In brief: Scarlett Johansson to star in Ari Aster’s next film and more
Scarlett Johansson will star in Ari Aster’s next film. The director is set to helm an original movie titled Scapegoat from a script he penned for A24. The studio confirmed the upcoming film in a post to Instagram. This marks Aster’s fifth feature-length film, and will also be his fifth made for A24. “5/5 with Ari Aster,” the studio captioned its announcement post …
It seems we may be seeing more of the Sanderson sisters. Deadline reports that Hocus Pocus 3 is in early development at Disney, with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy returning to their roles as the three Sanderson sisters. The outlet reports a theatrical distribution element would be part of this film’s release, after the success of the 2022 sequel Hocus Pocus 2, which was released straight to Disney+ …
It’s a bird … it’s a plane … it’s Matthew Lillard. Variety reports the actor has joined the cast of Superman: Man of Tomorrow. It’s unclear which role Lillard will play in the film. He joins a cast that includes David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult and Lars Eidinger …
Netflix has announced that production has started in Atlanta, Georgia, on its upcoming Scooby-Doo live-action series. The streaming service has also revealed that the show’s official title is Scooby-Doo: Origins.
The show’s previously announced main cast includes Mckenna Grace as Daphne Blake, Tanner Hagen as Shaggy Rogers, Abby Ryder Fortson as Velma Dinkley and Maxwell Jenkins as Fred Jones.
Netflix has also posted the first image of this live-action version of the Scooby-Doo gang in costume.
Additionally, Paul Walter Hauser has been cast as a series regular, although the specific role he will play has not been unveiled.
Scooby-Doo: Origins “will uncover how this mystery-solving crew, and their beloved dog, first teamed up to crack the haunting case that started it all,” according to the streamer.
Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg will serve as the show’s writers, executive producers and showrunners.
According to Netflix, the show will be a modern reimagining of the Scooby-Doo gang’s origin story.
“During their final summer at camp, old friends Shaggy and Daphne get embroiled in a haunting mystery surrounding a lonely lost Great Dane puppy that may have been a witness to a supernatural murder,” according to the show’s official synopsis. “Together with the pragmatic and scientific townie, Velma, and the strange, but ever so handsome new kid, Freddy, they set out to solve the case that is pulling each of them into a creepy nightmare that threatens to expose all of their secrets.”
Timothée Chalamet attends the 32nd annual Actor Awards, March 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
With less than a week to go before the 2026 Oscars, Timothée Chalamet is facing backlash for comments he made about opera and ballet in a recent interview.
The actor has specifically been criticized by some in the arts community for saying “no one cares” about ballet and opera, suggesting they are dying arts.
“I admire people — and I’ve done it myself — [who] go on a talk show and go, ‘Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive, you know, we gotta keep this genre alive,'” Chalamet said during a town hall with Matthew McConaughey in late February, presented by CNN and Variety. “And I don’t wanna be working in ballet or opera or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore.”
Chalamet quickly added, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,” as the crowd laughed.
“I just lost 14 cents in viewership,” he said.
Megan Fairchild, a principal dancer with New York City Ballet, responded to Chalamet’s comments on Instagram last week, sharing a video of herself alongside a caption that read in part, “Artists supporting artists matters. None of these paths are easy, and there’s no need to put ballet or opera down along the way.”
“Ballet and opera aren’t niche hobbies people opt out of for fame,” Fairchild said in the video. “They’re disciplines you can only enter if you have the rare ability for them in the first place.”
Conductor Alondra de la Parra also joined the chorus of pushback in a viral Instagram video in which she walks out of a prop coffin, saying jokingly, “I’m coming out of my coffin, because… we’re dead.”
The Seattle Opera, meanwhile, seized on Chalamet’s comments as an opportunity to promote its production of “Carmen,” giving operagoers 14% off tickets with the promo code “TIMOTHEE.”
“Timmy, you’re welcome to use it too,” the company wrote in the caption of an Instagram post Friday.
Chalamet has previously spoken about his family’s own history in the arts, particularly his mother’s, grandmother’s and sister’s ballet careers.
“I grew up backstage at the New York City Ballet. My grandmother danced in the New York City Ballet, my mother danced in the New York City Ballet, my sister danced in the New York City Ballet,” he said in an interview last December promoting Marty Supreme, which has since resurfaced online.
The pushback comes just days ahead of the 98th Academy Awards, which take place Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Chalamet has been on a roll this award season, winning best actor statuettes at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and more.
Chalamet started off award season as the Oscar favorite for lead actor, though in recent weeks Sinners star Michael B. Jordan has emerged as another strong contender.
Kelley Carter, ABC News entertainment contributor, pointed to the timing of the backlash to Chalamet’s February town hall remarks, saying it is important to keep in mind that “awards season is a political campaign.”
“While you’re not going to see outright smear campaigns, you are going to see people resurfacing maybe unfavorable interviews at times,” she said.
ABC News has reached out to Chalamet’s representatives for comment.
The trailer for the upcoming HBO limited series DTF St. Louis has arrived. The new series, which stars JasonBateman, David Harbour and Linda Cardellini, premieres on March 1. It centers on a love triangle between three middle-aged adults that leads to one of them ending up dead. A new episode will debut each week leading up to its finale on April 12, which will air ahead of the Euphoria season 3 premiere …
Even more actors have hopped on to star in the upcoming Netflix series Rabbit, Rabbit. Odessa Young and WillPoulter have joined the cast of the upcoming thriller. They join previously announced stars Adam Driver and Regina Hall. Rabbit, Rabbit tells the story of an escaped convict who takes hostages to bargain for his freedom before he falls into “an emotional poker match with a vertex FBI Crisis Negotiator,” according to an official synopsis from the streamer …
Sydney Sweeney looks to be teaming up with Noah Centineo for a new project. Deadline reports the pair are set to star in a live-action feature adaptation of Gundam for Legendary and Netflix. Gundam is a popular anime that pioneered a sci-fi subgenre centered on giant, fighting robots …
