Category: Entertainment

Hope Valley: 1874, the prequel series to When Calls the Heart, premieres Saturday on Hallmark+, and star Jill Hennessy thinks it provides “a little bit of an escape.”

Hope Valley: 1874 follows Rebecca Clarke and her daughter, who settle in a Western Canadian frontier town where Hennessy’s character, Hattie Quinn, runs the trading post. “She’s sort of the go-between and the hub of all these people,” Hennessy tells ABC Audio of Hattie, who’s a widow and single mother.

“She’s sorta used to living on her own, but deeply afraid of her daughter moving off, trying not to confront how scared she is: ‘Oh my gosh, but what will I do when she leaves me?'”

Hennessy says Hope Valley will please When Calls the Heart fans aka Hearties, while offering some key differences.

“In this show, I think they’re gonna get all of the warmth and the romance aspect, in a structure, though, that goes a little broader, can be a little darker, a little more gritty,” she explains.

She adds that the series has “a lot of focus on women’s relationships, and women and men in a friendship/survival kind of way, where there’s no competition, there’s no bitterness, and people are just trying to make it through the day.”

Hennessy, a veteran of shows like Law & Order, Crossing Jordan and Yellowstone, says there’s a “sweetness” to Hope Valley, which she says is “so nice to go to … with everything that’s happening in the world.”

“Even as an actor … it’s kind of nice to get there, and put on the petticoat and the corset, and work with nice people,” she adds. “This is just one of the nicest casts. It is very appealing. It’s a nice — how can I say? — a little bit of an escape.” 

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Chicken jockey, as they say.

Kirsten Dunst has joined the cast of the currently untitled sequel to A Minecraft Movie, ABC Audio has confirmed.

Dunst will play Alex, one of the primary avatars in the Minecraft video game, in the upcoming sequel. She joins a cast that also includes Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Danielle Brooks, Matt Berry and Jennifer Coolidge.

Warner Bros. Pictures announced its plans to make A Minecraft Movie sequel in October 2025. The film will arrive in theaters on July 23, 2027.

At the time it was announced, Warner Bros. shared a post to its Instagram with two pickaxes and the scheduled release date underneath.

“Building terrain. See you in theaters July 23 2027. #Minecraft,” the post’s caption reads.

Jared Hess directed the first film. He’s set to return to helm the sequel from a screenplay he wrote with Chris Galletta. Its plot is being kept under wraps.

A Minecraft Movie was released on April 4, 2025. The film grossed $424 million in the U.S. and almost $1 billion worldwide.

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Taylor Frankie Paul’s season of The Bachelorette has been pulled three days ahead of its premiere following allegations of domestic violence against her.

In a statement shared with ABC News on Thursday, a Disney Entertainment Television spokesperson said, “In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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Kristen Stewart is taking on the role of Sally Ride.

The actress will make her TV debut by portraying the famous astronaut in Prime Video’s upcoming limited series The Challenger, ABC Audio has confirmed.

The Challenger is created by Golden Globe winner Maggie Cohn. She also writes, executive produces and showruns the program, which is inspired by Meredith E. Bagby’s 2023 book The New Guys. James Hawes, who has worked on Slow Horses and Black Mirror, will direct and executive produce the show. Kyra Sedgwick, Stewart and Bagby also executive produce.

The series follows “the gripping story of one of the most defining moments in space history, both the unprecedented events leading up to the tragedy, and the shocking investigation that followed,” according to Prime Video.

“As the members of the 1986 Rogers Commission interrogate the complex inner workings of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to find what, or who, was responsible for the Challenger’s doomed fate, the show explores Commission member Sally Ride’s personal journey,” its description continues. “We follow Sally, and the rest of the diverse Astronaut Class of ’78, through the ranks of the shuttle program, through initial recruitment and training, professional and personal highs and lows, until Sally’s historic glass ceiling moment as she becomes the first American woman in space.”

“There is no one better than Maggie Cohn to bring to life the complex story of the Challenger and the new class of astronauts recruited by NASA in the early 1970s, all through the eyes of an American hero, Sally Ride,” Sedgwick said in a press release.

Peter Friedlander, the head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios, said, “Sally Ride’s courage and brilliance changed history, and we couldn’t imagine a more powerful actor to bring her story to life than Kristen Stewart.”

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Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now the most-watched movie trailer of all time.

The trailer for the upcoming Sony Pictures film was released on Wednesday. It obtained a historic 718.6 million views in its first 24 hours, according to WaveMetrix.

The Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer surpassed former record holder Deadpool & Wolverine‘s movie trailer within eight hours of its launch. It reached 373 million views at that time, surpassing Deadpool & Wolverine‘s previous 24-hour record of 365 million.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day also surpassed the record set by the trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto VI, which previously claimed the title of the biggest video launch of all time in 2025. It received 475 million views over its first 24 hours.

This new film finds Peter Parker in a completely different time in his life. It’s set four years after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

“Peter is now an adult living entirely alone, having voluntarily erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves,” according to an official description from Sony. “Crime-fighting in a New York that no longer knows his name, he’s devoted himself entirely to protecting his city — a full-time Spider-Man — but as the demands on him intensify, the pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence, even as a strange new pattern of crimes gives rise to one of the most powerful threats he has ever faced.”

Tom Holland, Zendaya, Sadie Sink, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Tramell Tillman, Michael Mando and Mark Ruffalo star in the film, which is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings into movie theaters on July 31.

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The full cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 has been revealed.

Ben Schwartz, who has voiced Sonic in all three of the Paramount Pictures franchise’s previous films, made the official casting announcement in an Instagram post on Thursday celebrating exactly one year until the release of the film.

Schwartz first confirmed that Jim Carrey will return as the evil Dr. Robotnik, before noting that franchise staples James Marsden and Tika Sumpter will also return as Tom and Maddie Wachowski.

“One year to go til Sonic 4. Jim is back and look who else is coming to play,” Schwartz captioned his post.

Newly announced to join the cast are Ben Kingsley, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry and Nick Offerman. The latter previously starred with Schwartz in the beloved sitcom Parks and Recreation.

Also returning are Idris Elba, Keanu Reeves and Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Knuckles, Shadow and Tails. Lee Majdoub will also be back as Agent Stone.

Kristen Bell was previously announced to join the franchise as the voice of Amy Rose.

While a plot for the fourth film has yet to be unveiled, it will be directed by Jeff Fowler, who also helmed the previous three films in the franchise. It is scheduled for release on March 19, 2027.

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Jaafar Jackson opens up about his experience portraying the King of Pop in the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic.

“I knew how challenging this would be to take on playing Michael Jackson, and it was not easy. Definitely wasn’t,” he says in Becoming Michael, a featurette released by Universal Pictures UK.

“I love challenges and I wanted to prove to myself, my family and the filmmakers that I, I can do this,” he says, noting he rehearsed “for hours and hours upon hours until one single move was right” and at times danced “until my feet would bleed or them go numb.”

“There’s so many times I would wake up sore [and] be like, ‘Should I go rehearse? Should I just take a break and let the body relax?’ Then the other part of me would be like, ‘No what would Michael do?'” he recalls.

When it was go time and he was in full costume, Jaafar says, “I had a couple moments to myself just saying like, ‘Wow. I’m really here. There’s no going back. It’s time to go out there and put on the best show ever.'”

Becoming Michael, now available on YouTube, also features behind-the-scenes moments of Jaafar on set practicing the choreography and includes interviews with Michael director Antoine Fuqua and producer Graham King.

Michael will give fans a front-row seat to the King of Pop’s life and career. Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Juliano Krue Valdi, Miles Teller and Colman Domingo also star.

Early Access screenings in IMAX and Dolby will take place April 22; tickets are available on advance ticket sites. The film will then premiere April 24 in theaters nationwide, with tickets going on sale March 26.

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Netflix’s limited series adaptation of Lord of the Flies now has a release date. All four episodes of the series from Adolescence co-creator Jack Thorne will arrive to the streamer on May 4. According to the show’s logline, “Innocence descends into savagery when a group of English schoolboys become desert island castaways in the first television adaptation of William Golding’s landmark dystopian classic.” Winston Sawyers stars as Ralph, Lox Pratt stars as Jack, David McKenna stars as Piggy and Ike Talbut stars as Simon in a show that includes an ensemble of more than 30 boys …

Peacock has shared the release date for its upcoming, star-studded series The Five Star Weekend. The show, which stars Jennifer Garner, D’Arcy Carden, Gemma Chan, Regina Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Harlow Jane and Timothy Olyphant, arrives to the platform on July 16. It follows a celebrated chef who suffers a devastating loss and hosts a weekend away in Nantucket in an effort to move forward with her life …

The Game of Life is coming to the big screen. Deadline reports that a film based on the popular board game is being developed by Amazon MGM Studios, Chernin Entertainment and Hasbro. According to the outlet, Sean Anders will direct the movie from a script by Allan Loeb …

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If you finished your umpteenth rewatch of Heated Rivalry and are still craving more hockey drama, try giving Shoresy a shot.

The Canadian series, which streams on Hulu in the U.S., follows the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs, a hockey team that plays in the senior NOSHO league. While the Persimmon Pomapoos would sound tougher, the Blueberry Bulldogs are led by the notorious Shoresy, played by series creator Jared Keeso, who’s known for his hard hits, incessant chirping, and increasingly creative and profane mom jokes.

That premise might not suggest a lot of emotional weight, but Shoresy has a surprising amount of heart, which has kept fans returning for five seasons.

“I love the unique mix of raw, risky, edgy, oddball humor that’s also laced with so much intelligence,” Tasya Teles, who plays team owner Nat, tells ABC Audio. “Then you have these really heartfelt stories and speeches and life lessons that they weave throughout each episode.”

Shoresy is a highly stylized show, featuring wordless close-up montages of the players alongside scenes of rapid-fire dialogue and repeated turns of phrase. To bring that stylized world to life, the Shoresy cast fittingly mirrors a hockey team.

“It’s because we’ve become such a cohesive unit,” Teles says. “Everybody knows each other in such an intimate way, we all move together as one, and it just makes it really easy.”

Throughout the show’s five seasons, you also get to know the Shoresy characters away from the rink as they pursue romantic relationships — you start an episode, and there’s Shoresy, being good to Laura Mohr — but at its core, the series is about the value of hockey and the good it does for the local community.

“There’s so much integrity and honor and selflessness that hockey players have and maybe isn’t seen,” Teles says. 

Disney is the parent company of Hulu and ABC News. 

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First he had Carrie Bradshaw, then Emily Cooper and now Darren Star is introducing audiences to a brand-new TV heroine.

Netflix has announced the Sex and the City and Emily in Paris creator’s latest project: a rom-com TV series based in the Napa Valley. Called Uncorked, the new show comes from co-showrunners, writers and executive producers Star and David Schulner.

Uncorked follows “the life of a talented but self-destructive winemaker who returns to Napa for her second chance at love, legacy and that elusive 100 point wine,” according to an official description from Netflix. “This is a woman whose greatest passion is also her fatal flaw — a failing that usually begins before lunch on Tuesday.”

“Seeing audiences around the world fall in love with Emily in Paris has been a dream,” Star said in a press release. “As Emily’s story continues to inspire and unfold, I’m excited to continue my relationship with Netflix and explore a new world with Uncorked. We’re diving straight into the legacy and romance of Napa Valley, where every great vintage has a unique story to tell.”

Schulner said that he and Star “wanted to create a series that explores what happens when your greatest passion is also your Achilles’ heel.”

“With Napa’s beauty and bounty as our setting, we hope the audience never wants to leave. We want to thank Netflix and Universal Television for indulging our copious amounts of day drinking in the name of meticulous research,” Schulner said.

Emily in Paris, Sex and the City and its two films, as well as Star’s shows Younger and Uncoupled, have generated 435 million total views between the first half of 2023 and the second half of 2025, according to Netflix. The streamer noted that Emily in Paris accounted for over 250 million of those views.

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