Month: January 2023

Apple TV+ has shared a trailer for the comedy-drama series ‘Shrinking,‘ featuring Harrison Ford and Jason Segel. Jessica Williams, Christa Miller and Michael Urie also star.

‘Shrinking,’ created by Segel, Brett Goldstein and Bill Lawrence, features Segel as a “a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tells 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.”  In the trailer, Segel advises a patient to leave her emotionally abusive husband, and sees Ford helping to guide Segel through his grief over his wife’s death.

‘Shrinking’ will have a two-episode premiere Jan. 27, with subsequent episodes to be released each Friday. Take a look at the trailer for ‘Shrinking’ – here.

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Emancipation and Training Day director Antoine Fuqua will be at the helm of the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic. The film, titled ‘Michael’, is written by John Logan and produced by ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ producer Graham King, alongside the co-executors of the Michael Jackson Estate, John Branca and John McClain. No word yet on who might be playing the King of Pop.

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chairman Joe Drake said in a statement: “Antoine is a perceptive and powerful filmmaker, and we feel very fortunate that he has chosen Michael as his next project. His visionary storytelling skills and commitment to his craft will make Michael an unforgettable film.”

Producer Grahm King added, “Antoine’s films provide personal perspectives of larger-than-life characters that continuously captivate global audiences. I’m confident that Antoine will make an exceptional and compelling film that will both celebrate and give profound new insights into the life of the King of Pop.”

‘Michael’ will chronicle the life and career of Jackson, though it has not yet been revealed which parts of the late singer’s life the biopic will focus on. Press releases stated that the film will “make the most of Jackson’s musical accomplishments and recreation of seminal career,” starting with his rise to fame as a child singer in ‘The Jackson 5’ to his solo success as an adult. It is also reported that ‘Michael’ will touch on the scandals that plagued Jackson’s personal life, including allegations of sexual abuse that had been leveled against the singer.

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The latest trailer for Season 3 of The Mandalorian shares details for the upcoming season, and introduced a few previously unknown directors for the upcoming episodes. Directors on this season of The Mandalorian include returning helmer Rick Famuyiwa, Black Panther cinematographer Rachel Morrison, Minari filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung, Mandalorian actor Carl Weathers, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse‘s Peter Ramsey and returning director Bryce Dallas Howard.

Starring as the title character is Pedro Pascal, who travels the galaxy with Grogu (aka Baby Yoda). Pascal stars alongside Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Amy Sedaris, Emily Swallow and Giancarlo Esposito, and serving as showrunner once again is Jon Favreau. The tagline for the new season reads: “The Mandalorian will cross paths with old allies and make new enemies as he and Grogu continue their journey together.”

The Mandalorian premiered on Disney+ in November 2019, quickly becoming its flagship series. Season 2 debuted in late 2020, and since then the show has spawned multiple spinoffs including last year’s The Book of Boba Fett, and the upcoming Ahsoka starring Rosario Dawson.

Season 3 of The Mandalorian debuts March 1. Take a look at the trailer – here.

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CBS announced that the daytime talk show The Drew Barrymore Show has been renewed through the 2023-2024 season on CBS Stations.

Steve LoCascio, President of CBS Media Ventures, in a press release: “This season, The Drew Barrymore Show debuted a new reimagined half-hour format, which has been an undeniable success. Ratings have grown 70% year to year, and creatively, the show is better than ever. Drew makes news every day with her insightful celebrity interviews and welcoming style. Nobody does it better. We’re thrilled to have her in the CBS family.”

The Drew Barrymore Show launched on Sept. 14, 2020 and is currently in its third season. The show increased its total viewership by 70 percent last year, averaging 1.2 million viewers in 2022, and the daytime series was ranked No. 4 among the 11 syndicated talk shows on air by year’s end.  The show has been nominated for nine Daytime Emmy Awards, winning Outstanding Costume Design/Styling and Outstanding Special Effects Costumes, Makeup and Hairstyling in 2022.

The Drew Barrymore Show airs weekdays on CBS. For local listings, head here.

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Apple TV+ has announced Season 3 of the Emmy-winning comedy ‘Ted Lasso’ will premiere this spring.  The streaming service also released a first image from the upcoming season. The first photo from Season 3 of the show hints at still unresolved tensions between Ted (Sudeikis) and Nate (Nick Mohammed), who left AFC Richmond at the end of season two and ended up at West Ham United, the Premier League team owned by Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head). It shows Nate and Ted meeting in the West Ham facilities, with Rupert looming in the background.

What remains in question is whether Season 3 will be the last for the popular series.  Creators Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly have said they sold the series ‘for a three-season arc.’ “ After season 2 ended, Lawrence said: “This story is going to be over [in season three], regardless, even if the show finds another story to tell and goes on.”  Hunt, who plays Coach Beard on the series, added: “We are writing an ending for this three-chunk portion that we’ve always seen, but it’s not like Thanos is in it and half of us die. Most of us, anyway, will probably still be alive, so I don’t think leaving an out is anything to worry about. It’s just a matter of whether or not we pick this up in some other way, and when.”

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Actor Alec Baldwin has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of ‘Rust’ cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. ‘Rust’ armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. A statement released on Thursday by New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and Rust special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb announced that charges were filed against Baldwin after the gun he was holding discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza on the film set in New Mexico. Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed’s will be “charged in the alternative” with the two counts of manslaughter, meaning that a jury would decide not simply if they were guilty, but under which definition of involuntary manslaughter they were guilty.

According to the release from Carmack-Altwies’s office, involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine if proven. The DA and special prosecution will formally file these charges with the New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court by the end of the month. Carmack-Altwies said: “After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the ‘Rust’ film crew. On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice.”

The shooting occurred on Oct. 21, 2021, inside a building on a film set outside Santa Fe. Baldwin maintains that he did not know the gun was loaded; he is currently suing several ‘Rust’ crew members and accusing them of negligence for providing him with a loaded weapon without his knowledge. The actor initially stated that he “didn’t pull the trigger,” but in his lawsuit against the crew, his team says he pulled back and released the hammer of the gun in Hutchins’ direction while they were preparing camera angles.

The state initially fined the production company the maximum penalty of $136,793 for not following proper safety protocols. Hutchins’ family also sued Baldwin and the production company over wrongful death. They have since reached a settlement. ‘Rust’ is currently scheduled to resume filming this year with Matthew Hutchins, Hutchins’ husband, now involved as an executive producer.

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