage and Cedric the Entertainer, pops up May 3.

 

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Florence Pugh gives fans a sneak peek of Marvel Studios' 'Thunderbolts' movie

Disney/Scott Kirkland

Dune: Part Two star Florence Pugh gave Marvel fans a behind-the-scenes peek of her next MCU movie, the star-studded Thunderbolts, on Instagram.

Dressed as her character, former assassin Yelena Belova, Pugh begins by exiting her studio trailer with a friendly "Hey guys!"

As she walks, she explains she's been off Insta partly because she was "whisked off to Atlanta to go shoot a movie that I'm really not allowed to talk too much about."

"But I can show you some things, sneakily, as long as you don't tell anyone," she says coyly.

As Pugh walks on the studio lot, she points out random crew members before entering a studio and whispering because shooting is underway. "I can show you a sneak peek of some of the sets," she says, spinning her camera around to reveal what appears to be an elevator shaft.

As she continues, she says, "Oh, I can show you Jake," meaning Jake Schreier, the movie's director.

"What are we allowed to show?" Pugh asks, only for him to reply, "I don't even think you're even allowed to be doing this!"

With that, she reveals "Thunderbolts" on the back of a director's chair.

The movie will see Pugh's character team up with other MCU vets, including David Harbour as Red Guardian, Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Wyatt Russell's John Walker/U.S. Agent and Julia Louis-Dreyfus' shadowy Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

"We're having an amazing time, and I can't wait for you to see what we've made!" she says before signing off with a kiss to camera.

The movie comes out May 2, 2025.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Shonda Rhimes reveals daughter started watching 'Grey's Anatomy'

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Shonda Rhimes' daughter is in for the ride of a lifetime.

The famed TV producer shared in an Instagram post that one of her three daughters recently started watching Grey's Anatomy for the first time.

"My not so tiny human started watching @greysabc for the first time yesterday," she wrote. "My brain is breaking."

"I am dead. DEAD," Rhimes continued. "But so glad she's getting to see the women her mom created. #GreysAnatomy."

Grey's Anatomy, created by Rhimes, premiered on March 27, 2005, and is currently airing its milestone 20th season on ABC.

The series, the longest-running primetime medical drama, has given TV fans beloved female characters like Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Izzy Stevens (Katherine Heigl), and Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) -- and those are just the series regulars from season 1.

Someone tell Rhimes' daughter to buckle up and prepare to have her heart broken -- and put back together -- over and over again: Remember that season 5 finale? Blue Post-It note, anyone?

Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, with episodes streaming on Hulu the following day.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Kenan Thompson discusses 'Quiet on Set' and working with Dan Schneider

Disney Entertainment Television/Jeff Neira

Kenan Thompson, who starred in the Nickelodeon shows All That and Kenan and Kel as a teen, is speaking out about allegations made about his former producer Dan Schneider in the documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

"I think it's a good thing that the doc is out and is putting things on display that need to be told for accountability sake, but it's definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place," Thompson said of Nickelodeon during an appearance on Tamron Hall's chat show on Wednesday, March 27.

Addressing the accusations that Schneider created a toxic work environment, the Saturday Night Live star recalled that many of them happened after his tenure on the network.

"Dan wasn't really on Kenan and Kel like that," he explains. "He got a 'created by' credit, but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds weren't overly overlapping like that outside of All That necessarily."

“My heart goes out to anybody that's been victimized, or their families," he said.

After noting that the production company said it was investigating all the allegations, Thompson said, "Well, investigate more."

"It's supposed to be a safe place, you know?" he added. "It's supposed to be a safe place for kids and to hear all about that it's just like, 'How dare you,' you know?'"

 

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In Brief: Austin Butler 'Caught Stealing' for 'The Whale' director Aronofsky, and more

Deadline reports Dune: Part Two's Austin Butler has been tapped to star in The Whale filmmaker Darren Aronofsky's crime thriller Caught Stealing, for Sony Pictures. The film, adapted from Charlie Huston's book of the same name, centers on, "a burned-out former baseball player, as he's unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of '90s NYC" ...

Poor Things star Ramy Youssef will host Saturday Night Live for the first time on Saturday and promoted the appearance in a hilarious promo with SNL cast member Kenan Thompson. The clip shows Youssef falsely claiming to be the show's "first Arab host," only to be corrected by Thompson, who also shoots down the actor/comedian's claim that he's the first-ever Egyptian host and even the first-ever Egyptian host named Ramy, pointing out that Rami Malek once hosted the show. "Being first is dumb anyway," Youssef fires back, eventually settling for being the first-ever Egyptian host named Ramy from New Jersey. Travis Scott is the musical guest on Saturday, March 30 ...

West Side Story actress Ariana DeBose will mark her third time hosting the Tony Awards when the 2024 ceremony airs June 16 on CBS. "I couldn't pass up the chance to host the Tonys one more time at Lincoln Center. I'm excited to collaborate with the team to create an incredible celebration of this season's achievements on Broadway for our community and for everyone at home," DeBose said in a statement. CBS and Pluto TV will once again team up to present The Tony Awards: Act One, a preshow of live, exclusive content leading into the 77th annual Tony Awards ...

 

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Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively returning for 'A Simple Favor 2'

Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick in 2018's 'A Simple Favor' - Lionsgate

A sequel to the 2018 film A Simple Favor is officially in the works.

Amazon MGM Studios announced Wednesday that director Paul Feig and stars Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively will reprise their roles for A Simple Favor 2, a co-production with Lionsgate.

Other cast returning for the sequel include Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Joshua Satine, Ian Ho and Kelly McCormack.

The synopsis for the film notes that it's the "return of Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Lively) as they head to the beautiful island of Capri, Italy, for Emily's extravagant wedding to a rich Italian businessman."

"Along with the glamorous guests, expect murder and betrayal to RSVP for a wedding with more twists and turns than the road from the Marina Grande to the Capri town square," the synopsis continues.

No release date was announced for the film, though production is set to begin sometime in spring.

The 2018 film was based on Darcey Bell's 2017 novel of the same name. Jessica Sharzer returns as screenwriter, with revisions from Laeta Kalogridis and Feig.

A Simple Favor earned more than $97 million at the worldwide box office, according to Box Office Mojo, and is Certified Fresh on the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Steven Spielberg puts 'Dune' franchise director up with filmmaking's greats

Monica Schipper/Getty Images

In the latest installment of the Director's Guild of America's Director's Cut podcast, Steven Spielberg put Dune franchise director Denis Villeneuve up with some of the most famous filmmakers of all time.

Spielberg called it "an honor" to sit and talk with the director and showed that by immediately heaping historic praise on him. "Let me start by saying there are filmmakers who are the builders of worlds. It's not a long list and we know who a lot of them are. Starting with [Georges] Méliès and [Walt] Disney and [Stanley] Kubrick, George Lucas," Spielberg began.

He continued, "Ray Harryhausen I include in that list. [Federico] Fellini built his own worlds. Tim Burton. Obviously, Wes Anderson, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, Guillermo del Toro. The list goes on but it's not that long of a list, and I deeply, fervently believe that you are one of its newest members."

Oscar winner Spielberg, who knows a little something about the genre, with the classics E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, went on to call the second Dune "one of the most brilliant science fiction films I've ever seen."

He also called the scene with Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides riding a massive sandworm in the sequel "one of the greatest things I have ever seen. Ever!"

Later in the conversation, Spielberg asked Villeneuve if he could see any of his Dune cast members directing one day. Denis immediately answered that the "brilliant" Zendaya was "always listening" behind the camera and said he "would not be surprised" if she becomes a director.

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'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' gets season 5 renewal

Starz

Good news for fans of Starz's Power universe: The network announced Wednesday it has given an early fifth season renewal to Power Book III: Raising Kanan. 

The show explores the early life of fan-favorite character Kanan Stark, originally played by 50 Cent in the flagship series.

Season 4 of Raising Kanan is currently in production in New York City.

"We know that our fans can't get enough of Raising Kanan. As the inevitable evolution of this young man into a killer plays out, we knew we had much more backstory to share in this ever-escalating family saga," said Starz's President of Original Programming Kathryn Busby.

She added, "As we continue to expand the storytelling within the Power universe, we're looking forward to how this story may intersect with other Power characters during this prequel era.”

Starz recently announced a fourth spinoff from the Power franchise — the prequel Origins, centering on the early days of fan-favorite characters Ghost and Tommy — was in development. 

Meanwhile, Power Book II: Ghost will debut its two-part final season on June 7, and Power Book IV: Force is currently filming its third season in Chicago.
 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe featured in teaser to Yorgos Lanthimos' 'Kinds of Kindness'

Searchlight Pictures

A teaser debuted Wednesday for Kinds of Kindness, the follow-up to Poor Things from its director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and producer/star Emma Stone.

Their fellow Poor Things alums Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley also star, as do Jesse Plemons, Hunter Schafer, Hong Chau, Joe Alwyn and Mamoudou Athie.

The teaser opens on Stone recklessly driving a sports car, followed by shots of the film's star-studded cast.

Kinds of Kindness is described as a "triptych fable" following the pursuits of various characters. Lanthimos had previously explained to The Guardian that it is composed of three stories, with each actor playing "three different parts."

The forthcoming Searchlight Pictures film tracks "a man without choice who tries to take control of his own life; a policeman who is alarmed that his wife who was missing-at-sea has returned and seems a different person; and a woman determined to find a specific someone with a special ability, who is destined to become a prodigious spiritual leader," according to the synopsis.

Kinds of Kindness opens in theaters on June 21.

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Glee: Lea Michele expecting baby #2

Roy Rochlin/Getty Images

Lea Michele announced on Instagram Wednesday that she is expecting her second baby with husband Zandy Reich.

"Mommy, Daddy and Ever are overjoyed," the actress and singer captioned a profile photo of her cradling her exposed baby bump; the latter refers to their son, who was born in 2020.

The post got more than 212,000 likes in just an hour after she posted it late Wednesday morning, as well as well-wishes from the likes of fellow celebrity moms Zooey Deschanel, Ashley Tisdale and Katharine McPhee.

Michele and Reich were married in Northern California in March 2019.

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Fourth 'Star Trek' film could finally take off with 'Flight Attendant' co-creator on the script

HBO Max

Engines on a long-in-development fourth Star Trek film with the reboot cast of Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban and Zoe Saldaña are warming up again with the co-creator of Max's The Flight Attendant behind the keyboard.

In an extensive feature story on the booming state of the Star Trek universe on both the big and small screens, Variety reports Steve Yockey is writing a follow-up to 2016's Star Trek Beyond, which is meant to be a "final chapter" for the cast that first went "where no one has gone before" in 2009's Star Trek.

The fourth film has seen directors come and go: At one point Quentin Tarantino was toying with directing a Star Trek film -- which Variety revealed had "a 1930s gangster backdrop" -- and WandaVision's Matt Shakman was on board, too, before dropping out to call the shots on Marvel Studios' forthcoming Fantastic Four.

No director has been linked to Yockey's "final chapter" for that cast, however.

 

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Jessica Biel to star in, produce thriller series 'The Good Daughter' for Peacock

Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

On Wednesday, Peacock announced that Jessica Biel will star in and produce the thriller series The Good Daughter for the streaming service. 

Based on Karin Slaughter's book of the same name, Biel will play Charlotte Quinn. She and her sister Samantha "have spent the last twenty-eight years trying to piece together the lives that were fractured by a single night of violence."

The tease continues, "When another attack splinters the small town of Pikeville, Charlotte is the first witness on the scene. Now a lawyer like her father, she's forced to confront her own demons as the case twists through one shocking revelation after another. In the end, both she and Samantha find themselves wondering if the price of being the good daughter was worth it after all."

Slaughter will write all episodes of the show and co-produce alongside Biel, and veterans of Pieces of Her and Big Little Lies Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver.

Most recently, Biel played infamous ax killer Candy Montgomery in Hulu's true crime limited series Candy. She recently signed onto BATSO, the fact-based mountain climbing drama in which she'll star with Ethan Hawke and Daniel Radcliffe.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


'Good Times': J.B. Smoove, Yvette Nicole Brown and more get animated in trailer from Netflix

Netflix

Good Times, the classic Norman Lear sitcom, gets animated in a new trailer from Netflix.

Curb Your Enthusiasm's J.B. Smoove, Community's Yvette Nicole Brown, black-ish alumna Marsai Martin and more lend their voices to the project, which was co-produced by the late TV icon's production company, Steph Curry's Unanimous Media and Seth MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door.

According to Sony Pictures Television, the "animated reboot of the Norman Lear series finds the latest generation of the Evans family, cab driver Reggie (Smoove) and his wife, the ever-aspirational Beverly (Brown), scratching and surviving in one of the last remaining housing projects in Chicago along with their teenage artist son, Junior (Jay Pharoah), activist daughter Grey (Martin), and drug dealing infant son, Dalvin (Gerald "Slink" Johnson)."

Yes, a drug-dealing infant.

The producers continue, "It turns out the more things change the more they stay the same and keeping your head above water in a system with its knee on your neck is as challenging as ever. The only thing tougher than life is love, but in this family, there's more than enough to go around."

Wanda Sykes is also heard in the trailer, playing Junior's teacher, who suggests the flunking student should turn to OnlyFans instead of hoping for a degree.

All 10 episodes will be available on Netflix Friday, April 12.

 

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