Shrek 5 has added two new cast members. DreamWorks announced in a post on the film’s official Instagram page Thursday that comedian and Saturday Night Live cast member Marcello Hernandez and Superman and The Righteous Gemstones actor Skyler Gisondo had joined the movie. The two actors will voice Shrek and Fiona’s sons Fergus and Farkle, according to Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation’s parent company …
British playwright Tom Stoppard, who won the Oscar for best original screenplay for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love, has died at age 88, the Associated Press reported. His agents announced he died “peacefully” at his home in Dorset, England, surrounded by his family …
Pillion was the big winner at the British Independent Film Awards in London Sunday, taking home four awards, including best British independent film. The film stars Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling. Best international independent film went to Joaquim Trier’s Sentimental Value …
Tom Bergeron while hosting the season 21 finale of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ on Nov. 23, 2015. (Adam Taylor/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Tom Bergeron is coming back to the ballroom.
The former host of Dancing with the Stars is making his return to the show for its special 20th anniversary episode on Nov. 11. He will join the panel as a guest judge for the special episode.
This marks Bergeron’s first appearance on Dancing with the Stars since he exited the program alongside former co-host Erin Andrews in July 2020. He had previously been part of the show since its debut in 2005, hosting it for 15 years and almost 450 episodes.
At the time, Bergeron shared this statement to social media: “Just informed @DancingABC will be continuing without me. It’s been an incredible 15 year run and the most unexpected gift of my career. I’m grateful for that and for the lifelong friendships made. That said, now what am I supposed to do with all of these glitter masks?”
Bergeron appeared on Good Morning America on Wednesday to make the announcement. He said “it feels really good” to be coming back to the ballroom.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Bergeron said.
Current host and former pro Julianne Hough shared support in a comment under the social media announcement of Bergeron’s return to the show.
“The legend himself,” Hough wrote next to a red heart emoji.
Jimmy Kimmel appears on his show, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ (Randy Holmes/Disney)
Broadcast groups Nexstar and Sinclair have announced they are ending their preemptions of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The broadcast groups, which own a combined total of around 60 ABC affiliate stations, according to their websites, both announced Friday afternoon that the show will return to airwaves on the affiliate stations starting Friday evening.
In a statement, Sinclair said, “Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience.”
It added, “We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming.”
The company added that during the preemption, it “received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives.”
“We have also witnessed troubling acts of violence, including the despicable incident of a shooting at an ABC affiliate station in Sacramento,” Sinclair continued, saying “these events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important.”
The company said it proposed suggestions to ABC moving forward, including “measures to strengthen accountability, viewer feedback, and community dialogue, including a network-wide independent ombudsman.”
According to the statement, ABC has yet to adopt the measures. Sinclair said it believes “such measures could strengthen trust and accountability.”
It added, “While we understand that not everyone will agree with our decisions about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.”
Nexstar released a statement on Friday, announcing the return of Kimmel’s show to its airwaves and saying the company “remains committed to protecting the First Amendment while producing and airing local and national news that is fact-based and unbiased and, above all, broadcasting content that is in the best interest of the communities we serve.”
The statement continued, “We stand apart from cable television, monolithic streaming services, and national networks in our commitment — and obligation — to be stewards of the public airwaves and to protect and reflect the specific sensibilities of our communities.”
The broadcaster added that its “commitment to those principles has guided our decisions throughout this process, independent of any external influence from government agencies or individuals.”
The Walt Disney Co., the parent company of ABC, previously announced Kimmel would return to its airwaves on Tuesday evening after his late-night show was preempted by the network for nearly a week.
After that announcement, Sinclair and Nexstar each released statements of their own, saying then that they would continue to preempt the show.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair stated at the time.
In a separate statement at the time, Nexstar said, “We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
It added, “In the meantime, we note that ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.”
In a more than 15-minute monologue at the top of his show on Tuesday, Kimmel gave an impassioned defense of free speech, needled the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and President Donald Trump, and explained his previous comments about the response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC first announced that Kimmel’s show would be preempted “indefinitely” on Sept. 17, following Kimmel’s comments regarding Kirk’s death.
Before the network’s decision to preempt the show was announced last week, FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested that Kimmel should be suspended over the comments.
“There’s calls for Kimmel to be fired. I think, you know, you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this and again, you know, the FCC is going to have remedies that we could look at,” Carr said on a podcast with conservative commentator Benny Johnson at that time.
Unions that represent entertainment professionals and TV writers condemned the move.
Glen Powell stars in ‘The Running Man.’ (Ross Ferguson/Paramount Pictures)
A new trailer for The Running Man has raced on to the scene.
Paramount Pictures released the new trailer for the upcoming Edgar Wright film on Monday.
Glen Powell stars in the movie as Ben Richards, who enters a televised competition to try to win a cash reward to save his sick daughter.
“In a near-future society, The Running Man is the top-rated show on television—a deadly competition where contestants, known as Runners, must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins, with every move broadcast to a bloodthirsty public and each day bringing a greater cash reward,” according to the film’s official synopsis. “Ben Richards is convinced by the show’s charming but ruthless producer, Dan Killian (JoshBrolin), to enter the game as a last resort. But Ben’s defiance, instincts, and grit turn him into an unexpected fan favorite—and a threat to the entire system. As ratings skyrocket, so does the danger, and Ben must outwit not just the Hunters, but a nation addicted to watching him fall.”
The trailer finds Powell’s Ben going to extremes to stay alive as almost everybody he encounters tries to murder him. We see him jump out of an exploding car off of a bridge, evade innumerable gunshots and survive a burning building.
Also starring in the film are William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Emilia Jones, Michael Cera and Colman Domingo.
