Tom Hanks will star in new off-Broadway play he co-wrote
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SeriousFun Children’s Network
Tom Hanks is set to star in an off-Broadway production of a new play he co-wrote.
Hanks will star in the world premiere of This World of Tomorrow, a brand-new play he co-wrote with James Glossman. It’s based on a series of short stories by Hanks.
This World of Tomorrow is set at the end of the 21st century. Hanks will star as Bert Allenberry, a scientist from the future who embarks on a time-traveling adventure to find true love. Bert finds himself continuously returning to a special day during the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens, New York.
“Out of the collision of technology and desire, nostalgia and history, what life will Bert choose as his own?” the show’s official description asks.
The play will have a limited eight-week run at The Shed’s Griffin Theater in New York. It will be directed by Kenny Leon, who also directed the current production of Othello on Broadway starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal.
This marks the second collaboration between Hanks and Glossman after they previously worked together on the play Safe Home in 2022.
This World of Tomorrow begins previews on Oct. 30 with the limited engagement running through Dec. 21.
(SPOILER ALERT) The Last of Us creators have confirmed what many fans had already suspected: season 3 of the apocalyptic HBO drama will focus on Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, the character introduced last season who killed off Pedro Pascal’s Joel.
Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann confirmed the news at an FYC panel in Los Angeles Tuesday, featuring Dever on video chat and fellow cast members Bella Ramsey, Isabela Merced, Gabriel Luna and Young Mazino. The panel was moderated by Rob McElhenney.
“I can’t believe that they let us structure the series in this way, meaning, like, we just ended season 2, and season 3 is going to be starring — spoiler alert — Kaitlyn,” Druckmann said while discussing the creative freedom HBO provides.
“I was sure that they wouldn’t let us do this when we started adapting this, but they’ve leaned into what makes, I believe, the story special,” Druckmann added. “And allowed us not only the time but the creative freedom to be able to take these swings, and I think the audience really appreciates that.”
Season 2 ended with the perspective shifting from Ramsey’s Ellie to Dever’s Abby. No word yet one when season 3 will be released.
Justin Baldoni‘s lawsuit against Blake Lively was dismissed by a federal judge in New York on Monday.
The It Ends With Us costars have been in a heated legal feud since 2024.
In his motion, Judge Lewis J. Liman dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million countersuit against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, the couple’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, as well as Baldoni’s defamation claim against The New York Times.
“The alleged facts indicate that the Times reviewed the available evidence and reported, perhaps in a dramatized manner, what it believed to have happened,” the opinion said. “The Times had no obvious motive to favor Lively’s version of events.”
Baldoni has until June 23 to refile some of his claims.
Lively’s lawyers, Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, called the dismissal a “total victory and complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times.”
“As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it,” the statement continued. “We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys’ fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, [Steve] Sarowitz, [Melissa] Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”
Good Morning America has reached out to Baldoni’s lawyers for comment.
Lively first filed a complaint on Dec. 20, 2024, against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing him of sexual harassment on the set of the film, which he also directed.
Baldoni responded on Dec. 31, 2024, with the now-dismissed lawsuit against the Times for libel and false light invasion of privacy after it published the article about Lively’s California complaint.
The lawsuit claimed the Times, which included in its article alleged text messages and email exchanges between Baldoni’s publicists Jennifer Abel and Melissa Nathan and the newspaper, had relied on “cherry-picked” and altered communications, with details “stripped of necessary context and deliberately spliced” to “mislead.”
Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said at the time that the Times “cowered to the wants and whims of two powerful ‘untouchable’ Hollywood elites, disregarding journalistic practices and ethics once befitting of the revered publication by using doctored and manipulated texts and intentionally omitting texts which dispute their chosen PR narrative.”
A New York Times spokesperson told GMA at the time that they “plan to vigorously defend against the lawsuit.”
That same day, Lively formalized details from her California complaint into a lawsuit against Baldoni and other defendants for sexual harassment.
Baldoni has denied the allegations.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Even more wizards have joined the upcoming Harry Potter TV series.
HBO has announced nine more actors to join the show, including those playing the Malfoy family members and Molly Weasley.
Newcomer Lox Pratt will play Draco Malfoy, while Emma actor Johnny Flynn has been cast as Lucius Malfoy.
Additionally, Katherine Parkinson has been cast as the Weasley family matriarch, Molly, while A Small Light actress Bel Powley and Eric & Ernie actor Daniel Rigby will play Harry’s guardians Petunia and Vernon Dursley.
Rounding out the announcements are Bertie Carvel cast as Cornelius Fudge, while Leo Earley, Alessia Leoni and SiennaMoosah have been cast to play Hogwarts students Seamus Finnegan, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, respectively.
These actors join the previously announced golden trio cast of Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, set to play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
The show is described to be a faithful adaptation of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, who also executive produces the series. Multiple seasons are planned to bring all of Harry’s adventures to the small screen. They will stream exclusively on HBO Max.