Dolly Parton’s ‘Steel Magnolias,’ ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ returning to theaters
‘Steel Magnolias’ actresses Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacClaine, Dolly Parton, and Daryl Hannah pose for a portrait in October 1989 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images)
If you’re looking to find a way to pay tribute to Dolly Parton this weekend, movie theaters are bringing back two of her classic films.
Steel Magnolias and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas will be returning to about 200 AMC Theatre locations nationwide starting Aug. 28. For fans in Parton’s home state of Tennessee, Regal Cinemas will also be playing the films, along with smaller chain Harkins Theaters, on Aug. 29 and 30.
The 1989 film Steel Magnolias follows the friendship of a group of women in small-town Louisiana. Parton stars as beauty salon owner Truvy Jones, alongside a cast that includes Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah and Olympia Dukakis.
The musical comedy TheBest Little Whorehouse in Texas, which originally came out in 1982, stars Parton as the owner of a brothel, and Burt Reynolds as the local sheriff and her lover.
Parton died Tuesday at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer.
Ginger Minj and Jujubee star as Tess and DeeDee in ‘Stop! That! Train!’ (World of Wonder/Bleeker Street)
All aboard the Glamazonian Express.
Drag queens Ginger Minj and Jujubee star in the new comedy Stop! That! Train! The film, which arrives in theaters Friday, follows two train stewardesses who begin working for a glamorous high-speed train right as a catastrophic storm threatens to derail it.
Jujubee told ABC Audio it was always a dream of hers to be in a movie.
“I’m so grateful that our fabulous, talented, handsome director Adam Shankman chose me to play Deedee. I think it was my adult teeth that I was born with. Is that the reason?” Jujubee said. “We showed up and we worked our butt pads off. Everybody that was on that set was so happy to work … we wanted to create art for queer people, but everybody else as well.”
As for what it’s like to be atop the call sheet, Jujubee said, “It feels right.”
Ginger Minj, who stars as Tess, said that while films like To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert feature drag queens as characters, this movie takes it a step further.
“I love those movies. They did a lot for queer culture and for drag acceptance. But this is like, for drag by drag,” Ginger Minj said. “We’re actual drag queens who live in these heels every single day. So I think that informs the performance a little bit differently.”
The film is a comedy, but Shankman told Ginger Minj and Jujubee on their first day on set to play it as if it were a drama.
“I think that that grounds the entire film. All of the outrageousness that happens, it hits a lot harder because we do approach it from such a real place,” Ginger Minj says.
James Lafferty visits the Empire State Building on May 13, 2026, in New York City. (John Nacion/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)
James Lafferty is open to competing on Dancing with the Stars. That is, under one condition.
The One Tree Hill star said in a recent TikTok that if his series Everyone Is Doing Great reaches the most-watched chart on Netflix, he will lace up his dancing shoes and compete on season 35 of the reality competition show.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about this and I’m going to do it. Yeah, I’m going to do Dancing with the Stars. I’m down,” Lafferty said. “I have one condition: that Everyone Is Doing Great makes the top 10 TV shows on Netflix in the U.S.”
The actor told his fans, “How do we make that happen? We watch the show. We finish the show. We tell friends about the show. Most importantly, we hit the double thumbs-up on the show page on Netflix. I think if enough people do those things, or some of those things, we can make this happen.”
Everyone Is Doing Great is a comedy series Lafferty created with his One Tree Hill costar Stephen Colletti. Netflix acquired the global rights to the show in 2026 and released its first two seasons on May 11.
Dancing with the Stars pro Ezra Sosa shared his thoughts on the possible casting, commenting, “he’s hot im down.” Lafferty responded by saying Sosa is “very kind” and that he’s “not so bad yourself.”
While Lafferty is looking to get a third season of Everyone Is Doing Great, he says he’s also really interested in competing on DWTS.
“I want both things to happen because I am a terrible dancer and I’ve always wanted to fix that and I think Ezra can help me,” Lafferty said. “I think everybody wins here.”
Dancing with the Stars season 35 currently has three contestants confirmed: Maura Higgins, Ciara Miller and Savannah Bananas player Jackson Olson.
Joe Amabile attends ‘The GOAT’ Los Angeles Tastemaker Event at Ysabel on April 30, 2024 in West Hollywood, California. (Anna Webber/Getty Images for Prime Video)
Former Bachelor in Paradise star Joe Amabile is opening up after undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor.
The reality star and podcast host, 40, spoke with Good Morning America to share an update three weeks after his surgery about what lies ahead for him, including taking daily medication and waiting for his speech to return.
“I still struggle a little bit,” Amabile said about his difficulties with speech after the surgery. “I could think of what to say, but I would have a hard time vocalizing it. And I would say I’m about 90% back.”
Amabile said he first learned about the tumor in July after doing an elective full-body MRI screening. He talked about it in an Instagram post, revealing that he’d need to have surgery to remove the “blueberry-sized lesion” in his left frontal lobe.
“According to my doctor, I wouldn’t probably know about this until I eventually had a seizure,” Amabile said in an interview that aired Friday on GMA.
Amabile’s doctor, Dr. Alexandra Miller, chief of neuro-oncology at the Perlmutter Cancer Center, told GMA that follow-up scans at NYU Medical Center pointed toward a tumor called an astrocytoma.
Miller said the tumor has a “good prognosis,” adding, “It was a really good thing and very lucky that he was able to find it early.”
According to the National Cancer Institute, astrocytoma is a type of glioma, or tumor, that forms in star-shaped cells called astrocytes in the brain and spinal cord.
Astrocytomas may be benign or malignant and are grouped based on their grade, which is determined by how abnormal the tumor cells look under a microscope and how quickly the tumor is likely to grow, spread and come back after treatment, according to the NCI.
Low-grade astrocytomas are more common in children, while high-grade astrocytomas, such as glioblastoma, tend to grow and spread within the brain and spinal cord quickly and are more common in adults.
The NCI says treatment for astrocytoma in addition to surgery includes observation, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy.
The reality star went in for surgery in early August and the procedure was successful. Amabile said he’s also taking daily medication to keep the tumor at bay.
After spending four days in the hospital and more time recovering at home, Amabile said that he was able to get back to his routines, including taking a run just 15 days after his surgery, which he documented on Instagram.
Following the surgery, Amabile said sharing his experience with others, including documenting his experience on social media, has been “super important.”
“I think being able to share so other people can relate, and people who are going through it, I think is, it’s super important,” Amabile said.
By his side through all of it has been his wife, Serena Pitt, whom he met on Bachelor in Paradise.
“Unexpected challenges are going to be thrown your way and I feel like it has made me feel very grateful for the partner that I chose,” Pitt told GMA.
