In brief: ‘The Traitors’ season 3 trailer debuts and more

Netflix has canceled Unstable, the comedy series starring Rob Lowe and his son John Owen Lowe, after two seasons, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series stars Lowe as Ellis Dragon, a “universally admired, eccentric, narcissist-adjacent biotech entrepreneur” whose son goes to work for him to help save his company. The show’s second season failed to make it into Netflix’s top 10 …

A sequel to the horror film Ready or Not is in the works starring Samara Weaving in the lead role, according to Variety. The first movie, released in 2019, starred Weaving, along with Adam Brody and Andie MacDowell, and centered on a bride whose wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game …

The Wild Robot filmmaker Chris Sanders tells Deadline that a sequel to the animated adventure is already in the works. The movie “follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, ‘Roz’ for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings,” according to the official logline. The Wild Robot — featuring the voices of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor and Stephanie Hsu — has grossed more than $100 million worldwide … 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

The rumors regarding the casting of Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films continues, with Deadline now reporting Stranger Things actor Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison.

And it sounds like he’s getting ready for the part, with Deadline citing sources in Europe who claim Quinn’s been spotted with a guitar while overseas filming his role of Human Torch in the new Fantastic Four movie. 

Quinn is no stranger to the guitar, or at least acting like he knows how to play one. His character Eddie Munson memorably played Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” in the season 4 finale of Stranger Things. 

Quinn most recently starred in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, and if the casting rumor is true, he will be the second star from that movie rumored to be in the Beatles films. On Tuesday, Gladiator II director Ridley Scott let it slip that Paul Mescal is attached to the project; he’s rumored to be playing Paul McCartney.

As for the rest of the band, Ringo Starr recently let it slip in an Entertainment Tonight interview that Barry Keoghan had been cast to play him. Plus, Babygirl actor Harris Dickinson has been mentioned as a possible candidate to play John Lennon. When asked about it on the red carpet for the Babygirl premiere, he played coy, telling Variety “we’ll see.”

So far there has been no official announcement about the casting of the films. 

Mendes’ Beatles project was announced back in February, with the director revealing he planned to make four separate films, one for each member of the group. Sony Pictures is the studio behind the movies, and it marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles have granted a studio the rights to the life stories of the band members and their legendary catalog of music.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Daniel Radcliffe is among those mourning the death of beloved British actress Maggie Smith, who died Friday at age 89.

Radcliffe, who played the titular character in the Harry Potter movie series, shared a statement reflecting on meeting Smith when he was a young actor.

“The first time I met Maggie Smith I was 9 years old and we were reading through scenes for David Copperfield, which was my first job,” he began. “I knew virtually nothing about her other than that my parents were awestruck at the fact that I would be working with her.”

He added in part, “She was incredibly kind to me on that shoot, and then I was lucky enough to go on working with her for another 10 years on the Harry Potter films. She was a fierce intellect, a gloriously sharp tongue, could intimidate and charm in the same instant and was, as everyone will tell you, extremely funny.” 

He called himself “amazingly lucky to have been able to work with her,” adding, “The word legend is overused but if it applies to anyone in our industry then it applies to her. Thank you Maggie.”

Whoopi Goldberg, who starred with Smith in 1992’s Sister Act and 1993’s Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, posted on Instagram, “Maggie Smith was a great woman and a brilliant actress. I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with the ‘one-of-a-kind.'”

Smith’s Downton Abbey co-star Michelle Dockery said in a statement, “I feel tremendously lucky to have known such a maverick. She will be deeply missed and my thoughts are with her family.” 

The loss of Smith even led a “deeply saddened” King Charles III to share a statement on behalf of himself and his wife, Camilla, on Friday: “As the curtain comes down on a national treasure, we join all those around the world in remembering with the fondest admiration and affection her many great performances, and her warmth and wit that shone through both on and off the stage.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.