Eddie Murphy to play funk legend George Clinton in upcoming biopic
Disney/Randy Holmes
Eddie Murphy has reportedly signed on to play a funk music icon on screen.
Variety reports that the actor/comedian is set to star as Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton in a biopic directed by Bill Condon, the same director who directed Murphy in Dreamgirls, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination.
The film, which Murphy will also produce, will be based on Clinton’s 2014 memoir Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain’t That Funkin’ Kinda Hard On You?
Clinton, who launched his funk career in the ’70s as one of the founding members of the collective known as Parliament-Funkadelic, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. He and the band were also honored in 2019 with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Netflix has revealed that comedian and former talk show giant Ellen DeGeneres‘ final stand-up special ever will hit the streamer on Sept. 24.
Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval will be her second original comedy special for the streamer following 2018’s Relatable.
Ellen’s daytime talk show ended its 19-year run in 2022, following a BuzzFeed expose in 2020 that The Ellen DeGeneres Show‘s behind-the-scenes environment was the opposite of its “be kind” mantra: accusations of racism, sexual misconduct and intimidation were leveled by former staffers.
Following that, supposed examples of DeGeneres being “mean” went viral.
Her fall from grace will apparently be a part of the new show, which was teased with the tagline, “This will be Ellen’s last special and yes, she’s going to talk about it.”
Netflix further teases, “Ellen gets personal and reveals what she’s been doing since being ‘kicked out of show business.’ From the mundane world of raising chickens and parallel parking to the harsh reality of becoming a brand name celebrity, she goes deep into her stand-up roots and brings the laughs through life’s most real and absurd realities.”
As reported in July, DeGeneres has been talking onstage about being “canceled,” with SFGate reporting she told an audience member at a show at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts in Santa Rosa, “This is the last time you’re going to see me. After my Netflix special, I’m done.”
Kristofferson and Burstyn in ‘Alice’ – Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Martin Scorsese has added his name to the list of famous fans who are mourning Kris Kristofferson, whom he directed in the 1974 film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Kristofferson played David, Ellen Burstyn‘s eventual love interest in the film, which also saw supporting turns from two of Scorsese’s subsequent Taxi Driver co-stars, Jodie Foster and Harvey Keitel.
Scorsese noted in a statement, “Right now, I’m on a small boat between Ustica and Palermo, listening to ‘Me and Bobby McGee,’ remembering Kris Kristofferson. Just like half of the world.”
Scorsese continued, “I was lucky enough to work with Kris. He was a poet. Truly. Inside and out. And a damn good actor, a remarkable screen presence. Spending time with Kris when we made Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore was one of the highlights of my life.”
The legendary director went on to express, “Onscreen or in person, he brought all of himself. He gave so much heart and humor to his character, and to all of our days shooting in Tucson.”
Scorsese added, “What a beautiful human being. What a great artist.”
Kristofferson’s death was announced Sunday with a post on his official Facebook account. In addition to his acting work, Kristofferson was famous for his songwriting, including tunes like “Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”
On Monday, Marvel Studios dropped an action-packed teaser to its May 2025 team-up Thunderbolts*.
As reported, the movie is an unlikely collab of former Marvel Cinematic Universe bad guys: Florence Pugh‘s Yelena and her adopted dad, Alexei aka Red Guardian (David Harbour); Sebastian Stan‘s Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier; Hannah John-Kamen‘s Ava Starr/Ghost from Ant-Man and the Wasp;Olga Kurylenko‘sAntonia Dreykov/Taskmaster from Black Widow; and Wyatt Russell‘s John Walker/U.S. Agent from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
The trailer begins with Yelena knocking on Alexei’s door; she says she’s been looking for purpose, and “throwing herself into work” — in her case, being a master assassin — wasn’t cutting it.
It’s a malaise apparently felt by Bucky, who seems to be working as a security minder in Washington, D.C., as well as Walker, who is shown ignoring a baby in a crib and instead reading an article about his fall from grace as the one-time replacement to Steve Rogers’ Cap.
Yelena is then seen fighting her way into a facility and finds that each of the characters were led there, as well — the gang fights each other, until a guy in a pair of medical scrubs tumbles out of a crate. With every weapon trained on him, the guy identifies himself as “Bob.”
And then the windows of the room slam shut, and they’re trapped.
“Someone wants us gone,” Yelena says.
Returning Marvel player Julia Louis-Dreyfus reappearsas theshadowy Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, who seemingly brought the “adorable” gang together.
“We’re brought up to believe there are good guys and there are bad guys,” she says in voice-over. “But eventually you come to realize there are bad guys, and there are worse guys — and nothing else.”
Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
