Entertainment

Zendaya talks new film 'Challengers,' returning to Met Gala

ABC News

It's Zendaya's world, and we're all just living in it.

That's the plot of life as well as the actress' new film, Challengers, a romantic drama set in the tennis world, co-starring Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist, and directed by Luca Guadagnino.

Zendaya stars as Tashi, a tennis prodigy who coaches her husband Art (Faist), a tennis champion on a losing streak, as he is set to face off against his former best friend Patrick (O'Connor), who also happens to be Tashi's ex-boyfriend.

Zendaya told Good Morning America on Tuesday that the sports knowledge she had going into filming was all thanks to tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams.

"What I knew of tennis before going into this film was really them," she said. "That was my only understanding of the sport mostly, growing up and seeing their influence in my life and in the world."

Zendaya said she was "so nervous" for the Williams sisters to see the movie, calling the experience "terrifying" but "an honor."

Given the love triangle at the center of the story, O'Connor said their characters "are tied" and "have this kind of invisible pull between the three of them."

"The whole film is really them dealing with the grief of not being together and then trying to find their way back together and they do it in some dubious ways," he added.

Zendaya is so tight with her co-stars, she confirmed they'll be joining her at this year's Met Gala, for which she is a co-chair.

"I haven't been to the Met for quite a few years now, so I'm coming back. I'm a little nervous," she said. "These guys, I believe, will be there, so I'll have my crew with me and we'll keep each other company. It's exciting."

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Jennifer Lopez and Simu Liu go bot-to-bot in Netflix sci-fi thriller 'Atlas'

Netflix

On Tuesday, Netflix dropped the full trailer to the Jennifer Lopez sci-fi thriller Atlas, which also stars Barbie's Simu Liu and Academy Award nominee Sterling K. Brown.

In the movie, the This Is Me… Now star plays Atlas Shepherd, "a brilliant but misanthropic data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence," who joins a mission to capture Harlan (Liu), a renegade robot with whom she shares a mysterious past.

"If you really want to try to capture Harlan, you need me on that mission," she says.

"Don't worry: We are simply the better versions of you," Harlan tells Atlas icily.

However, when her mission goes sideways and she's blown out of an exploding starship, Atlas finds herself marooned on an inhospitable planet, protected by a giant robot suit — and its own onboard AI.

The streamer continues, "Her only hope of saving the future of humanity from AI is to trust it."

The trailer is heavy on the action, with Jenny from the bot arming it to the teeth and taking on Harlan's mechanized army.

Atlas drops on Netflix May 24.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Denzel Washington tops survey of celebs people would love to see as president

METROPOLIS/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

If some Americans had their way, there would be a new President Washington: Denzel, that is.

A poll of 1,000 people ranked 40 stars to see who they'd like to see in the White House, and the Equalizer franchise star topped the list, with 15% of the vote.

Coming in a close second was The People's Champion Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, becoming the people's president for 13% of respondents.

Third place went to Tom Hanks with 12% voting for him; former California mayor and Academy Award winner Clint Eastwood ranked fourth with 10% of the vote, tied with George Clooney to round out the top five.

Oprah Winfrey was sixth (9%); Matthew McConaughey placed seventh (8%), and billionaires Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Mark Cuban took spots 8, 9 and 10, all with 7% of the vote.

That said, 36% said they weren't particularly interested in voting for any celebrity; 21% said star status would actively make them not vote for that choice.

Just 13% of respondents said celebrity status would make them "much more likely" to vote for that person.

Survey questions, methodology and results have not been verified or endorsed by ABC News or The Walt Disney Company.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


"Gross": Anne Hathaway on having to "make out" with 10 auditioning actors

ABC/Lorenzo Bevilaqua

Now the producer and star of the romantic film The Idea of You, Anne Hathaway is looking back to the bad, old days of the genre.

To V magazine, she reveals that to find a suitable male co-star for an unnamed movie in the 2000s, she had to make out with 10 hopefuls in one day, calling that "the worst way to do it."

"I was told, 'We have 10 guys coming today and you're cast. Aren't you excited to make out with all of them?' And I thought, 'Is there something wrong with me?' because I wasn't excited."

"I thought it sounded gross," the Oscar winner adds. "I was so young and terribly aware how easy it was to lose everything by being labeled 'difficult,' so I just pretended I was excited and got on with it."

Anne allows, "It wasn't a power play, no one was trying to be awful or hurt me. It was just a very different time and now we know better."

Speaking of, Hathaway described how they found her younger love interest for her character Solène in The Idea of You.

"We asked each of the actors coming in to choose a song that they felt their character would love, that they would put on to get my character to dance, and then we'd do a short little improv," the performer recalled.

The actor who nabbed the role of boy band superstar Hayes Campbell, Nicholas Galitzine, was already on his way when he chose a song from the Alabama Shakes.

"And he saw me smile, so he relaxed, and we just started dancing ... Nobody was trying to get the gig. We were just in a space, dancing," Hathaway says.

She recalled, "I looked over and Michael Showalter, our director, was beaming. Spark!"
 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Kim Kardashian doesn't talk Taylor diss track on 'Kimmel', talks about once being Madonna's dog walker

ABC

While Jimmy Kimmel made a reference to The Tortured Poets Department during Monday night's monologue, he didn't talk about Taylor Swift's purported diss track with its purported target -- and his guest -- Kim Kardashian

In Taylor's now-viral hit "thanK you aIMee," thanks to its unusual capitalization, Swifties quickly deduced the "spray-tanned" high school bully Taylor was singing about was Kim.

In fact, Kim's Instagram is still being spammed by Swifites referencing the song, including replies like, "Finally someone stood up to Aimee."

On Kimmel, the Kardashian kerfuffle was avoided, with her insisting "Life is good."

Instead, Kim reminisced about growing up next to Madonna when Kim was "7 or 8 years old."

"Kourtney and I would walk her dog after school in exchange for her jewelry," the American Horror Story: Delicate star revealed.

Kim added, "She was transitioning out of the like '80s neon phase, and so one day she just ... handed us a shoebox of these like neon bracelets, and Kourtney and I went to school and everyone was like, 'Oh my God, I love your bracelets,' and we were like, 'Thanks, Madonna gave them to us,' and they were like, 'No.'"

Sadly, Kim said, they didn't keep any of the bracelets.

Jimmy was in the mood to talk about Madonna, showing footage of his sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez joining her onstage during her Celebration Tour's stop in Mexico City last weekend, where he took part in the concert's "Vogue" scene.

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


LaKeith Stanfield heads to 'El Paso' video game adaptation, and more

Judas and the Black Messiah star LaKeith Stanfield is teaming up with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, producer of the GI Joe and Transformers movies, for a film adaptation of the video game El Paso, Elsewhere, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Stanfield is co-producing the film and is also in talks to star. The game follows vampire hunter James Savage, currently chasing down his girlfriend, Janet aka Draculae, who wants to bring the world to an end. The film, per producers, explores James' personal story in more depth ...

Psych's Dulé Hill and Expats actress Sarayu Blue have been tapped for recurring roles opposite Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass in a new Hulu series tentatively titled Orphan, according to Deadline. The eight-episode limited series, executive produced by Pompeo, follows Midwestern couple Michael and Kristine Barnett, played respectively by Duplass and Pompeo, who adopt a girl with a rare form of dwarfism, but begin to question whether she's who she says she is. Hill will play a detective investigating allegations against the Barnetts. Blue will portray the parent of one of the kids at Kristine's day care center ...

Tramell Tillman, best known for his role in the Apple+ series Severance, has signed on for a role in the eighth Mission Impossible movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Tillman, along with fellow franchise newcomers Katy O’Brian, Nick Offerman and Hannah Waddingham, will join Mission Impossible vets Henry Czerny, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff and Vanessa Kirby. Plot details have not been revealed ...

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Ryan Gosling praises partner Eva Mendes: She and their daughters "come first"

Sonia Recchia/Getty Images)

Ryan Gosling is sharing what partner Eva Mendes and their children mean to him.

When asked who his heroes were, Gosling told Men's Health in an interview that they were his Uncle Bill, who he said believed in him when he was younger, and "Eva, obviously."

The actor, who is starring in The Fall Guy following the 2023 blockbuster film, Barbie, which earned him an Academy Award nomination, added that Mendes and their daughters, Esmeralda and Amada, guide him.

"It always comes back to family first," he said. "I don't think I'll regret anything professionally, but I do think when it comes to Eva [Mendes] and the girls, they come first."

Gosling also revealed that the dish he is skilled at making for his family is a "Moroccan chicken bastilla."

Last month, following Gosling's Oscars performance, Mendes shared a video on Instagram of herself standing next to his Oscars dressing room sign.

"Always by my man," she said in the caption of the post.

She also shared a photo and said, "You took Ken all the way to the Oscar's, RG. Now come home, we need to put the kids to bed."

On Monday, April 22, Gosling stepped out for a special screening of The Fall Guy in London with his co-stars, including Emily Blunt.

The film follows Colt Seavers, a "battle-scarred stuntman who, having left the business a year earlier to focus on both his physical and mental health, is drafted back into service when the star of a mega-budget studio movie -- being directed by his ex, Jody Moreno, -- played by Blunt -- goes missing," according to the film's synopsis.

Hanna Waddingham, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Stephanie Hsu, Teresa Palmer and Winston Duke also star in the film.

"The Fall Guy" hits theaters on May 3.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


'South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut' and 'Team America' making 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray debuts

Paramount Home Entertainment

In celebration of both hit movies' respective 25th and 20th anniversaries, Trey Parker and Matt Stone's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Team America: World Police are finally coming the 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray formats.

Both films will be released on June 25 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

The studio touts, "Twenty-five years after [its release], South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut remains as irreverent, insightful, and hilarious as when it first premiered. Now, fans can enjoy the breathtaking animation, lyrical voice work, and show-stopping musical numbers all in eye-popping 4K Ultra HD."

The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Song category and honored with Robin Williams famously belting out its anthem "Blame Canada" at the Oscars in 2000.

The 25th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo includes access to a digital copy of the film and — for the first time — a sing-a-long version.

The Blu-ray bonus content also includes commentary from Parker and Stone, and a music video for "What Would Brian Boitano Do?"

The movie will hit select theaters on June 23 and June 26. Check out fathomevents.com for details. 

As for Team America, its 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo comes packed with making-of featurettes, including the building of the film's sets and marionettes, and an Up Close with Kim Jong-Il.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Jimmy Kimmel thanks hospitals, raises money for son Billy's birthday

ABC/Jeff Lipsky

Jimmy Kimmel's son Billy turned 7 on Sunday, and the talk show host is thanking the medical staff at two well-known Los Angeles hospitals for the milestone.

He and Billy are also paying it forward by raising money for some of the children there.

"Billy turns 7 today and is doing great thanks to the doctors, nurses, therapists and staff at @ChildrensLA & @CedarsSinai," explained Jimmy, whose son needed surgery to correct a congenital heart defect.

"Billy is asking friends 'to give $7 because I'm seven to help kids in the hospital,'" he continued, adding of his son, "He also wants a spy kit."

Kimmel explained Billy's goal is "to raise $100 to help sick kids" and invited others to kick in.

Billy underwent his first open-heart surgery at just 3 days old and had another when he was 7 months old. His health took center stage after he was born in 2017, when Kimmel shared with his audience the trials the newborn was facing. "Poor kid. Not only did he get a bad heart, he got my face," he said at the time.

Kimmel tearfully told viewers of Billy's successful but "terrifying" first surgery, calling it "the longest three hours of my life." At the time, Kimmel individually named the "awe-inspiring" doctors and nurses who saved Billy and countless others.

His son's health struggles led him to become an advocate for health care.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


New for Earth Day on Disney+: Priyanka Chopra Jonas narrates Disneynature's 'Tiger'

Disney+

Disneynature’s Tiger pounces onto Disney+ on Earth Day, April 22.

Narrated by Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the project "lifts the veil on our planet’s most revered and charismatic animal, inviting viewers to journey alongside Ambar, a young tigress raising her cubs in the fabled forests of India."

In the launch announcement, an "honored" Priyanka expresses, "It’s just wonderful to be able to be a part of something so special and to tell the story of this magnificent animal that comes from my country."

She adds, "I have always loved tigers and I feel a kinship with the female tiger -- I feel very protective of my family. Ambar’s journey is something I think every mom would really relate to."

Co-director Vanessa Berlowitz tells ABC Audio, "The [tiger] moms are even more amazing than we thought they'd be. The males are kind of less stereotype, kind of one-dimensional baddies."

She adds, "I also hope people take away the idea that, you know, this is a positive conservation success story. Tigers are doing really well in India because of what Indians have done to save them."

Co-director Mark Linfield tells ABC Audio that Earth Day was the perfect release day for the film. "I actually love the idea that there's a day when people are actually forced to stop and just think about nature and the environment, a little bit more than they might on an average day," he says. 

Linfield adds, "The more time we spend in nature and, you know, just get out into the wild ... It's good for everything. And it's good to remind us that we're part of nature and we're not separate from it." 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Marvel at Ryan Reynolds' "Ginematic universe" with 'Deadpool'/Aviation tie-in

Marvel Studios - Aviation American Gin

With the new Deadpool & Wolverine trailer currently blowing up the internet, Ryan Reynolds invites you to raise a glass to it with a most appropriate bevvy: his Aviation American Gin, which has been given a limited-edition, Deadpool-approved, red-and-black makeover.

Reynolds explained he first tried the spirit while shooting the first movie, which debuted in 2016. "Back then, Aviation wasn't big enough to tie-in to a big summer movie and Deadpool was lucky to get any sponsors at all. A few hundred weeks and drinks later, here we are!" he says.

He then jokes, "They grow up so quickly, don't they?"

According to the ad copy, "Encased in sleek black glass and accented with red custom strip stamps and metallic details, these bottles are the ultimate collector’s item for fans of both the movie and spirit.[O]ffering a nod to the iconic character, each bottle variant showcases one of six distinctive Deadpool icons, while the exterior of each gin case simulates the look of Deadpool’s signature suit fabric."

And if Disney backing the R-rated superhero movie isn't adult enough, ABC News' parent company is enthusing about the grown-up merch, too.

"The Deadpool film franchise has been a cultural phenomenon since its inception," said Holly Frank, who oversees partnership management and operations for Disney-owned Marvel. "We're so excited to be collaborating with Aviation American Gin to give fans a chance to engage with the world of Deadpool in a whole new way leading up to the eagerly anticipated theatrical release of Deadpool & Wolverine," which hits theaters July 26.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


"Enough": The three stars of 'The Blair Witch Project' speak out against Lionsgate after reboot announcement

Donogue in 'The Blair Witch Project'

Days after Lionsgate announced it will be rebooting The Blair Witch Project, the three people who starred in the micro-budgeted film — only to see it become a blockbuster — are speaking out.

Joshua Leonard, Michael Williams and Rei Hance née Heather Donoghue played, respectively, Josh, Mike and Heather in the 1999 "found footage" horror film. Because they were not SAG-AFTRA members when the film was shot, they say they've never received residuals from the movie, which went on to make nearly $250 million worldwide.

To that end, they've issued a joint statement to Lionsgate, the studio that now owns the franchise rights, to implore them to do what's right.

The trio is asking for "[r]etroactive + future residual payments ... equivalent to the sum that would've been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made."

They're also asking to be allowed to provide "meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch [project or product]" ... provided their "names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes."

Indeed, photos of Leonard and Donoghue appeared in press coverage about the new project; toys bearing their legal names have been sold over the years.

Blair Witch Project directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez released their own statement, co-signed by the original film's producers, backing up the trio.

"While we ... respect Lionsgate's right to monetize the intellectual property as it sees fit, we must highlight the significant contributions of the original cast." They called the actors "the literal faces of what has become a franchise."

Hance said "a 1.5 page contract for $1k signed without an attorney or agent when I was 23" effectively meant "a lifetime of theft of my fundamental belongings—my name, image, and voice."

She added, "It's been 25 years. Enough."

 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


"I'll always want to do more": Tom Holland on 'Spider-Man' movies

Marvel Studios

Tom Holland was at the Sands International Film Festival in St. Andrews, Scotland, over the weekend, where his new film collab with his brother Harry was screened. Tom stars in the short Last Call, which Harry co-wrote and directed.

To Deadline's Mike Fleming, Tom said he wants to do a fourth Spider-Man movie as much as the fans want him to be in one.

"The simple answer is that I'll always want to do Spider-Man films," Holland told the trade. "I owe my life and career to Spider-Man. So the simple answer is yes. I'll always want to do more."

That said, it gets "complicated" after the more than $1.9 billion success of his third go-round as the hero, 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home

"We have the best in the business working toward whatever the story might be. But until we've cracked it, we have a legacy to protect," Tom said. "The third movie was so special in so many ways that we need to make sure we do the right thing."

That movie saw Holland's Peter Parker teaming up with the previous big-screen incarnations of the hero, played by Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire

Holland also enthused, "This is the first time in this process that I've been part of the creative so early. It's just a process where I’m watching and learning. It's just a really fun stage for me."

He added, "Like I said, everyone wants it to happen. But we want to make sure we're not overdoing the same things."

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


LFG: New 'Deadpool & Wolverine' shows Wade recruiting Logan to save the world

Marvel Studios

On Monday morning, Marvel Studios dropped a second trailer to Deadpool & Wolverine, and it's packed with both Easter Eggs and f-bombs.

Hugh Jackman's Logan is seen at a bar when Ryan Reynolds' titular motormouth shows up. 

"Hi, Peanut," he says, referencing Ant-Man's name for his daughter. "I'm gonna need you to come with me right now." 

Logan replies, "Look, lady: I'm not interested." 

After Wade physically tries to pick him up, Logan attempts to deploy his claws, only to suffer a performance issue, as seen in 2016's Logan. "It's quite common in Wolverines over 40," Deadpool quips.

Long story short, in the timeline Wade enters to meet his idol, this version of Logan "let down the entire world," according to Matthew Macfadyen's Paradox, and Logan can't live with the guilt. 

Deadpool tries to motivate him to jump into his world to save it — but that comes after much, much fighting between the would-be allies.

The pair trade blows against a wasteland decorated with the wreckage of the 20th Century Fox logo — a reference to the studio, and both the Deadpool and Wolverine characters, now being under the umbrella of ABC News' parent company, Disney.

"I don't know anything about saving worlds, but you do," DP implores, as Madonna's "Like A Prayer" begins, marking Logan's change of heart.

"Let's f****** go," DP says, echoed by Wolvie, and the pair are seen jumping through a portal together.

Emma Corrin plays the heavy this time around, Cassandra Nova, an extremely powerful mutant and counterpart to her twin brother, Charles Xavier. Wolverine's metal claws are no threat: She simply uses her powers to puppeteer him. 

"Boys are so silly," she says.

Deadpool & Wolverine opens July 26.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


Kevin Bacon returns to 'Footloose' high school in Utah for film's 40th anniversary

Disney/Randy Holmes

Actor Kevin Bacon traveled to Payson High School this weekend, 40 years after starring in the classic film Footloose on the school’s Payson, Utah campus.

Bacon made the trip Saturday after students of the school campaigned on social media for months, in hopes of drawing the actor back to the campus that propelled him to massive fame for their "Everybody Cut Footloose" themed prom.

According to a press release from Bacon's non-profit, SixDegrees.com, a campaign with the hashtag #BaconToPayson began last fall in an effort to see the star reunited with his fictional campus before the actual campus is demolished in renovations.

"Here we are at this beautiful, beautiful spot on this beautiful, beautiful day," Bacon began in a speech to a cheering crowd.

"It’s been a long time, it's been 40 years ... that just blows my mind," he continued, adding, "Things look a little different around here. I'd say the thing that looks the most different is me."

"You were all just tireless, unrelenting in your desire to have me return," he said. "I think it's great to see that kind of commitment to anything. I also think that it’s amazing, the power that this movie has had to just kind of bring people together and connect on the basic ideas that are behind the movie."

Bacon said some of those themes worth remembering are standing up to authority, and standing up for your right to express yourself.

Bacon's SixDegrees.com, "supports impactful initiatives to sustain and enrich local communities," according to the website.

In honor of Bacon’s visit, more than 1,000 volunteers "banded together to assemble and distribute 5,000 Essential Resource Kits to young people in need of resources throughout Utah, Colorado and Nevada," according to organizers.
 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.


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