Category: Entertainment

The boy who lived, squared.

Dominic McLaughlin, the young actor who has taken over the role of Harry Potter in the upcoming HBO TV series based on the books by J.K. Rowling, is opening up about a personal letter he received from Daniel Radcliffe, who originated the role in the popular film franchise.

McLaughlin shared what it was like to get a letter from Radcliffe in a recent interview with BBC’s Saturday Mash-Up! Live.

“I got a letter from the man himself, from Daniel Radcliffe,” McLaughlin said. “It was insane. I was on the train back up to Glasgow … and my dad tapped me on the train and just gave me this letter.”

The 11-year-old actor said he didn’t fully understand what he was reading until he reached the end of the page.

“I read it and then I got to the bottom, and it said ‘Dan R.,'” McLaughlin said. “I was going mad, but I had to [keep cool]. I was on the train.”

McLaughlin also shared an update on how the Harry Potter TV series is progressing.

The show has been “going amazing,” he said. “It’s going really well. I’ve made good friends with everyone, it’s great to be there.”

HBO shared first-look photos of McLaughlin in costume as Harry Potter and Nick Frost in costume as Hagrid in July. The photos were shared the same week cameras officially started rolling on the series as it began production at the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, the same location where all eight of the Harry Potter films were made.

McLaughlin leads the cast alongside Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, who will play Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively.

The Harry Potter series will premiere on HBO and HBO Max in 2027.

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Paramount has added a couple of new movies to its release schedule.

A new hybrid live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, as well as a Sonic the Hedgehog movie, will arrive to cinemas in 2028, ABC Audio has learned.

The currently untitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie has grabbed the Nov. 17, 2028, date for its release, while a similarly untitled “Sonic Universe Event Film” has nabbed Dec. 22, 2028.

Additionally, the studio announced it plans to rerelease the original Top Gun in theaters on May 13, 2026, in honor of its 40th anniversary.

Plot details for both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sonic films are being kept under wraps. Producer Neal H. Moritz is set to produce the former. He’s best known for the popular live-action Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy starring Ben Schwartz as the titular hedgehog and Jim Carrey as the mad scientist Dr. Robitnik.

This upcoming Sonic film is different from Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which is set for release on March 19, 2027.

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This Mormon wife is trading in her ballroom shoes for the Broadway stage.

Whitney Leavitt, one of the stars of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and a season 34 Dancing with the Stars contestant, will be making her Broadway debut in the Tony-winning revival of Chicago. Leavitt will star as Roxie Hart in the production, which marks her first-ever professional theatrical role.

The reality TV show personality and dancer made the announcement in a post shared to Instagram on Monday.

“Grateful beyond words to ANNOUNCE that I will be joining @chicagomusical in the iconic role of Roxie Hart,” Leavitt wrote. “See you in New York City! #chicagoonbroadway.”

Leavitt’s fellow DWTS contestant Elaine Hendrix sent support her way in the post’s comment section.

“Congratulations! Getting exactly what you wanted is pure girl fire,” Hendrix wrote alongside a fire emoji and a red heart emoji.

Leavitt will take over the role starting on Feb. 2, 2026. She’ll star for a six-week limited engagement that ends on March 15.

This isn’t her first time publicly dancing to Chicago‘s music. Leavitt performed an Argentine tango to “Cell Block Tango” with her professional dance partner, Mark Ballas, during an episode of DWTS last season.

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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 …

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Zootopia 2, the sequel to the 2016 Disney animated film, was the holiday box office champ, bringing in $156 million during the five-day Thanksgiving day weekend, Box Office Mojo reports.

According to Variety, that holiday take marks the second-best Thanksgiving opening for a film following 2024’s Moana 2, which brought in $225 million.

Wicked: For Good also had a strong Thanksgiving box office, earning $93 million for a second place showing, bringing its total domestic box office to $270.4 million.

The weekend’s only two other new releases to land in the top 10 include the Elizabeth Olsen/Miles Teller film Eternity at #6 with a Thanksgiving weekend box office of $5.23 million, and Hamnet, starring Paul Mescal, at #8 with $1.35 million.

Here are the top 10 films at the box office:

1. Zootopia 2 – $156 million
2. Wicked: For Good – $93 million
3. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t – $10.09 million
4. Predator: Badlands – $6.62 million
5. The Running Man – $5.52 million
6. Eternity – $5.23 million
7. Rental Family – $3.07 million
8. Hamnet – $1.35 million
9. Sisu: Road to Revenge – $1.2 million
10. Regretting You – $710,000

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

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Jazz is known for his unique style and entrepreneurial spirit on Bel-Air — and while that will remain true in the fourth and final season of the Peacock series, Jordan L. Jones says two themes define his character’s journey this time around.

“What you have to look for … [with] my character is obviously more vulnerability,” he tells ABC Audio. “But I also think acceptance is one of the themes that Jazz is going to go through.”

Jordan clarifies that this acceptance isn’t about resignation. “Not acceptance in a bad way, like, ‘Oh, something bad happened, I have to accept it,’ but just accepting whatever comes … being open to whatever. … You learn more about Jazz that he’s actually just OK with acceptance. And he is a very strong individual.”

Regarding Jazz’s relationship with Will, played by Jabari Banks, Jordan says Jazz remains a mentor and steady presence. As the series comes to an end, he notes there’s “not a hard ending” to their friendship.

“It’s not like Will and Jazz and Carlton never see each other again,” he explains. “It’s like that college experience where we have to leave each other, but we still have each other.”

Jimmy Akingbola also talked to ABC Audio about his character Geoffrey’s arc as the Banks family’s estate manager. He says the final season forces Geoffrey to confront his past and his present.

“The final season explores Geoffrey’s past in such a deep and impactful way, to the point where Geoffrey has to stop — I’ll use the word running,” Jimmy says. “For the first time … he doesn’t have the answers. Normally Geoffrey has something handled before someone’s thought about it,” noting that now “his back [is] against the wall.” 

Jimmy adds that Geoffrey is “fractured” this season, unsure whether healing is possible as his past arrives on his doorstep and challenges his loyalty. 

New episodes of Bel-Air premiere Monday on Peacock.

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