‘Zombies 5’ officially happening without Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly
The logo for ‘Zombies 5.’ (Disney)
If they laugh, we’ll say, we’re getting a fifth Zombies movie someday.
A fifth film in the hit Zombies franchise has been greenlit for Disney+ and Disney Channel. It will begin production in New Zealand in the spring, with its official title to be announced at a later date.
Malachi Barton and Freya Skye are set to star in this new movie after joining the franchise as characters Victor and Nova in the fourth film. Original stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly will not return as Zed and Addison, although they will remain involved as executive producers.
Also returning for the fifth film is Trevor Tordjman, who will reprise his role as Bucky, Addison’s cousin and the beloved cheer captain from the original trilogy.
Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires stars Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerner and Mekonnen Knife will also make up this new movie’s cast.
As far as plot goes, Zombies 5 will feature the introduction of mermaids into the Zombies universe.
There is peace between the Daywalkers and Vampires following the events of the fourth film. But it is “put to the test when a band of fierce mermaids arrives in Rayburn, making waves and casting a persuasive siren song to lure in new allies,” according to an official description. “Nova and Victor must unite their groups once more to discover what the mermaids are really after in order to protect the fragile harmony they worked so hard to build.”
New cast members include Diaana Babnicova as Pearl, Taylor Oliver as Fin and Olive Mortimer as Sandy, who are a trio of mysterious mermaids. Emily Costtrici also joins the cast as Izzy, a zombie who is Zed’s cousin and a new transfer student.
Paul Hoen, who has directed all of the films in the Zombies franchises, returns to helm this fifth installment.
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Stacey Dash as Dionne Davenport and Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz in ‘Clueless”, written and directed by Amy Heckerling and released on July 21, 1995, by Paramount Pictures. (CBS via Getty Images)
The Library or Congress has announced the 25 films it has selected to join the National Film Registry in 2025.
Its selections for last year, which were announced on Thursday, span from the silent film era to iconic Hollywood movies from the last 50 years. Among those selected for the registry are Clueless, The Karate Kid, Inception, Before Sunrise, The Truman Show, The Incredibles and Philadelphia.
WesAnderson‘s The Grand Budapest Hotel is the most-recent film joining the collection, having debuted in 2014. The Library of Congress notes that making The Grand Budapest Hotel “included meticulous historical research at the Library of Congress” in order to create its visually striking scenery.
Some of the classic Hollywood selections include the 1954 musical White Christmas and the Bing Crosby, FrankSinatra and Louis Armstrong-starring musical High Society, which features Grace Kelly in her final film.
There were four documentaries selected: Ken Burns’ Brooklyn Bridge, Nancy Buirski’s The LovingStory, George Nierenberg’s Say Amen, Somebody and Danny Tedesco’s The Wrecking Crew.
The public submits nominations to be considered to join the archive. Over 7,500 submissions were made this year, and the Library of Congress chose 25 of them based on their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.
“When we preserve films, we preserve American culture for generations to come. These selections for the National Film Registry show us that films are instrumental in capturing important parts of our nation’s story,” the acting Librarian of Congress Robert R. Newlen said.
Here are the 25 films selected for the 2025 National Film Registry: The Tramp and the Dog (1896) The Oath of the Sword (1914) The Maid of McMillan (1916) The Lady (1925) Sparrows (1926) Ten Nights in a Barroom (1926) White Christmas (1954) High Society (1956) Brooklyn Bridge (1981) Say Amen, Somebody (1982) The Thing (1982) The Big Chill (1983) The Karate Kid (1984) Glory (1989) Philadelphia (1993) Before Sunrise (1995) Clueless (1995) The Truman Show (1998) Frida (2002) The Hours (2002) The Incredibles (2004) The Wrecking Crew (2008) Inception (2010) The Loving Story (2011) The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Bowen Yang at the 2025 ‘Las Culturistas Culture Awards.’ (Emily Shur/Bravo)
Bowen Yang is saying goodbye to Studio 8H.
The comedian is leaving Saturday Night Live after starring as a cast member on the late-night sketch comedy series for seven seasons, according to Deadline.
Yang’s final appearance on the show will take place on the Dec. 20 episode, which will be hosted by his friend and Wicked co-star Ariana Grande. Cher will serve as the musical guest.
Representatives for SNL did not initially respond to ABC Audio’s request for comment.
Yang joined SNL as a writer ahead of season 44 in 2018 before joining the cast in season 45. He became the first featured player to be nominated for an Emmy in the outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series category. Yang was then promoted to repertory status in season 47.
In total, Yang has been nominated for four acting Emmys and one writing Emmy for his work on Saturday Night Live.
This midseason departure comes after many cast members exited the series after the landmark season 50 of the show.
Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow and Emil Wakim all left the cast ahead of the current season 51.
New cast members include Tommy Brennan, Jeremy Culhane, Kam Patterson and Veronika Slowikowska. Please Don’t Destroy member Ben Marshall also joined the show’s cast, splitting up the sketch comedy trio. Martin Herlihy remains on the SNL writing staff, while John Higgins departed the show.
Justin Baldoni speaks onstage at the Vital Voices 12th Annual Voices of Solidarity Awards, Dec. 9, 2024, in New York. Blake Lively attends ‘Another Simple Favor’ New York Screening, April 27, 2025, in New York. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images | Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
Animosity on the set of the film It Ends With Us was evident well before highly publicized lawsuits between stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni were filed, newly unsealed text messages show.
The messages, which are among the hundreds of documents the judge overseeing the civil claims ordered unsealed ahead of a hearing this week, show Lively and Baldoni venting to friends and colleagues during filming.
In a May 2023 text exchange between Lively and a journalist, Lively expresses her frustration with filming and says she “came home and cried” on one occasion. The actress also writes, “They’re just being creeps,” when referring to her co-star.
Texts between Baldoni and another actor show he was equally frustrated while making the movie. Baldoni, who also served as the film’s director, said in one message that Lively was threatening not to promote the movie if she was not allowed to take part in the edit.
In one message, he wrote, “She had the nuclear bomb. If she doesn’t promote the movie she can leak that I’m a bad person or that she felt unsafe with me and ‘all the stuff’ she has on me. Then she’s the victim.”
In a later text message, he wrote, “The risk to my family isn’t worth the creative integrity.”
Other unsealed documents include a text exchange between Lively and fellow actress Jenny Slate, who also appeared in the film.
Referring to Baldoni, Lively wrote, “I also saw something in him, was aware of a general vibe that I’m not into, and I pushed past it. Never again! Lesson learned.”
ABC News has reached out to Slate’s representative for comment.
Lively first filed a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department in December 2024, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us and accusing both Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios of engaging in a “social manipulation” campaign to “destroy” Lively’s reputation.
The two filed dueling lawsuits against each other in New York in the weeks that followed, with Lively reiterating the claims made in her earlier complaint and further accusing Baldoni of retaliation, suing him for nearly $500 million in damages. Baldoni’s lawyer denied the allegations, stating at the time that they had “evidence which will show a pattern of bullying and threats to take over the movie” by Lively.
Baldoni filed a $400 million lawsuit against Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, the couple’s publicist Leslie Sloane, and Sloane’s public relations company Vision PR alleging extortion and defamation, claiming Lively had “robbed” him of control over the film and had destroyed his reputation.
Lively’s lawyers denied the allegations and called Baldoni’s suit “another chapter in the abuser playbook.”
“This is an age-old story: A woman speaks up with concrete evidence of sexual harassment and retaliation and the abuser attempts to turn the tables on the victim,” they said in a statement at the time.
A federal judge in New York dismissed Baldoni’s suit in June of last year, formally ending the counterclaim in October after Baldoni did not refile an amended complaint. Attorney Byran Freedman said at the time, “Our clients chose not to amend their complaint to preserve appeal rights. In the meantime, we are focusing on Ms. Lively’s claims. We remain fully committed to pursuing the truth through every legal and factual avenue available and look forward to our day in court.”
Lively’s suit against Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios is ongoing.
This week’s documents were unsealed ahead of a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 22. The trial is set to begin May 18.
A member of Lively’s legal team responded to the newly unsealed documents in a statement to ABC News, writing, “In his TedTalk to promote his brand as an advocate for women, Justin Baldoni said we must ‘listen to the women’…even if what they are saying is against you.’ See how he actually reacts in the bombshell new evidence released for the first time, which includes sworn testimony and contemporaneous messages from numerous women who actually worked with him.”
The statement continued, “The newly unsealed evidence contains never-before seen testimony, messages, and evidence from numerous eyewitnesses backing the claims in Ms. Lively’s lawsuit. The evidence includes Ms. Lively’s own testimony describing the harassment she faced, as well as new evidence from numerous women describing their own disturbing experiences.”
ABC News has reached out to Baldoni’s representatives for comment.
