: Actor Chuck Norris arrives at Lionsgate Films’ ‘The Expendables 2’ premiere on August 15, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Actor Chuck Norris, the martial artist known for a string of hit action movies and the series Walker, Texas Ranger, has died, according to his family. He was 86.
“It is with heavy hearts that our family shares the sudden passing of our beloved Chuck Norris yesterday morning,” Norris’ family said Friday in a statement shared on his Instagram page. “While we would like to keep the circumstances private, please know that he was surrounded by his family and was at peace.”
The family said Norris was “a devoted husband, a loving father and grandfather, an incredible brother, and the heart of our family.”
“While our hearts are broken, we are deeply grateful for the life he lived and for the unforgettable moments we were blessed to share with him,” the family statement continued. “The love and support he received from fans around the world meant so much to him, and our family is truly thankful for it. To him, you were not just fans, you were his friends.”
Norris’ family said the actor had been recently hospitalized but did not share further details on his condition.
The actor turned 86 on March 10, just days before his death. He shared a video of himself boxing on his birthday, saying in the video, “I don’t age. I level up.”
Norris, born Carlos Ray Norris, was born in Oklahoma but spent much of his childhood in California. He learned karate while serving in the U.S. Air Force in South Korea, with the hopes of becoming a police officer after his service, he told The New York Times in a 1985 interview.
When he returned to Southern California after his military service, he instead opened a chain of karate schools.
It was through teaching karate that Norris was introduced to acting when he instructed the late Steve McQueen and McQueen’s son, he told the Times.
“He told me that I should think about projecting a presence, and never do a part that had a lot of dialogue,” Norris said of McQueen’s advice. “He told me, ‘Movies are visual, and when you try to verbalize something, you’re going to lose the audience.’ He said to let the character actors lay out the plot, and that when there were important things to say, you say it, and people will remember.”
From that fateful meeting with McQueen, Norris went on to have an acting career that spanned several decades and featured starring roles in blockbuster action movies including The Way of the Dragon, Lone Wolf McQuade, Missing in Action, The Delta Force and Invasion U.S.A.
In the 1990s, Norris became a television star with the series Walker, Texas Ranger, which he both starred in and executive produced.
In addition to acting, Norris was an author, including of his 2004 autobiography, Against All Odds: My Story.
Offscreen, Norris also entered the political arena, endorsing and campaigning for several conservative candidates over the years.
In his later years, Norris reached unexpected online fame when jokes known as “Chuck Norris Facts” went viral online, touting Norris’ seeming invincibility with lines like, “Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep. He waits.”
Norris revealed his personal favorite in 2008, telling Extra, “My favorite is that they wanted to put Chuck Norris on Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t tough enough for his beard.”
Norris capitalized on his online fame, growing a social media following of nearly 3 million followers on Instagram, where he continued to post everything from his workouts to life advice until the time of his death.
Norris is survived by his wife of nearly 30 years, Gena O’Kelly, with whom he shared two children, twins Dakota Norris and Danilee Norris.
Norris is also survived by three other adult children, two sons, Eric Norris and Mike Norris, and a daughter, Dina Norris.
The first look at Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film has arrived. Apple Original Films has released the first photo from the movie set of What Happens at Night, announcing that production has started on the project. It features Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence in costume as they walk through a snowy landscape. Both Scorsese and DiCaprio posted the photo on their Instagram pages …
Maya Hawke is set to star in Netflix’s adaptation of the bestselling book The God of the Woods. The actress will play Judy Luptack, the first female investigator in the male-dominated Bureau of Criminal Investigation, in the series. The show follows Judy as she is assigned to unravel the disappearance of a young girl from a summer camp in upstate New York, according to a description from Netflix …
Speaking of Netflix, a new limited series starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson is heading to the platform as another one of the books by Call Me By Your Name writer André Aciman is getting adapted for the screen. Taylor-Johnson will star in Enigma Variations, a limited series that tells the story of a man who is remade by his many lovers over the span of 10 years …
Lachlan Quarmby, Roan Curtis, Maria March, Jill Hennessy, Bethany Joy Lenz, Mila Morgan and Benjamin Ayres attend ‘When Calls the Heart’ and ‘Hope Valley: 1874 Celebration’ in West Hollywood, California. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Hallmark)
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.”
Lachlan Quarmby, Roan Curtis, Maria March, Jill Hennessy, Bethany Joy Lenz, Mila Morgan and Benjamin Ayres attend ‘When Calls the Heart’ and ‘Hope Valley: 1874 Celebration’ in West Hollywood, California. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for Hallmark)
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.”
Kirsten Dunst attends the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026, in Hollywood, California. (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
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.
Taylor Frankie Paul who was meant to be the lead of ‘The Bachelorette’ season 22. (Disney/Michael Kirchoff)
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.
Kristen Stewart attends the Chanel and Charles Finch annual Pre-Oscar Dinner at the Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel on March 14, 2026, in Beverly Hills, California. (Jon Kopaloff/WireImage via Getty Images)
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.”
Tom Holland launches the official trailer for ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ at sunrise on March 18, 2026, from the top of the Empire State Building. (Marion Curtis/StarPix for Columbia Pictures)
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.
Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey and Ben Schwartz attend the Los Angeles premiere of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ at TCL Chinese Theatre on Dec. 16, 2024, in Hollywood, California. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images)
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.
