The latest Showbiz News, Gossip, TV and Movie and Music News…Wednesday, August 28th.
New Preview from STAR WARS: The Rise of Skywalker!
Disney/Lucasfilm has released new footage from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Primarily a montage of the entire Star Wars saga, it concludes with brand new footage from the upcoming movie. The movies comes to theaters December 20. •VIDEO
Wednesday Night TV:
AMERICA’S GOT TALENT (8p ET, NBC) — New. Seven acts from the previous night’s show will move on to the semifinals.
BIG BROTHER (8p ET, CBS) — New.
MASTERCHEF (8p ET, FOX) — New. Family members and loved ones of the top seven make a surprise visit to the kitchen to watch the contestants make their favorite family-inspired dishes.
SUITS (8:30p ET, USA) — This 90-minute retrospective special looks back at the most talked about moments of the drama series.
SONGLAND (9p ET, NBC) — New. Undiscovered songwriters pitch original material to Leona Lewis.
BH90210 (9p ET, FOX) — New.
HOLLYWOOD GAME NIGHT (10p ET, NBC) — New. Celebrities playing include Lester Holt, Chris Sullivan, Michael Ealy and Natasha Leggero.
SEASON PREMIERE: JAY LENO’S GARAGE (10p ET, CNBC) — In the season 5 premiere, Jay tests meteorologist Reed Timmer’s storm-proof vehicle. Comic Kevin Hart makes an appearance.
SEASON FINALE: YELLOWSTONE (10p ET, Paramount) — Yellowstone has been renewed for a third season.
Hot Showbiz News & Gossip…
BAYWATCH’ STARS ALMOST LOST THOUSANDS IN SCAM _ Former Baywatch stars Donna D’Errico and Krista Allen say they were targets of a celebrity scam that could have cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. There was an offer on the table for each of them to travel to Dubai. The trip would pay an appearance fee and clothing allowance. Each woman was to make $300,000.
… Two things were fishy: 1) The offer from the supposed official in Dubai said they were going to talk about “economic empowerment.” This made no sense to the former Baywatch stars. 2) The women were being asked to make a six figure donation to a charity before landing in Dubai, for which they would be reimbursed. The women declined the scammy deal.
LESLIE JONES LEAVING SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE _ Saturday Night Live is losing Leslie Jones. The 51 year old actress and comedian won’t return to the NBC sketch comedy this coming season. After five years Jones decided to leave before the end of her contract, which typically lasts for seven seasons. She reportedly wants to explore movie projects and has a Netflix comedy special in the works.
… Meanwhile, Emmy-winner Kate McKinnon decided to re-new her contract for an eighth season. Other veteran SNL cast members returning in the fall are Kenan Thompson, Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong.
… Season 45 kicks off on September 28 with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish.
JASON MOMOA STUCK IN A CROWDED ELEVATOR WITH HIS DOG AND FRIENDS _ Even superheroes can get stuck in an elevator. Jason Momoa found himself in a crowded elevator for two hours with his dog, Rama, and some friends. The actor didn’t seem to mind too much as he recorded himself and his friends on his Instagram Stories on Tuesday.
EIGHT CHARGED WITH RUNNING ILLEGAL STREAMING SERVICES _ Eight people have been charged with conspiring to violate federal criminal copyright law. The eight were indicted by a federal grand jury for running Jetflicks, an online subscription streaming service based in Las Vegas. By using computer code to search and download programs from global pirate sites, Jetflicks permitted users to illegally stream and often download copyrighted TV shows.
… One of the defendants was supposedly a member of the Jetflicks computer programming team before he eventually left and created an equally illegal competing service, iStreamItAll. Both sites reproduced tens of thousands of copyrighted television programs without authorization. Jetflicks offered over 183,200 different TV shows while its competition had over 120,000 different titles.
FORTNITE STAR NINJA SIGNS DEAL WITH ADIDAS _ Professional gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins is partnering with Adidas. There aren’t any shoes or apparel for sale right now, but on his Mixer stream, Blevins said, “I can’t say specifically what is in the works with Adidas, but use your imagination.” Apparel companies signing deals with gaming stars is a relatively new phenomenon. Nike signed a deal earlier this year to make jerseys for the League of Legends Pro League in China. Champion and K-Swiss have also signed apparel deals with individual teams and players.
MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS see it here: Winners list.
DAISY RIDLEY SAYS REY AND KYLO REN’S RELATIONSHIP WILL BE ‘SATISFYING’ _ Things are heating up between Rey and Kylo Ren. Daisy Ridley, who stars as Rey in the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, revealed her character’s intense relationship with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is anything but over.
… She shared, “What’s fun is what’s been teased so far has confounded the fans because when I’m in the desert is he in the TIE [fighter]? What’s going on? Am I running away? Am I running toward [something]? … It’s, I think, a very satisfying story. Because also, leaving [The Last Jedi] I was like, ‘Oh I guess we’ve mined that relationship.’ No, no, we’ve mined it some more.”
SNL HOST LINEUP REVEALED _ Eddie Murphy’s Hollywood comeback tour continues with a hosting gig on the new season of Saturday Night Live. The long-running NBC comedy show revealed on Monday its first few hosts and musical guests for the upcoming season. The roster includes former cast member Murphy, who hasn’t hosted since December 1984.
… The season kicks off September 28 with host Woody Harrelson and singer Billie Eilish; then Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) and Taylor Swift; followed by David Harbour (Stranger Things) and Camila Cabello. Later is Kristen Stewart, and then Murphy on December 21.
FULL AMERICAN HORROR STORY: 1984 TRAILER _ The full trailer for American Horror Story: 1984 was unveiled Monday. In the trailer, a group of friends and aerobics enthusiasts are driving to a summer camp for a job when they accidentally hit a man with their car. After giving us this classic slasher premise, the teaser leans even more into the genre’s iconic tropes, revealing that there’s a murderer on the loose, Mr. Jingles, who had been involved in a massacre at the summer camp years back. American Horror Story: 1984 premieres September 18 on FX. • VIDEO
NETFLIX HAS SHIPPED 5 BILLION DVDS TO ITS MEMBERS _ Netflix has shipped a total of 5 billion DVDs to its customers since first sending out those iconic red envelopes 21 years ago. The milestone was announced by DVD.com, the Netflix subsidiary that is now responsible for the company’s physical disc subscriptions.
… Netflix began running a DVD-by-mail subscription service in April of 1998, and shipped its first billion DVDs by early 2007. The company launched its video streaming service soon after, offering it initially as an added bonus to DVD subscribers. Four years later, Netflix proceeded split its DVD and internet subscription services into 2 separate subscription plans and businesses. Since then, the user base of the company’s DVD subscription service has steadily declined, from 14 million subscribers in 2011 to just 2.4 million subscribers at the end of the most recent fiscal quarter. The company ended that same quarter with more than 151 million paying streaming subscribers worldwide.
… At its peak, Netflix operated around 50 distribution hubs to ship DVDs across the U.S.. Last year, that number was down to just 17 hubs.
NEW SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED SERIES COMING FROM MARVEL _ The fate of Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in serious doubt right now thanks to a contractual spat between Marvel and Sony. But that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of the web-slinger under the Marvel banner. A new Spider-Man animated series, Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends, is headed to Disney Junior in 2021.
ACTOR AND ACTRESS COUPLE SEEK ASSISTANT _ The website Tracking Board tracks the new TV and film projects launching in Hollywood. It also has an employment section. One of it’s new job listings: “Actor and Actress Couple Seek Assistant”.
… You have to be a paying subscriber of Tracking Board to see the entire job post, but part of it says: “Responsibilities include heavy scheduling, travel arrangements, and personal errands. They would like someone to be able to cat sit as well, but not required. Salary depending on experience.” • LINK
STRAHAN & SARA: KEKE PALMER OFFICIALLY FULL-TIME CO-HOST _ Confirming weeks of speculation, Strahan & Sara guest host Keke Palmer on Monday was officially promoted to full-time co-host, alongside Michael Strahan and Sara Haines. The third hour of ABC’s Good Morning America has been retitled GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke.
BREAKING BAD MOVIE COMES TO NETFLIX ON OCTOBER 11 _ Netflix’s Breaking Bad movie has a name and release date. The service has released a teaser revealing that El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie will premiere on October 11. The clip (which revolves around a questioning with Skinny Pete) doesn’t say much, but does confirm that the plot will revolve around Jesse Pinkman escaping captivity. • VIDEO
KRISTEN BELL’S KIDS ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT FROZEN 2 _ Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s kids have all the insider details on Disney’s upcoming Frozen 2 film. Bell says 4-year-old Delta and 6-year-old Lincoln “know everything” about the animated sequel, which doesn’t hit theaters for a few more months.
… Bell says, “I have told them the entire plot line. They know everything, they know all the new characters, they know all the new songs. And they can sing them, but they know they’re gonna get big time busted if they tell anyone.”
OUR BIGGEST MOVIE THEATER COMPLAINTS _ Here’s a survey they didn’t need to do. Move-goers were recently asked their biggest pet peeves and, of course, people talking during the movie is No. 1.
2. People on the phone or
phones going off
3. Loud eating, slurping drinks
4. Having to move when people get up to use the bathroom during the film
5. People laughing at non-funny parts in films
6. Sitting in the wrong seat
7. People sitting to the end of the credits
LEONARDO DICAPRIO’S EARTH ALLIANCE COMMITS $5M TO AMAZON FIRES _ Earth Alliance, an environmental initiative backed by Leonardo DiCaprio, has committed $5 million toward the preservation of the Amazon rain forest following an alarming surge in wildfires. After launching Sunday, the organization’s emergency Amazon Forest Fund is working to support local partners and indigenous communities in their efforts to protect the sensitive habitats within the Amazon.
… According to the fund’s website, more than 72,000 fires have been reported by Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research — a huge increase from last year’s 40,000 fires, which can largely be attributed to an unprecedented surge in deforestation by cattle operations and feed crops.
THE SUICIDE SQUAD ADDS NATHAN FILLION TO THE CAST _ Director James Gunn and actor Nathan Fillion have a long history together. And their collaboration will continue on Gunn’s next film, The Suicide Squad. Fillion has been signed for an undisclosed role in The Suicide Squad. Fillion is best known among genre fans for his starring role as Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly and Serenity. Fillion also starred in Castle for eight seasons on ABC and currently stars in The Rookie.
RYAN REYNOLDS TROLLS WIFE ON HER BIRTHDAY _ Ryan Reynolds used Instagram on Sunday to troll wife Blake Lively on her birthday — again. Reynolds posted several carefully selected candid photos of the star, who turned 32, and by carefully selected, we mean shots of her with her eyes closed, out of focus images and other less flattering pics. • PHOTOS