Don Cheadle Set To Host ‘Saturday Night Live’ For First Time
Don Cheadle will make his Saturday Night Live hosting debut on Feb. 16, SNL announcedd today. His musical guest will be Grammy Award winner Gary Clark Jr., also making his bow on the NBC show.
The Cheadle episode follows SNL’s Halsey-hosted Feb. 9 episode (which itself follows this Saturday’s rerun with Jason Momoa and Mumford & Sons). Halsey was an SNL musical guest last year, and also performed alongside Lil’ Wayne on the show in November.
Cheadle’s appearance coincides with his current Showtime gig Black Monday, and he’ll once again play Col. James Rhodes in Avengers: Endgame, hitting theaters April 26.
Clark will be plugging his upcoming new album The Land, to be released Feb. 22.
Source: Deadline
First ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ Trailer Shows Off Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Fast and Furious’ Spinoff
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham are at the starting line.
The duo’s first trailer for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw has hit, showing off the first footage from the Fast and Furious spinoff.
Johnson and Statham established strong chemistry through the last few Fast and Furious films and will reprise their roles as law enforcement Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and assassin Deckard Shaw (Statham).
Idris Elba stars as the film’s villain, while The Crown star Vanessa Kirby is also among the cast of Hobbs & Shaw. David Leitch, the former stuntman and director behind action-heavy movies such as Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde and John Wick, is helming this feature.
The Fast and Furious franchise dates back to 2001, and has seen eight installments hit the big screen. It has two more installments of the main series planned, and Fast star Vin Diesel has also teased a female-centric spinoff movie as being in the works. Hobbs & Shaw is the first spinoff for the Fast and Furious franchise to hit theaters.
The Universal film opens Aug. 2, 2019. Watch the full trailer below.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Will Smith Shares Official First Look Image Of ‘Bad Boys For Life’
Will Smith has shared the first official look at Bad Boys 3 – officially titled Bad Boys for Life. Smith and Martin Lawrence team up once again as narcotics officers in Miami for the first time since 2003’s Bad Boys II.
In the Bad Boys franchise, Smith and Lawrence star as Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, respectively. In the first film, the two are forced to singlehandedly investigate a heist they believe is an inside job; in the sequel, they’re tasked with stopping a Cuban drug lord who is fueling an MDMA epidemic, while Mike conceals the fact that he’s dating Marcus’ sister – an undercover DEA agent named Syd (Gabrielle Union). Both films were directed by Michael Bay, and with Bad Boys for Life, Bay is passing the torch to the directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, who are also attached to Beverly Hills Cop 4.Bad Boys for Life will follow the two leads as they reconnect after a falling out in the midst of a hit put out on Mike and Marcus’ heads. Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, DJ Khaled, and Joe Pantoliano also star.
In anticipation of Bad Boys for Life, Smith posted a Boomerang photo on his Instagram featuring Lawrence and himself standing side-by-side with badges draped around their necks in a rundown apartment. Smith is holding a handgun, and he captioned the photo with the text: “FIRST LOOK! Theeeeey’re BAAAAaaaack! 🙂 @badboys.” The song playing over the post is P. Diddy’s aptly titled “Bad Boy for Life.” Though the photo doesn’t give away any specifics regarding the plot, it’s the first official shot of Mike and Marcus back on the job on screen for the first time in sixteen years.
Aside from their own personal struggles, Mike and Marcus will also be contending with a rival police unit who reportedly attempts to one-up the Bad Boys duo. The team is made up of Hudgens, Ludwig, and Melton’s characters, though it’s unclear how big of a role they’ll play in the overall story, considering Mike and Marcus already have plenty on their plate given the personal vendetta they’re dealing with.
While it’s no doubt exciting for fans of the Bad Boys franchise to revisit these characters again, it’ll be interesting to see how audiences will respond to Mike and Marcus’ relationship so long after the first film was released back in 1995. That said, as far as success goes, Bumblebee recently proved that trading in Bay as director for someone new isn’t necessarily bad luck for a franchise. Bumblebee became the most critically-lauded film in the Transformers franchise and considering neither Bad Boys nor Bad Boys II were exactly a hit with critics, changing the formula a bit for Bad Boys for Life could prove to be successful.
Source: Screen Rant
Nick Cannon Stepping In For Ailing Wendy Williams
Nick Cannon will temporarily sub for an ailing Wendy Williams on her talk show.
“The Wendy Williams Show” announced Tuesday on their official Instagram account that Cannon will guest-host for part of next week.
“Friend to the show and host of Fox’s The Masked Singer and MTV’s Wild n’ Out, @nickcannon will be guest hosting The Wendy Williams Show on Monday, February 4th, Tuesday, February 5th & Wednesday, February 6th,” the post read. “The new hour long episodes will include Wendy’s staple Hot Topics segment, ‘Ask Wendy,’ celebrity interviews and more!”
Williams shared last year that she was struggles with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune condition that affects the thyroid. She took a break from her show last February as a result.
Williams continues to deal with medical challenges related to her condition and is also recovering from a fractured shoulder, according to her show team.
James Ingram, Grammy-Winning & Chart-Topping R&B Singer, Dies At 66
R&B singer James Ingram, who collected two Grammy Awards and a pair of No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits over his decades-long career, has died at age 66. The news was shared via Twitter by Ingram’s friend and creative partner Debbie Allen on Tuesday (Jan. 29).
There are no details yet about when or how Ingram died.
“I have lost my dearest friend and creative partner James Ingram to the Celestial Choir,” Allen tweeted. “He will always be cherished, loved and remembered for his genius, his love of family and his humanity. I am blessed to have been so close. We will forever speak his name.”
The singer collected two Grammys during his career: His song “One Hundred Ways” won best male R&B performance in 1981 and his duet with Michael McDonald on “Yah Mo B There” won best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals in 1984. He was also nominated for back-to-back best original song Oscars in 1993 and 1994, for co-writing “The Day I Fall in Love” from Beethoven’s 2nd and “Look What Love Has Done” from Junior.
Ingram charted nine hits on the Hot 100, including a pair of No. 1s: “Baby Come to Me,” with Patti Austin, in 1983, and “I Don’t Have the Heart” in 1990. Other top 20-charting Hot 100 hits included “Just Once” (No. 17 in 1981, Quincy Jones featuring Ingram), “Yah Mo Be There” (No. 19 in 1984, with Michael McDonald) and “Somewhere Out There” (No. 2 in 1987, with Linda Ronstadt). He also logged 19 hits on the Adult Contemporary airplay chart and 18 entries on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
He also tallied hits as a songwriter, co-penning Michael Jackson’s top 10 Hot 100 hit “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” from the Thriller album, as well as songs recorded by Pointer Sisters, George Benson, Ray Charles, Shalamar and others.
Source: Billboard
‘Empire’ Actor Jussie Smollett Alleges Homophobic Attack In Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) — A cast member on the hit television show “Empire” alleged he was physically attacked by men in Chicago who shouted racial and homophobic slurs, police said Tuesday.
Police did not release the actor’s name but a statement from Fox, which airs “Empire,” identified him as Jussie Smollett, 36. Authorities said they are investigating the alleged attack as a hate crime. Smollett is black and openly gay.
According to a police statement, the actor was walking near the Chicago River downtown around 2 a.m. Tuesday when he was approached by two men who shouted at him, struck him in the face and poured an “unknown substance” on him before one of them wrapped a rope around his neck.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that when officers first came in contact with Smollett, he still had a rope around his neck. While being interviewed by detectives, Guglielmi said Smollett told them that the attackers yelled he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan that some critics of the president have decried as racist and discriminatory.
The police spokesman added that the two men were wearing masks. Investigators have not found any surveillance video or witnesses from which they can put together a description of the offenders, he said.
Smollett was able to take himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was last reported in good condition.
Guglielmi also said the FBI is investigating a threatening letter targeting Smollett that was sent to the Fox studio in Chicago last week.
The hourlong drama “Empire” follows an African-American family as they navigate the ups and downs of the record industry. Jamal Lyon, Smollett’s character, is the gay, middle son of Empire Entertainment founder Lucious and Cookie Lyon, played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, respectively.
Twentieth Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released a statement Tuesday in support of Smollett. “The entire studio, network and production stands united in the face of any despicable act of violence,” the statement read.
“Empire” co-creator Lee Daniels also voiced his support for Smollett in an Instagram video.
“You didn’t deserve, nor anybody deserves, to have a noose put around your neck,” Daniels said. “You are better than that, we are better than that, America is better than that.”
California Sen. Kamala Harris, a 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, knows Smollett personally and called the attack “outrageous” and “awful.”
“He is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I’ve ever met,” Harris said Tuesday, adding that she’s still learning more details about the incident.
Smollett has been active in LBGTQ issues and he released his debut album, “Sum of My Music,” last year.
“Empire” is shot in Chicago and a Fox spokeswoman said the program is currently in production.
Kyrie Irving To Star In And Produce Horror Film About A Hotel So Haunted, NBA Players Avoid It
Kyrie Irving debuted as a new Hollywood star in the family comedy Uncle Drew, and now he’s moving onto horror.
The NBA player will star in horror movie about a haunted Oklahoma hotel, according to Variety. The film, currently sans a title, will also be executive produced by Irving along with Imagine Entertainment. Sanjay Sharma and The Players Tribune will also have executive producer credits with Irving. Bobby Cohen and Imagine chairman Brain Grazer will produce.
The film will combine satire and social commentary with scares based on an article optioned by Imagine from The Players’ Tribune. The article details the oral histories of NBA players who have stayed at Oklahoma City’s Skirvin Hotel. According to the article, several players will not stay at the hotel because of the hotel’s haunted legacy.
As Trip Savvy reports, a ghost nicknamed “Effie” is supposedly the spirit of a maid who had an affair with the original owner of the hotel, William Skirvin. According to the legend, Skirvin locked a pregnant Effie in a room on the 10th floor, the highest floor before its remodeling, in order to escape scandal. She wasn’t allowed to leave her room even after having her child and she allegedly jumped with her child from the window.
Guests have reported that Effie has made them lose sleep due to the sound of a crying child and a nude Effie has been known to appear in male guests’ showers, propositioning them. There have also been reports from the staff of things moving on their own and creepy noises.
“I’d heard rumors about the Skirvin before, but once we realized that by coupling the deliciously eerie with the fascinatingly relevant, we were on to something big with this one,” said Cohen according to Variety. “Kyrie is an ideal collaborator and this is a great movie to make with Imagine.”
Irving is following the path many basketball stars have taken since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Game of Death. The current crop of NBA stars making moves in Hollywood include Stephen Curry and LeBron James. In fact, Space Jam 2, starring James, will be produced by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler and directed by Random Acts of Flyness‘ Terrence Nance. It is speculated that the film will be out sometime in 2021.
Source: Shadow&Act
Vanessa Williams To Star In ABC’s Family Comedy Pilot Titled ‘Happy Accident’
Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty alumna Vanessa Williams has been tapped for a lead role opposite Matt Walsh and JoAnna Garcia Swisher in Happy Accident, ABC’s single-camera family comedy pilot from Modern Family writers Abraham Higginbotham and Jon Pollack, 20th Century Fox TV and ABC Studios.
Written and executive produced by Higginbotham and Pollack, Happy Accident revolves around two Pittsburgh families, a father (Walsh) with three adult daughters (Swisher as Eleanor), and a hotel lounge singer (Williams) with her med student son, are forced together after a decades-old secret is revealed.
Williams, who received three Emmy nominations for playing Wilhelmina Slater on ABC’s Ugly Betty, co-starred in the final two seasons of Desperate Housewives and also headlined ABC’s 666 Park Avenue and VH1’s Daytime Divas. She’s repped by UTA, Geordie E. Frey and Ziffren Brittenham.
Source: Deadline
Rosario Dawson Set To Co-Star In Sony’s Comedic Sequel To ‘Zombieland’
Rosario Dawson is set to join Zombieland 2, the next installment of the Sony Pictures post-apocalyptic zombie comedy that will feature original stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. Ruben Fleischer returns to direct the sequel fresh off of the blockbuster success of Venom.
Written by original Zombieland scribes Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the sequel centers on the comic mayhem that stretches from the White House and through the heartland. The zombie slayers must face off against the many new kinds of zombies that have evolved since the first movie, as well as some new human survivors. Most of all, they have to face the growing pains of their own snarky, makeshift family.
Dawson joins franchise newcomers Zoey Deutch and Avan Jogia with filming slated to begin this week. Gavin Polone will produce, while Reese and Warnick are executive producers.
Zombieland 2 hits theaters October 11.
Dawson can be seen as Claire Temple in five of the Netflix Marvel series: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil, The Defenders and Iron Fist. Up next, she toplines the USA Network crime anthology series Briarpatch from exec producer Sam Esmail.
Source: Deadline
‘God Friended Me’ Renewed For Season 2 At CBS
CBS is continuing to hand out early renewals.
The network on Tuesday picked up its Greg Berlanti-produced freshman dramedy God Friended Me for a second season. The order arrives mere days after CBS renewed fellow rookies FBI, Magnum P.I. and The Neighborhood for the 2019-2020 broadcast season.
“We’re thrilled with how God Friended Me has performed on Sundays. It’s one of the top three new series on television, has improved its time period significantly, and continues a long tradition of prestige dramas for CBS on the night,” CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said in a statement announcing the news Tuesday.
Added Thom Sherman, senior exec vp programming: “Our amazing cast and producers have done a wonderful job of bringing this series to life each week with humorous and inspirational storylines. Viewers have clearly embraced our characters and the positive message the show delivers.”
From Warner Bros. Television, God Friended Me ranks as CBS’ second most-watched new series and the most-watched scripted series Sunday with an average of 10 million total viewers. The series, which stars Brandon Micheal Hall as a guy who talks to God via social media, is the fourth rookie series to earn a sophomore order so far this season.
With the renewal, Berlanti — who exec produces alongside showrunners Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt — continues his assault on the TV record books. The super-producer has a TV record of 15 scripted series currently on television and three pilots (so far) in the works for next season as he looks to add to that haul. Berlanti also has midseason drama The Red Line up next for the network. His current roster includes The CW’s All American, Arrow, Black Lightning, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Riverdale and Supergirl; NBC’s Blindspot; Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Lifetime transplant You; and DC Universe’s Stargirl, Titans and Doom Patrol.
For producers Warner Bros. TV, God Friended Me is one of five scripted series the studio has at the network — with flagship The Big Bang Theory wrapping its run this season.
