‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ to end with final four-part event, Selena Gomez to make directorial debut
Selena Gomez and David Henrie on the ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ set. (Disney/Eric McCandless)
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is ready to cast one last spell.
Disney+ and Disney Channel have announced that the Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff series will return for its final chapter this summer. Production on the new episodes starts next week.
Selena Gomez will make her directorial debut as she helms the premiere episode of this final chapter in the Russo family’s story. In addition to directing, Gomez will reprise her role of Alex Russo over the course of multiple episodes and continue executive producing.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place stars David Henrie as Justin Russo and Janice LeAnn Brown as the young wizard Billie. Alkaio Thiele, Max Matenko, Taylor Cora and Mimi Gianopulos also make up the main cast.
This final chapter of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is being billed as a special four-part event.
“Billie, still reeling from losing Alex at the end of season 2, discovers that the only way to rescue her mother is to reunite with her long-lost father,” according to an official description from Disney. “As her family bands together to find Alex, Billie realizes that their combined power is the only way the Russos can defeat the evil plaguing them.”
Disney Channel released a teaser for the new episodes on Thursday. The video features a moment from the emotional ending of season 2, with Billie and Alex embracing each other.
“Hold on tight for some news,” the video says, before announcing the upcoming new and final episodes.
Snoop Dogg at 19th annual TIME100 Gala. (Getty Images)
The world has watched Snoop Dogg evolve over the years, and now he’s bringing his life story to the big screen in a new biopic called Snoop.
Snoop announced at CinemaCon the film will be released next year. “After my brothers got to tell their story with Straight Outta Compton, now it’s my turn,” he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The rapper praised director Craig Brewer and promised the film would be rated R, adding, “So get your parents’ permission.”
“If we’re going to do a Snoop Dogg movie, I’ve got to get gangster with it,” he said.
“I wish I could give you more details,” he added. “We’ll be back at CinemaCon next year with a trailer.”
Snoop will see Jonathan Daviss portraying the rapper. Brian Grazer, who also worked on 8 Mile, will produce with Snoop under Death Row Productions.
Snoop previously described the biopic as an “evolution story” about his life, family and upbringing, saying it will show how he overcame challenges and learned from those who shaped him.
“A lot of people just see me for who I am now,” he told Extra. “They don’t know what I went through and what I had to do to get to this stage and the people that taught me the lessons that I learned and the reason why I am who I am.”
Snoop will begin filming this summer.
In other Snoop-related news, Lil Baby has joined the team for Snoop’s Dr. Bombay Ice Cream brand, which “remixes classic frozen treats with West Coast flavor full of clever music nods and hip hop easter eggs,” a release said, per People. Dr. Bombay’s first storefront will open April 26 at the Venice Boardwalk in LA.
Dominic McLaughlin stars in the upcoming ‘Harry Potter’ TV series. (Aidan Monaghan/HBO)
More Harry Potter is headed our way.
HBO has shared a new image of Dominic McLaughlin in costume as the titular wizard from its upcoming Harry Potter TV series.
The photo finds Harry walking toward the quidditch pitch at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry while wearing the signature Gryffindor quidditch robes. His robe bears his last name on the back, as well as his player number, which is seven.
A large group of Hogwarts students is gathered ahead of him entering the pitch, which is decorated with flags representing both the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses. There’s also a flag supporting Fred Weasley and George Weasley, the older brothers of Harry’s best friend Ron Weasley.
The photo is captioned “Tomorrow” alongside a lightning bolt emoji, a reference to Harry’s forehead scar. This tease has fans assuming even more will be released about the upcoming show within the next 24 hours.
HBO shared first-look photos of McLaughlin in costume as Harry Potter and Nick Frost in costume as Hagrid in July 2025. The photos were released the same week cameras officially started rolling on the series as it began production at the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, the same location where all eight of the Harry Potter films were made.
McLaughlin leads the cast alongside Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton, who play Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
The upcoming HBO show is described as a faithful adaptation of the books by J.K. Rowling, who serves as an executive producer on the series. Multiple seasons of the show are planned, with each one bringing the Harry Potter characters on new adventures.
The Harry Potter series will premiere on HBO and HBO Max in 2027.
Actor Robert Duvall poses for a portrait during the 87th Academy Awards nominee luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Feb. 2, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Jeff Vespa/Getty Images)
Robert Duvall, the Academy Award-winning actor known for roles in some of American cinema’s greatest films, including The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, has died at age 95.
“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,” read a statement posted on the actor’s official Facebook page by his wife, Luciana.
A statement from Duvall’s representative confirmed the actor’s death, reading in part, “Academy Award winning actor Robert Selden Duvall passed away peacefully in his home in Middleburg, Virginia, the evening of Sunday, February 15, 2026, with his wife Luciana Duvall by his side. He was 95.”
Duvall brought a signature naturalism to the roles he played, an unmannered style that infused his myriad characters with a calm intensity – a counterpoint to his self-confessed often hot-tempered on-set disposition – and earned him a reputation as one of his generation’s finest actors. Beginning with his memorable film debut as Boo Radley in 1962’s To Kill a Mockingbird, in which he didn’t utter a word, Robert Duvall went on to appear in more than 90 films over the next seven decades, working with some of Hollywood’s most celebrated filmmakers and performers.
Duvall shared the screen as the outlaw Ned Pepper opposite John Wayne in 1969’s True Grit, originated the role of Maj. Frank Burns in Robert Altman’s 1970 dark comedy M*A*S*H, and starred in the title role in Star Wars creator George Lucas’ 1971 directorial debut, THX 1138. Duvall also played Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and The Godfather Part II opposite his acting hero, Marlon Brando, and had a pivotal role as the ruthless network VP Frank Hackett in the acclaimed 1976 media satire Network.
As the shirtless, cowboy hat-wearing Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now, Duvall delivered the film’s most oft-quoted line: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” Four years later, Duvall won the Academy Award for best actor for playing Mac Sledge, a recovering alcoholic country music star attempting to make amends, in Tender Mercies.
Other career highlights included playing cynical sportswriter Max Murphy in the 1984 Robert Redford baseball fable The Natural; NASCAR crew chief Harry Hogge opposite Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the 1990 action hit Days of Thunder; Sgt. Martin Prendergast, the retiring LAPD officer who spends his final day on the job pursuing Michael Douglas’ unhinged character in 1993’s Falling Down; and a criminal court judge accused of murder who’s defended by his estranged son, played by Robert Downey Jr., in the 2014 legal drama The Judge.
Of all his many celebrated acting roles, however, Duvall repeatedly said his favorite was that of retired Texas Ranger Augustus “Gus” McCrae in the 1989 TV Western miniseries Lonesome Dove. The series was one of several TV projects in which Duvall starred. Others included playing the title role in 1992’s HBO film drama Stalin, for which he won a Golden Globe – his fourth lifetime win – and the 2006 AMC Western miniseries Broken Trail, which earned Duvall a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor, in addition to another for producing the series.
In total, Duvall was nominated for seven Academy Awards, the final three for his performances in 1997’s The Apostle, which he also wrote and directed; 1998’s A Civil Action, co-starring with John Travolta as a corrupt corporate attorney; and 2014’s The Judge. His nomination for The Judge, at age 84, then made him the oldest actor ever nominated in the best supporting actor category, until Christopher Plummer, at age 86, was nominated three years later for All the Money in the World.
Other notable later films in which Duvall appeared include The Handmaid’s Tale in 1990, 1996’s Sling Blade, 1998’s sci-fi action thriller Deep Impact, Crazy Heart in 2009 – this time with Jeff Bridges playing a down-on-his luck country singer – and as a shooting range owner in the 2012 Tom Cruise hit Jack Reacher.
In addition to his Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe wins, Robert Duvall won a BAFTA and a Screen Actors Guild Award, the former for Apocalypse Now and the latter for A Civil Action, as well as dozens of other critical and popular award nominations and wins. He was also awarded the National Medal of Arts by then-President George W. Bush in 2005.
Duvall was married four times, most recently in 2005 to Luciana Pedraza, who survives him. He had no children.
