Open Thread

Variety reports: Angie Stone, the soul singer who rose to fame as a member of pioneering female hip-hop trio the Sequence and later became a prominent soul singer, died at the age of 63. Stone died in a car crash in Montgomery, Alabama early Saturday morning. The Grammy-nominated musician was best known for her 2001 hit “Wish I Didn’t Miss …

USA Today reports: New Mexico authorities are revealing actor and ‘Hoosiers’ star Gene Hackman may have died nearly 10 days before his body was found. The actor, his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, along with a dog, were found dead by neighborhood security officials, at their New Mexico home on Wednesday. Authorities are still investigating the cause, which at this point …

Variety reports: Investigators believe the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa are “suspicious,” according to a search warrant affidavit released Thursday morning. Hackman, 95, and Arakawa, 63, were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday afternoon. The bodies were found by two maintenance workers. Arakawa was lying on the bathroom floor. A …

Variety reports: The sequel to 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland,” subtitled “Surviving Michael Jackson,” will be available to watch on YouTube in the U.S. and Canada. Little Dot Studios, an All3Media company, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired the exclusive U.S. and English Canadian rights to the sequel and will premiere it on Real Stories, Little Dot’s premium documentary YouTube …

E! News reports: Chris Pratt isn’t denying his wandering eyes. The Marvel actor – who is married to Katherine Schwarzenegger – shared his honest reaction to those scenes in The White Lotus which have seen his brother-in-law Patrick Schwarzenegger bare his bottom (and then some). “I know where my eyes went—I’m not blood related to him, I was looking at …

Variety reports: Lester Holt, the NBC News anchor known for his ability to lead hours of breaking news coverage without pause, is finally ready for a breather. The NBC News veteran plans to step away in early summer from his anchor duties on “NBC Nightly News,” which he has held since 2015. Holt’s exit is the latest in a parade …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Although most of the world saw Patrick Schwarzenegger‘s butt-naked debut on The White Lotus, his biggest fan missed that moment. While raving about her son’s performance in Season 3 of Mike White‘s hit HBO series, Maria Shriver revealed that she was too focused on Patrick’s performance to notice his wardrobe (or lack thereof) during the Season 3 …

Owen Gleiberman writes for Variety: A couple of months ago, I had a movie experience that truly shook me up. It was early December, and I was in the middle of my end-of-the-year marathon, catching up with the big prestigious awards-season films I’d missed. One of them was “I’m Still Here,” Walter Salles’ acclaimed true-life drama, set in Brazil in …

Variety reports: Matt Gaetz shot back at “Reacher” star Alan Ritchson after the actor went viral for a GQ interview in which he slammed Gaetz, the former U.S. representative for Florida’s 1st congressional district. Ritchson and Gaetz attended school together after the former’s family moved from Illinois to Niceville, Fla. “That motherfucker. We are adversaries,” Ritchson told GQ about Gaetz. …

Deadline Hollywood reports: It’s taking around $1 billion to have 007 stewards Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson cede creative oversight of their family’s storied James Bond franchise to Amazon MGM Studios, sources tell us. Amazon originally overpaid on its purchase of MGM in a deal orchestrated by then-MGM board chair Kevin Ulrich. Though valued between $3.5 billion-$4 billion, the …

Variety reports: HBO’s “The Last of Us” Season 2 will release on April 13, the company announced Wednesday. After Season 1 covered the events of PlayStation’s first hit video game, Season 2 will follow the sequel “The Last of Us: Part II.” Like the sequel, Season 2 takes place after a five-year time jump and follows an even more grizzled …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Wicked‘s Cynthia Erivo will play the title role of Jesus Christ Superstar at a Hollywood Bowl presentation of the classic Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical this summer. Performances of Jesus Christ Superstar will start on August 1 and run through August 3. Additional casting will be announced at a later date. Erivo previously portrayed Superstar’s …

Variety reports: “The Odyssey” has got its hero. Matt Damon will play Odysseus in Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming epic “The Odyssey.” He will appear alongside an expansive cast including Tom Holland, Mia Goth, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo. Damon’s role was revealed Monday morning through the film’s official X account. …

Variety reports: Some of David Tennant’s Donald Trump jokes during his BAFTAs monologue ended up on the BBC’s cutting room floor. Several of the host’s quips — one of which compared the U.S. president to Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice character — were cut from the BBC’s broadcast of the British awards ceremony on Sunday night, which is pre-recorded two hours before …

Variety reports: “The Goonies” are officially back. Warner Bros. has hired Potsy Ponciroli to write the script for the sequel, it was announced Friday — almost 40 years after the original movie hit theaters back in 1985. Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger and Holly Bario will produce for Amblin Entertainment alongside Chris Columbus, who wrote the original “Goonies” script. Josh …

Deadline reports: Operation Mincemeat, the hit London musical comedy that begins previews at Broadway‘s John Golden Theatre tomorrow, will have to start performances without the usual marquee lights shining: The LED bulbs are stuck in China, a casualty of the Trump tariff. According to the musical’s spokesperson Rick Miramontez, thousands of ceramic yellow LED bulbs were scheduled to arrive from …

Variety reports: The final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” will premiere on Hulu on April 8. Three episodes of the dystopian drama will drop at once, followed by weekly episodes until the series finale on May 27. Elisabeth Moss’ protagonist June Osborne narrates a teaser trailer for the final season, saying, “They believed that these garments that they put on our …

Variety reports: Sean “Diddy” Combs has filed a $100 million defamation lawsuit against NBCUniversal, Peacock TV and Ample Entertainment for defamatory statements published in the documentary “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy.” The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in New York, asserts that these media companies “falsely, recklessly, and maliciously” accused Combs of serial murder and sex trafficking, among other claims made …

Variety reports: Disney is adjusting the content warnings ahead of some of its old movies, including “Peter Pan” and “Dumbo,” amid an overall shift in DEI strategy at the company following President Donald Trump taking office again. Disney is changing the disclaimer that autoplays before these titles. The previous version noted that the film “includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of …

Variety reports: A performer in Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show was detained on the field and is now banned from all NFL stadiums and events. A spokesperson for the NFL confirmed via AP News that one of the 400 performers in Lamar’s triumphant Super Bowl show on Feb. 9 “hid” a combination Sudanese-Palestinian flag — with “Sudan” and “Gaza” …