From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – in theaters June 6! Starring Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves.
Watch the new trailer below!
Brett Goldstein and Damon Wayans Jr. officially debut in the Season 2 trailer of Apple TV+’s hit therapist dramedy “Shrinking.” The new video shows the cast willing and ready to confront their biggest fears.
“If you don’t truly deal with your past, it’s going to come back for you,” Harrison Ford, who plays Dr. Paul Rhoades in the series, says in a voiceover for a scene of Jimmy (Jason Segel) looking into police lights.
The next shot shows Jimmy in awe of several police cars and ambulance trucks, a sign that the next season will likely center on more details surrounding Tia’s (Lilan Bowden) tragic and fatal car accident.
The biggest surprise comes toward the end of the trailer. Fans get a sneak peek of “Shrinking” co-creator Goldstein and cast newbie Damon Wayans Jr. joining the team. Goldstein appears to be working at a local cafe or shop, while Wayans may become a love interest of Gaby’s (Jessica Williams). The entire season will likely pick back up right where it left off as Jimmy juggles grief while working through his unconventional therapeutic tactics. Along with Goldstein and Wayans, “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” star Vernee Johnson has also joined the show.
The 12-episode second season of “Shrinking” premieres globally on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes on Wednesday, Oct. 16, followed by one new episode weekly, every Wednesday until Dec. 25. The full cast includes Segel, Ford, Williams, Christa Miller, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley.
Here’s Apple TV+’s description of the series: “‘Shrinking’ follows a grieving therapist (played by Segel) who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives … including his own.”
The series is produced for Apple TV+ by Warner Bros. Television, where Bill Lawrence and Goldstein are under overall deals, and Lawrence’s Doozer Productions. Lawrence, Segel, Goldstein, Neil Goldman, James Ponsoldt, Jeff Ingold, Liza Katzer, Randall Keenan Winston, Annie Mebane, Rachna Fruchbom and Brian Gallivan all serve as executive producers.
“Shrinking” Season 2 premieres Oct. 16 on Apple TV+. Season 1 is currently available to stream.
A TV series adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” is in development at A24 with Idris Elba attached to star and executive produce.
No writer is currently attached to the project, nor is it currently set up at a streaming service or network. Elba will executive produce along with Gina Carter under their recently-launched 22Summers production banner. David Oyelowo and Amanda N’Duka will executive produce via Yoruba Saxon. Ben Forkner, Dayo Ogunyemi and Achebe Masterworks also serve as executive producers. A24 is the studio.
The official description of “Things Fall Apart” states it is the “story of Okonkwo (Elba), one of literature’s most iconic characters—a fearless African warrior and leader who is resolute about preserving his people and culture. As British colonizers disrupt his world, Okonkwo’s struggle to maintain power and tradition spirals into a heart-wrenching confrontation. His fierce resolve, a fatal flaw in the face of unstoppable change, makes him an unforgettable character, embodying the tension between strength, vulnerability and adaptability.”
“Things Fall Apart” is widely regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written. It has been translated into over 60 languages and won awards like the Nigerian National Merit Award and the Man Booker International Prize. It is the first book of Achebe’s African Trilogy, followed by “No Longer at Ease” and “Arrow of God.” It has previously been adapted as both a film and miniseries, with Pete Edochie starring as Okonkwo in the miniseries.
Elba recently earned an Emmy nomination for his starring role in the Apple series “Hijack.” He was also nominated four times for his role in the British crime thriller series “Luther” as well as for best guest actor in a comedy for “The Big C.” His other TV credits include playing Stringer Bell in HBO’s “The Wire” and co-creating and starring in the show “Turn Up Charlie” and creating and starring in “In the Long Run.” In film, Elba is known for his roles in “Beasts of No Nation,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” “The Harder They Fall,” James Gunn’s “Suicide Squad,” and for playing Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
He is repped by The Artists Partnership, Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole and The Lede Company.
As a producer, Oyelowo and Yoruba Saxon most recently produced the Paramount+ series “Lawmen: Bass Reeves,” with Oyelowo also starring as Reeves. Yoruba Saxon is also producing the upcoming Apple TV+ series “Government Cheese,” in which Oyelowo will also star. In film, the company has produced features such as “The After,” “The Water Man,” “A United Kingdom,” and the documentary feature “Ferguson Rising.”
Oyelowo is repped by CAA, Hamilton Hodell, Del Shaw Moonves, and ID.
Source: Variety
The third installment in the top-earning “PAW Patrol” film series has added Jennifer Hudson and comedian Fortune Feimster to the force.
Oscar winner Hudson and Feimster (“Fubar,” “The Mindy Project”) will lend their voices in addition to Mckenna Grace, who returns in the lead role of Skye. The franchise is produced by Spin Master Entertainment in association with Nickelodeon Movies. Paramount Pictures released the first two with combined worldwide box office grosses of over $345 million.
“Jennifer and Fortune are both exceptional talents, each bringing with them a global audience of devoted fans. Their addition to the ‘PAW Patrol 3’ cast, along with the return of Mckenna, whose work in the film’s predecessor was instrumental to its success… will undoubtedly make this film a puptastic adventure for preschoolers and their families around the world,” said Jennifer Dodge, Spin Master Entertainment president.
Ramsey Naito, president of Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation, said the cast’s “energy and creativity are infectious, and we know they will captivate young audiences and families everywhere.”
Veteran animation director Cal Brunker returns to helm his third “PAW Patrol” film. He also serves as co-writer alongside Bob Barlen. Spin Master’s Dodge, Laura Clunie and Toni Stevens are executive producing, alongside the company’s co-founder Ronnen Harary. The film will receive a full theatrical release from Paramount in 2026, with Elevation Pictures taking distribution in Canada.
Hudson holds coveted EGOT status in Hollywood, meaning she was won each of the significant entertainment awards: an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Her acting breakout came in Bill Condon’s “Dreamgirls,” which landed her the Academy Award for best supporting actress. She also hosts a syndicated daytime talk show and got her start as a beloved contestant on “American Idol.”
Feimster has enjoyed a long run of successful standup comedy specials, including “Good Fortune” and “Sweet and Salty,” which earned her Critics’ Choice Awards nominations. She most recently appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Netflix action-comedy series “Fubar.” Feimster will also voice a character in the forthcoming Disney feature “Zootopia 2.”
Hudson is represented by CAA, Original Project, and Ziffren Brittenham. Feimster is represented by UTA, Levity, CESD, and LGNA. Grace is represented by CAA, Landrum Arts, Entertainment 360, and Hansen Jacobson.
Source: Variety
It’s beginning to look a lot more like Christmas as Lifetime announces the greenlight of the new original movie, A Very Merry Beauty Salon, executive produced and starring Tia Mowry. RonReaco Lee, Donna Biscoe, Cocoa Brown and Ashli Auguillard are also set to star in A Very Merry Beauty Salon. The movie follows the lively women of an Atlanta beauty salon owned by Sienna (Mowry) who must prepare for the annual Tinsel Ball, but is Sienna also prepared for love when Lawrence (Lee) arrives to town? This marks a reunion for Mowry and Lee who previously starred together in the iconic sitcom Sister, Sister. This marks the final installment of Mowry’s three-picture deal with the network.
In A Very Merry Beauty Salon, Sienna, the owner of the bustling Divine Beauty Salon is preparing for Atlanta’s Tinsel Ball, where she will be honored for her charitable work in the community. The annual event takes a glamourous turn with the arrival of Lawrence, a charismatic CEO whose family’s wine brand is now co-sponsoring the Ball. Sparks fly between them, but Sienna’s mother Georgia (Donna Biscoe) who is the head of the Ball’s committee, worries his involvement may ruin the event’s traditions. As Sienna and Lawrence are unexpectedly paired as dance partners, romance blooms, setting the stage for a steamy romance that challenges Sienna’s thoughts on love and family and makes this year’s Tinsel Ball the most memorable yet.
Cocoa Brown and Ashli Auguillard star as Miss Kimmy and Ella, hairdressers at the salon.
A Very Merry Beauty Salon is produced for Lifetime by FOX Entertainment Studios’ (FES) Mar Vista Entertainment in association with GroupM Motion Entertainment. Adam Shepard, Larry Grimaldi, Hannah Pillemer and Fernando Szew executive produce for FES. Richard Foster and Chet Fenster executive produce for GroupM Motion Entertainment. Tia Mowry, Adam Griffin and Mychael Chinn also executive produce. Bobby Yan directs from a script by Tara Knight.
A Very Merry Beauty Salon joins the slate of the previous announced movies including FES’ The Holiday Junkie starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, as well as Christmas in the Spotlight starring Jessica Lord, Laith Wallschleger, Jennie Mai and Haley Kalil. Lifetime’s full slate will be announced in the coming weeks.
Mowry is represented by UTA, Vault Entertainment, True Public Relations and Felker Toczek Suddleson McGinnis Ryan.
Netflix is producing a docuseries from Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson about charges of sex trafficking and racketeering as well as sexual assault and violent abuse allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs. Alexandria Stapleton directs the project, which is currently in production.
“This is a story with significant human impact. It is a complex narrative spanning decades, not just the headlines or clips seen so far,” 50 Cent and Stapleton said in an exclusive statement to Variety. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to give a voice to the voiceless and to present authentic and nuanced perspectives. While the allegations are disturbing, we urge all to remember that Sean Combs’ story is not the full story of hip-hop and its culture. We aim to ensure that individual actions do not overshadow the culture’s broader contributions.”
50 Cent executive produces through his G-Unit Film & Television banner, while Stapleton executive produces for House of Nonfiction, with Texas Crew Productions also producing.
50 Cent first announced that G-Unit would be producing the docuseries in early December, at which point Combs had been sued by four different women, beginning with ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, whose lawsuit opened the floodgates against him, and with whom he quickly arrived at a settlement. At the time, 50 Cent shared a clip on X that showed Bad Boy Records rapper Mark Curry alleging that Combs would spike bottles of champagne at his parties before women drank from them. Proceeds from the documentary, the rapper-producer said, will be used to support sexual assault victims.
Just last week, Combs was arrested in New York and charged on three counts: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. He pleaded not guilty, but remains in custody as he was denied bail at his appeal hearing.
Combs has also been hit with several more lawsuits. In February, his former employee Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones alleged that Combs made unwanted sexual advances and forced him to hire and engage in relations with sex workers in 2023. Jones himself was later mentioned in an April lawsuit in which Grace O’Marcaigh alleged that, while working as a steward on a yacht, Combs’ son, Christian “King” Combs, forced her to perform oral sex on him and that Combs paid the yacht’s captain to keep the matter under wraps. In May, model Crystal McKinney alleged that Combs drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2003, and earlier this month, former Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard sued Sean “Diddy” Combs for verbal abuse, assault, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In May, CNN reported on a leaked video that showed Combs grabbing, shoving and kicking Cassie in a hotel. Days later, he said he took “full responsibility” for his actions in the video.
That was his first and only time admitting to any wrongdoing. Before then, he had denied everything, posting a statement to social media in December that read “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” Combs said in a statement posted to social media in December. “For the last couple of weeks, I have sat silently and watched people try to assassinate my character, destroy my reputation and my legacy,” he said. “Sickening allegations have been made against me by individuals looking for a quick payday. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth.” The post no longer appears on his Instagram account, but remains pinned to the top of his X (formerly Twitter) account at the time of this article’s publication.
Additionally, after Homeland Security raided his Los Angeles and Miami properties in March, he posted on Instagram the video for his 1998 song “Victory,” in which he runs from police, with the caption “Bad Boy for life.”
This is Netflix’s first official confirmation of its involvement in the series, though 50 Cent discussed the project with The Hollywood Reporter in July.
Source: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter
Marvel released the first trailer for “Thunderbolts*,” opening in theaters on May 2, 2025.
In the upcoming superhero pic, starring “Captain America” mainstay Sebastian Stan and “Black Widow” cast members Florence Pugh and David Harbour, reformed Marvel villains are forced to team up to conduct covert operations on behalf of the U.S. government.
The “Thunderbolts*” crew also includes Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster from “Black Widow”), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost from “Ant-Man and the Wasp”), Wyatt Russell (John Walker from “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (as mastermind Valentina Allegra de Fontaine). “Top Gun: Maverick” star Lewis Pullman plays a mysterious character named Bob.
“Everyone here has done bad things,” Pugh says in the trailer, brought face to face with the rest of the team. “Shadow ops, robbing government labs, contract kills. … Someone wants us gone.”
Louis-Dreyfus, whose character is the conniving director of the CIA, says, “We’re brought up with this belief that there are good guys, and there are bad guys. But, eventually, you come to realize that there are bad guys, and there are worse guys. And nothing else.”
Based on Kurt Busiek’s comic series of the same name, “Thunderbolts*” is directed by Jake Schreier, with Kevin Feige producing. Louis D’Esposito, Brian Chapek, Jason Tamez, and Scarlett Johansson serve as executive producers. The screenplay is written by Eric Pearson (“Black Widow,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Transformers One,” “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”), “Beef” creator Lee Sung Jin and co-showrunner of “The Bear” Joanna Calo.
Watch the trailer for “Thunderbolts*” below.
Ann Lowe — the pioneering fashion designer and American couturier — is getting the biopic treatment at TriStar thanks to Serena Williams and Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth Carter.
Sony’s TriStar Pictures acquired the pitch for the project, titled The Dress, about Lowe, one of the country’s most prolific but also least-known couturiers. Lowe, who died in 1981, designed mid-century wardrobes for the biggest names in American society and industry, including members of the Rockefeller, Roosevelt, Du Pont, and Whitney families.
The story will focus on how Lowe, who was the first Black woman to own a shop on Madison Avenue, was commissioned to design the wedding dress that Jackie Bouvier wore at her 1953 wedding to John F. Kennedy.
Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, the writers behind the Mister Rogers movie A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood, will pen the screenplay based on the book By Her Own Design by Piper Huguley.
Williams and Caroline Currier will produce through Nine Two Six Productions. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster will also produce through their company Blue Harp. Carter, who won two Oscars for costume design for Black Panther and follow-up Wakanda Forever, will executive produce and also be the film’s costume designer.
Shary Shirazi, who brought in the pitch, will oversee for TriStar, along with studio president Nicole Brown.
Williams, who is repped by WME and Foster Garvey PC, launched Nine Two Six Productions in 2023. Nine Two Six produced the women’s soccer doc Copa 71, and ESPN+’s In The Arena: Serena Williams.
Fitzerman-Blue and Harpster, whose other credits Transparent and Netflix series Painkiller, are repped by UTA and Kaplan/Perrone. Their other studio feature credits include Disney title Maleficent and the studio’s upcoming live-action remake of Bambi.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” Season 2 has found its Thalia Grace.
Tamara Smart has been cast as Thalia in the Disney+ series. Smart will appear in the recurring guest star role alongside series regulars Walker Scobell, Leah Sava Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Charlie Bushnell, Dior Goodjohn, and Daniel Diemer. Variety recently exclusively reported that Timothy Simons will appear in Season 2 as Tantalus.
Season 2 of the show will be based on the book “The Sea of Monsters,” the second book in the Percy Jackson series by author Rick Riordan. Production is currently underway on Season 2, which is slated to debut in 2025.
“Thalia Grace is one of the most important characters in the Percy Jackson universe, so the right casting was critical,” Riordan said. “Thalia is a powerful warrior, a fiercely loyal friend, and a demigod rebel with a very ‘punk’ / ‘rage-against-the-machine’ sensibility. As soon as we saw Tamara Smart play this role, we knew we had found our daughter of Zeus. She was, no pun intended, electric. Tamara puts the ‘grace’ in Thalia Grace!”
Thalia is further described as “the Demigod daughter of Zeus who made her last stand to protect her friends at the edge of Camp Half-Blood. Rather than let her die, Zeus transformed her into a tree that anchors the force field that protects camp. Tough and prickly, with a rebel/punk sensibility, Thalia is fiercely loyal to her friends and distrustful of her father’s world.”
Smart recently starred in the Netflix series “Resident Evil,” in which she played the daughter of the character played by the late Lance Reddick. Reddick starred as Zeus in Season 1 of “Percy Jackson.” She has also been in shows like “The Worst Witch” and films like “Artemis Fowl” and “A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting.”
She is repped by Gersh, ColorCreative, 42 in the UK, and Shelby Weiser.
“I’m so grateful and excited to be joining the cast of ‘Percy Jackson and the Olympians,’” Smart said. “It’s so close to my heart. Lance Reddick and I always spoke about working together again, so it’s that much more special and important to me to play his daughter once more as Thalia and to keep his memory alive. I feel his presence all around me and strive to make him proud on this exciting journey.”
“Percy Jackson and the Olympians” was developed for television by Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg. Both serve as executive producers along with Dan Shotz, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, Albert Kim, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Jason Ensler and Sarah Watson.
Created by Rick Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg, season two of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is executive produced by Steinberg and Dan Shotz alongside Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Craig Silverstein, Albert Kim, The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Bert Salke, The Gotham Group’s Jeremy Bell and D.J. Goldberg, James Bobin, Jim Rowe, Jason Ensler and Sarah Watson. The series hails from Disney Branded Television and 20th Television.
Source: Variety