Category: Entertainment

Eddie Murphy‘s son Eric Murphy got down on one knee to propose to Martin Lawrence‘s daughter Jasmin Lawrence, setting up the Hollywood comedy legends to become in-laws.

The couple announced their engagement in an Instagram post on Saturday, including a video showing the elegant proposal in a candle-lit room full of flower petals.

“11.27.2024 We’re engaged!! God truly blessed us with a love that feels like destiny,” Jasmin wrote in the caption. “We couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter.”

The video shows the couple entering the room and walking down a narrow path holding hands before Eric drops to a knee in front of Jasmin to pop the question. They then share a kiss.

Eric, the oldest of Eddie’s children, was born in 1989 to Eddie and then-girlfriend Paulette McNeely. Jasmin, the oldest of Martin’s children, was born in 1996 to Martin and Patricia Southall.

Eric and Jasmin have both posted several pictures with each other throughout their relationship, including a photo of the pair posted by Eric in June 2021 captioned, “Head over heels in LOVE with YOU.”

In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! two years ago, Martin joked that if the pair were to ultimately get married, he would “try to get Eddie to pay for it.”

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Wayne Northrop, the soap opera star best known for his roles as Roman Brady on Days of Our Lives and Michael Culhane on Dynasty, died on Nov. 29 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Woodland Hills home in California, his publicist tells Good Morning America. He was 77. According to a statement from his wife, Lynn Herring Northrop, he had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s 6 years ago. Northrop’s other appearances include the medical soap opera Port Charles …

The North American release date for Paddington in Peru, the third installment of the CG and live-action Paddington franchise, has been switched from Jan. 17 to Feb. 14, according to Variety. This time out, Paddington — voiced by Ben Whishaw — goes on an adventure to South America after he receives “a letter from Peru telling him that his beloved Aunt Lucy — voiced by Imelda Staunton — has inexplicably gone missing from her jungle cabin at the Home for Retired Bears.” Antonio Banderas, Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer and Julie Walters also star …

Writer/director Marshall Brickman, best known for teaming up with Woody Allen on box office hits like Sleeper, Manhattan and Manhattan Murder Mystery, and winning a best screenplay Oscar for Annie Hall, died Nov. 29 in Manhattan, his daughter Sophie Brickman tells The New York Times. He was 85. Brickman’s other work includes Simon, Lovesick and The Manhattan Project …

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Disney’s Moana 2 posted a heroic box office box office debut, setting a Thanksgiving weekend box office record with an estimated $221 million. 

The animated adventure, featuring Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson returning as the voices of Moana and Maui, respectively, was the biggest five-day domestic opening of all time, surpassing The Super Mario Bros. Movie which had $204.6 million in 2023. Moana 2 is also the all-time biggest Thanksgiving weekend debut, beating the $125 million five-day Thanksgiving haul held by Disney’s Frozen in 2013.

Overseas, Moana 2 grabbed an estimated $165.3 million, for a global tally of $386.3 million.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

Meanwhile, Wicked continued its impressive box office run, earning an estimated $117.5 million over the long weekend for a second place finish. That brings its two-week North American tally to $262.4 million and $359.3 million worldwide.

It’s now the highest-grossing musical based on a Broadway musical.

Third place went to Gladiator II, delivering an estimated $44 million in its second week of release. Its two week totals currently stand at $111.2 million domestically and $320 million worldwide.

The holiday adventure Red One snagged the number four spot, adding an estimated $18.7 million, bringing its North American tally to $75 million, for a total of $148.6 million globally.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever rounded out the top five with an estimated $4.9 million over the Thanksgiving weekend. Its domestic gross now stands at $32 million and $32.1 million globally.

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Judge Arun Subramanian ruled to deny bail for Sean “Diddy” Combs on Friday.

Both federal prosecutors and Combs’ attorneys submitted their final letters about whether the music mogul should be allowed out on bail on Monday.

Prosecutors argued that Combs’ attempt to influence witnesses while in jail “constitutes obstruction” of his criminal case. They also called out Combs’ “recent efforts to influence the jury pool” through a social media campaign organized by his children.

Defense attorneys said that their client’s conduct was protected free speech, meant to combat “outrageous claims about Mr. Combs” by “government agents, plaintiffs’ attorneys, and others with questionable motives.”

Subramanian had asked the parties to submit these final arguments in writing and said he would issue a written decision on bail.

Combs, who pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution charges, has offered to remain on home confinement in a three-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with 24/7 security guards and restrictions on visitors and communications.

Last Friday, the defense called the proposed conditions “far more restrictive” than Combs faces in jail.

They included limiting phone calls to lawyers, restricting visitors other than lawyers and specific family members, keeping a visitation log, and avoiding contact with witnesses or potential witnesses.

However, federal prosecutors have said there are no conditions that can reduce Combs’ risk of tampering with witnesses or shaping the opinions of potential jurors.

They also brought up a 2016 video of Combs attacking then-girlfriend and protégé Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway, saying that it showed the danger he could pose to women if allowed out on bail.

In court last Friday, prosecutors summarily said that Combs “cannot be trusted” to follow the rules of a pretrial release.

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The Wicked promotional run has become the press tour that has spawned a thousand memes, as stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were seen constantly tearing up, full-out crying and being dramatic while talking about the film. But the star of another musical film — albeit an animated one — says people just don’t understand what it’s like to be, as she puts it, “a theater kid.”

Auli’i Cravalho, who provides the voice of the main character in Disney’s Moana and Moana 2, tells Vanity Fair, “I need people to understand what it’s like to be a theater kid. Being a theater kid is emotional. Get off my girls Ariana and Cynthia’s backs. Do you understand me?”

She continues, “You don’t know what it’s like to be working on a film for this long. The film is two hours and 40 minutes long. If you’re not crying after working with someone for that long, and you’re both theater kids and you’re singing live … I am very passionate about this.”

Auli’i says she plans to see Wicked as soon as she can.

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Margot Robbie is waiting for the world to catch up on Babylon.

On a recent episode of the Talking Pictures podcast, host Ben Mankiewicz told Robbie he kept wondering, “Why don’t people like this movie?” as he watched the Damien Chazelle-directed 2022 film.

“I am still saying that,” Robbie said. “I love it.”

She elaborated, saying she doesn’t understand why the film didn’t connect with audiences.

“I know I am biased because I am very close to the project and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it,” Robbie said. “I wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, ‘Wait, Babylon didn’t do well at the time?’ Like when you hear that Shawshank Redemption was a failure at the time and you’re like like, ‘How is that possible?’”

Robbie also had nothing but good things to say about working with Chazelle, whom she described as thorough.

“Do you know what I loved so much about working with him? I felt like no one had really put their foot to the floor with the gas, but he wanted that all the time. He wanted more always. Even when we were prepping,” Robbie said.

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How far will Moana 2 go at the box office? That’s yet to be determined, but the film has already scored a Disney Animation record.

The film earned $13.8 million at the box office on Tuesday in preview screenings, according to Variety. That makes it the largest preview sum amounted in Disney Animation’s history. It’s also the most a film has made in a pre-Thanksgiving preview, and it’s the second-best preview sum of all time for an animated movie.

To compare this to recent animated films, Inside Out 2 brought in $13 million in Thursday previews before it scored $152 million over its opening weekend, while Toy Story 4 collected $12 million in Thursday previews and scored $121 million over its first three days.

Moana 2 officially opens in theaters on Wednesday. It is estimated to earn anywhere from $135 million to $145 million over its first five days.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News. 

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Ready, set, binge! Here’s a look at some of the new movies and TV shows streaming this weekend:

Netflix
Our Little Secret: Lindsay Lohan spends Christmas with an ex in the new holiday film.

The Madness: Colman Domingo stars in the new action thriller series The Madness.

Max
Sweethearts: Two high school best friends make a pact to break up with their partners after they get to college in the new film.

Paramount+ with Showtime
The Agency: A covert CIA agent juggles romance and his career in the new limited series.

Disney+
Beatles ’64: Go back in time and experience Beatlemania at its height in the new documentary.

Hulu
Nutcrackers: Ben Stiller goes home for the holidays in the new movie.

That’s all for this week’s Weekend Watchlist – happy streaming!

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Ben Stiller and Linda Cardellini star in the new holiday film Nutcrackers, which arrives Friday on Hulu.

The movie follows a man, played by Stiller, who returns to rural Ohio to care for his recently orphaned nephews. David Gordon Green directed the film, in which he cast actual real-life brothers to play Stiller’s nephews.

“It was refreshing. It was fun for me as an actor to be able to be in scenes with these kids who were kind of like learning as they went along,” Stiller said. “David created an atmosphere for them to just to do their thing and to be real. And it was a fun process watching that happen.”

Cardellini agreed, saying she was excited about the concept.

“When I read the script and I realized they were going to be real brothers, and that this was a very specific and unusual story that David was going to tell, I was so excited about it,” she said. “The idea of playing this woman who is sort of the voice of reason amongst all this chaos, it just appealed to me. I wanted to be part of the project. I thought it was special.”

Stiller said Green wanted to make a movie that felt timeless.

“He’s just such an independently minded filmmaker who comes from that world,” Stiller said. “I think his goal was to make something that was organic and real and kind of imperfect and emotional and funny and reminded him of movies that he watched growing up.”

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Universal Pictures, the production company behind Wicked, has shut down rumors of a pay gap between the movie’s two stars, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

“Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder,” a spokesperson from Universal told ABC News in a statement on Tuesday. “The women received equal pay for their work on ‘WICKED.'”

Speculation about unequal salaries began circulating on platforms like TikTok, Reddit, and social platform X , with claims that Erivo earned $1 million compared to Grande’s $15 million.

The rumors gained traction after being picked up by some news outlets. While Universal did not disclose the exact salaries of the co-stars, the studio firmly denied any pay inequities.

Wicked is the highly anticipated movie adaptation of the 2003 Broadway musical, originally starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, which itself is based on Gregory Maguire‘s 1995 novel.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film features an all-star cast, including Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, and Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard.

Released in theaters on Friday, Wicked draws inspiration from Maguire’s novel, which is a revisionist prequel to The Wizard of Oz.

The film earned a staggering $164 million globally during its opening weekend, making it the third-largest opening weekend ever, following Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2, according to The Associated Press.

Fans can look forward to Wicked: Part Two, set to hit theaters on November 21, 2025.

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