Sam Neill died from pneumonia, representative for ‘Jurassic Park’ actor says
In this Oct. 11, 2019, file photo, actor Sam Neill attends a press conference at the Sitges Fantastic Film Festival in Sitges, Spain. (Borja B. Hojas/Getty Images, FILE)
Sam Neill, known for his roles in the Jurassic Park films, died from pneumonia, a representative for the actor said in a statement on Wednesday.
Neill died Monday at 78.
“Sam passed away from pneumonia,” the statement from manager Philip Grenz said. “Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy.”
A statement earlier this week announcing his death said: “Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.”
The representative said Neill, who was also known for his role on Peaky Blinders, had filmed four projects in the past year, all of which would be released in the coming months.
Neill revealed he was being treated for stage 3 blood cancer while promoting his memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?,in March 2023.
In 2022, Neill was diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, “a rare, often but not always, aggressive (fast-growing) form of peripheral T-cell lymphoma,” according to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
The statement Wednesday said the family would hold a private memorial.
“As Sam was an intensely private man who loathed a fuss, his family will honor him with a private family memorial at his farm in New Zealand at a still-undetermined later date,” the statement said.
Tom Holland attends the ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ UK premiere on Wednesday 29th July 2026 in London, England. (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)
The latest Marvel superhero film earned an estimated $355 million in North American ticket sales during its opening weekend, making it the second-biggest domestic debut of all time, according to studio estimates. It trails only 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which opened to $357 million.
The Sony Pictures release also took in $572 million internationally, including $121 million in China, for a worldwide opening of $927 million, making it the second-largest global debut ever, behind Avengers: Endgame.
Starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, Spider-Man: Brand New Day also became Sony Pictures’ biggest opening weekend in history. The film set a new opening-day record with $168 million on Friday, surpassing Avengers: Endgame‘s previous mark.
The film follows 2021’s blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home, which grossed more than $1.9 billion worldwide and became the first movie to surpass $1 billion globally after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, has earned strong reviews, holding a 90% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A” CinemaScore rating from audiences.
The blockbuster opening helped deliver the biggest weekend ever for North American movie theaters, with an estimated $430 million in total ticket sales. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which also stars Holland and Zendaya, finished second at the domestic box office with $51 million in its third weekend.
Here are the top 10 films at the box office:
1. Spider-Man: Brand New Day — $355 million 2. The Odyssey — $51 million 3. Toy Story 5 — $6.3 million 4. Minions & Monsters — $5.8 million 5. Moana — $5.3 million 6. Hadestown: The Musical — $2 million 7. The Invite — $1.2 million 8. I Want Your Sex — $600,000 9. Evil Dead Burn — $527,000 10. Young Washington — $477,727
Marvel is owned by Disney, parent company of ABC News.
Emily Baldoni and Justin Baldoni attend the ‘It Ends With Us’ New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on August 6, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
Justin Baldoni and his wife, Emily Baldoni, are speaking publicly for the first time in nearly two years as the legal dispute between Baldoni and his former It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively continues.
In a joint video shared to Instagram on Wednesday, the couple said they had chosen not to speak publicly earlier while the legal process played out.
In April, a federal judge dismissed much of Lively’s case against Baldoni, including her claims that she was subjected to sexual harassment, but allowed her to pursue a retaliation claim against Baldoni’s public relations teams.
Baldoni, via his Wayfarer Studios production company, and Lively later agreed to settle but remain tied up in a court fight over legal fees.
“So we have not spoken publicly for the better part of the last two years and it’s not because we haven’t had anything to say because lord knows we have,” Justin Baldoni said in the video. “But it just felt like every time we went to make a video like this, we wanted to speak, something was telling us not to — it just didn’t feel like the right time.”
Emily Baldoni added, “And this feels like the moment.”
The couple said there is “so much to say” but that they were not going to say it all now.
“What does feel important is that we can genuinely say that we are sitting here today feeling immense gratitude for so many things and so many people and so many things that have happened to us,” Emily Baldoni said.
“Gratitude has saved us,” Justin Baldoni added.
Emily Baldoni said that gratitude “doesn’t negate the injustice and the pain that we have also felt in the last few years.”
“We’ve had to wrestle with so many things and try to understand so many things, like how could something like this even happen? Let alone disguise[d] as a fight for women,” she said.
Justin Baldoni said the couple chose not to contribute to “the noise” surrounding the case.
“We just wanted to let the justice system run its course,” he said.
Emily Baldoni added, “The truth and the facts have spoken for themselves. And here we are.”
Justin Baldoni said the family is continuing to recover from the experience.
“We are healing,” he said. “And if you’ve ever been through something traumatic, you know that healing isn’t linear. It looks different every day.”
He said the experience has helped the couple focus on “the kids, it’s our family, it is our friends, it’s our community … it’s our faith.”
Justin Baldoni also thanked supporters who stood by the family.
“There were so many of you who, when we didn’t have a voice, were our voice,” he said. “Thank you does not feel like enough.”
Emily Baldoni said the couple plans to continue focusing on their family.
“There is so much more to say, and that time will come. But for now, we are going to focus on continuing the healing and hanging out with our kiddos and enjoying life.”
The video comes days after attorneys for Lively said in a court filing that Baldoni’s production company, Wayfarer Studios, owes the actress $7,495,526.87 in attorneys’ fees connected to the studio’s defamation lawsuit against her, which was dismissed in June 2025. According to the filing, Lively is also seeking $539,514.01 in costs and expenses related to the dismissed case.
The filing came after U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman denied Lively’s request for punitive damages but allowed her to seek attorneys’ fees under California Civil Code Section 47.1, a law designed to protect people who report sexual assault, harassment or discrimination from retaliatory defamation lawsuits.
The legal dispute between the former It Ends With Us co-stars began in December 2024, when Lively filed a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of the film, which he also directed.
Lively also accused Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios of attempting to orchestrate a smear campaign against her, allegations Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios have denied.
The two later filed competing lawsuits against one another. Baldoni accused Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, the couple’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, and others of extortion and defamation, among other claims. The lawsuits were consolidated into one case in January 2025.
Baldoni’s lawsuit was dismissed by Liman in June 2025. Earlier this year, the judge also dismissed most of Lively’s lawsuit against Baldoni while allowing her retaliation claims against Baldoni’s public relations team to proceed.
In May, Baldoni, through Wayfarer Studios, and Lively agreed to settle their ongoing dispute. Liman ruled that Wayfarer Studios must pay Lively’s attorneys’ fees but denied Lively’s request for punitive damages. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
ABC News has reached out to representatives for Lively for comment on the Baldonis’ Instagram video.
Javier Bardem and Amy Adams in ‘Cape Fear.’ (Apple TV)
The official trailer for the Cape Fear limited series adaptation has arrived.
Apple TV released the trailer for its psychological horror thriller based on the John D. MacDonald novel The Executioners. It’s also based on the 1962 film Cape Fear and its remake, which was directed by Martin Scorsese in 1991.
Amy Adams, Javier Bardem and Patrick Wilson star in the new series, which has Scorsese and Steven Spielberg as executive producers.
“A storm is coming for happily married attorneys Anna (Adams) and Tom Bowden (Wilson) when Max Cady (Bardem), the notorious killer they are responsible for putting behind bars, is let out of prison — and he wants vengeance,” according to an official description of the show.
The trailer starts with Bardem’s Max Cady, fresh out of prison, staring intently at someone.
“Let me ask you a question,” he says. “What is your worst fear?”
Later in the trailer we see him approach Adams’ Anna at an event.
“I had a good life once, too,” he tells her. “Are you afraid of me?”
Anna scoffs, before she says, “Why would I be afraid of you?” The trailer then cuts to Anna speaking with her husband, Tom.
“Is there any way Max could know about what we did?” she asks.
Cape Fear premieres its first two episodes to Apple TV on June 5. It will release a new episode every Friday through the finale on July 31.
