‘Wicked’ movie soundtrack makes history on ‘Billboard’ charts

On Thursday, Paramount+ dropped the trailer to Dear Santa, the Christmas family comedy starring Jack Black and brought to you by Peter and Bobby Farrelly, the siblings behind the smash hits Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. 

As reported, the film centers on a boy named Liam (Robert Timothy Smith) who writes to Santa for proof he exists, but, as the trailer narrates, “Liam is a crappy speller.”

To that end, his letter addressed instead to “Satan” finds its way due south of the North Pole — and the other guy in red shows up, to Liam’s surprise.

“Who did you expect?” Black says as the other guy, complete with horns on his head. “In the movies the reindeer has usually have the antlers, not you,” Liam replies.

Black’s character offers Liam three wishes in exchange for his soul — a bargain he insists genies “stole” from him. “You ain’t never had a friend like me!” Black growls happily, adding, “OK, that I may have stolen from Aladdin: Now we’re even.” 

However, Liam proves “incorruptible,” even when Satan grants him riches and a bro hug from Post Malone, playing himself.

Along the way, Liam tries to get the Devil to break good: “What about doing something out of kindness?” he offers. “I don’t know what you just said — I mean I know all the words, but I just never heard them in that order,” Black retorts. 

Dear Santa hits Paramount+ for free, and digital platforms for rent or purchase, on Nov. 25.

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Something bad is happening in Oz.

Mattel is being sued for printing the URL for a pornographic website on the packaging of its limited-edition fashion dolls based on the new film Wicked, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

A South Carolina woman is launching a class action lawsuit after she purchased the toy for her daughter, who then visited the X-rated site.

“To her absolute shock the website, ‘Wicked.com,’ had nothing to do with the Wicked Doll. Rather Wicked.com pasted scenes of pornographic advertisements across her phone screen,” the lawsuit’s documents read. “Plaintiff’s minor daughter immediately showed her mother the photographs and both were horrified by what they say [sic].”

Mattel has pulled the toy from retailers like Target, Amazon and Kohl’s, and also issued a statement that it was aware of the misprint on the packaging of the box, “which intended to direct consumers to the official WickedMovie.com landing page.” They advised customers who already purchased the doll to discard the packaging and/or obscure the wrong URL.

The plaintiff alleges Mattel did not offer a refund, and that she and her daughter suffered emotional distress over the misprint.

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Tom Holland is giving fans a major update on his forthcoming fourth Spider-Man film.

“All I can tell you is that it’s happening,” Holland said Wednesday on Good Morning America when asked about the latest news for his iconic web-slinging Marvel superhero while promoting his new nonalcoholic beer, Bero.

Holland said they’ve been working on the movie’s concept but now feel it’s “strong enough” to go ahead, revealing that shooting begins next summer.

“The idea is crazy,” he teased. “It’s a little different to anything we’ve done before, but I think the fans are gonna really respond to it.”

Holland also shared his reaction to the news that former Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. is making his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Victor von Doom aka Doctor Doom, saying he’s “obviously delighted.”

The forthcoming Spider-Man 4 will be Holland’s first time back in his Spidey suit since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw him team up with former Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

Holland has played the character in several ensemble MCU films, first in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and most famously in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers Endgame.

His other solo outings include 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.

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