Moviefone Editorial

Tag: @top-news

  • ‘Sweet Valley High’ Books Getting Made Into a Movie

    The adventures of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are coming to the big screen.

    Deadline reports Paramount is developing an adaptation of the popular young adult book series “Sweet Valley High.” The studio has hired Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith (“Legally Blonde”) and Harper Dill (“The MIck”) to write a script.

    “Sweet Valley High” was created in 1983 by Francine Pascal, who oversaw a team of ghost writers. The series has spawned over 600 books, several spinoffs, and a television series in the early 1990s.

    In the books, trendy, impulsive Jessica and sensible, sweet Elizabeth got into all sorts of hijinks, ranging from the typical (crushes on boys, tiffs with friends) to the ridiculous (getting kidnapped, dating a vampire).

    It’s unclear if the adaptation will pull from the storylines of the books, or be set in the ’80s/’90s or the current day. We’re crossing our fingers, though, that Jessica joins a cult at some point and a couple of doppelgangers come to town.

  • Want to See Tom Hiddleston as Hamlet in London? Good Luck!

    Tom HiddlestonWant to see Tom Hiddleston onstage as Hamlet? The odds are not in your favor. The “Kong: Skull Island” star will take the stage as the melancholy Prince this fall in a production directed by Kenneth Branagh, but tickets will be scarce.

    The production will only run for three weeks at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art’s Jerwood Vanbrugh theatre, a London venue that only seats 160, The Independent reports. (That’s actually one of RADA‘s largest venue, which can hold up to 183 people, depending on the stage configuration.)

    To get those tickets you have to first register for a ticket lottery, which closes Sunday, August 6. And even winners of that lottery can only buy two tickets, max. The play runs from September 1-23.

    Hiddleston is a former RADA student, and told the Independent, “Kenneth Branagh and I have long talked about working on the play together and now felt like the right time, at the right place.” Branagh directed the first “Thor” movie, in which we first met Hiddleston as Loki.

    Hiddleston will likely be back stateside to promote “Thor: Ragnarok,” which opens November 3.

  • Netflix Is Reportedly $20 Billion in Debt

    Thanks to its growing emphasis on original content, streaming giant Netflix is now $20 billion debt, according to the L.A. Times.

    The Times reports, that’s “a hefty $20.54 billion in long-term debt and obligations,” adding, “Netflix is burning through cash at a growing clip,” in an effort to keep up with competitors Amazon and Hulu.

    The company is reportedly spending $6 billion on content just this year, with its year cash flow said to hit $2.5 billion this year, up a whopping $1.7 billion from last year. And that’s despite a wave of cancellations, including chopping “The Get Down,” “Girlboss” and “Sense8.”

    Among its biggest spends lately: A reported $100 million for Martin Scorsese‘s “The Irishman,” and $90 million for the upcoming Will Smith sci-fi movie “Bright.”

    Another part of the cost: The recent move from headquarters from Los Gatos, California to a 14-story building in Hollywood.

    And those “Netflix Originals” don’t come cheap. Many are licensed from other sources: “Orange Is the New Black” is produced by Lionsgate and “The Crown” is a Sony Pictures Television production, points out the Times. Not to mention all the Marvel shows, including the “The Defenders,” “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage,” and “Jessica Jones.”

    “Nobody is ever the dominant player forever,” Mike Vorhaus of Magid Advisors, a media and digital video consulting group, told the Times, “I think they’re going to need some luck in not drowning in debt in the ultimate slowdown of growth.”

    Michael Pachter, a Wedbush analyst, told the Times he sees disaster ahead: “I think [Netflix] is kicking the can down the road and a looming write-down is coming.”

    Ted Sarandos, chief content officer of Netflix, told the Times earlier this month that the company is learning from its failed shows: “Some of them work out great, some of them work out not so great, and we can learn from every single one of them.”

  • Summer Phoenix Files for Divorce From Casey Affleck

    Summer Phoenix and Casey Affleck Another Affleck is getting divorced: Summer Phoenix has filed for divorce from Casey Affleck, ET reports. The two announced their separation last year after 10 years of marriage, but now Phoenix is making the split official.

    The pair met in 1995 through her brother, Joaquin Phoenix, when Joaquin and Affleck were working on “To Die For.” They started dating in 2000 and tied the knot in 2006.

    The reason for the divorce is the usual “irreconcilable differences,” according to ET. Phoenix is seeking spousal support, as well as joint legal and physical custody of their sons, 12-year-old Indiana and 9-year-old Atticus.

    They legally separated in November 2015, although they didn’t announce their split until March 2016. (The photo above is from 2013.)

    Phoenix did not accompany Affleck to the Oscars earlier this year, where he won Best Actor for “Manchester by the Sea.” As you recall, old allegations of sexual misconduct dogged Affleck throughout awards season.

    Summer is the youngest sibling of the Phoenix family — River, Joaquin, and Liberty. As a child, she guest starred on TV shows including “Airwolf,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “Growing Pains.” Her films include “Dinner Rush,” “The Believer” and “The Laramie Project.”

  • ‘Doctor Who’ Vet Jenna Coleman Speaks Out About Series’ New Star, Jodie Whittaker

    BFI & Radio Times TV Festival - Day 2It seems like “Doctor Who” fans either love or hate the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the series’ next Doctor, and former star Jenna Coleman is no different.

    Although the actress no longer plays the Doctor’s companion Clara Oswald, she weighed in on Whittaker taking over the lead role on Monday during the Television Critics Association press tour. She made it very clear that she supports the move, calling it “genius,” according to Variety.

    “Oh, I love it,” Coleman said. “I think it’s genius. I think she is brilliant and lovely, and I can’t wait to hear her speak. I want to hear the voice. I think it’s very exciting times.”

    As the latest TARDIS traveler, Whittaker is the first woman to fill the titular role, which caused a strong reaction on Twitter when it was announced earlier this month. There were cheers from many users, while some others had complaints and offensive comments instead. However, Steven Moffat, the departing showrunner, made it clear at San Diego Comic-Con that he felt there was no problem, with the positive reactions outweighing the negative ones.

    “The story of the moment is that the notionally conservative ‘Doctor Who’ fandom has utterly embraced that change completely — 80 percent approval on social media, not that I check these things obsessively,” he said, according to Variety.

    Count Coleman firmly among the 80 percent happily welcoming Whittaker. We’ll see her in the TARDIS come 2018.

    [via: Variety]

  • ‘Game of Thrones’ Star Carice van Houten Shares Theories on Melisandre’s Dark Prophecy

    Like the red priestess Melisandre, “Game of Thrones” star Carice van Houten has ideas about what is to come in the great game.

    (If you haven’t yet watched Season 7, Episode 3 “The Queen’s Justice,” be prepared for spoilers ahead!)

    Sunday’s episode saw van Houten’s character check an item off her to-do list: bringing together Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). She only stuck around long enough to witness Jon’s arrival, but before she left, she dropped a very interesting prophecy. Her parting words predicted not only her death but that of Lord Varys (Conleth Hill).

    “I will return, dear Spider, one last time,” she told him. “I have to die in this strange country. Just like you.”

    When asked about her prophecy in an interview with Elle magazine, van Houten confirmed that she does believe both characters will die before the hit HBO series ends. However, she expects their deaths will be very different.

    Varys, the actress predicts, will fight to survive but eventually succumb.

    “Some things, terrible things, have to happen in these last seasons!” she said. “It’ll probably be one of those where he’ll try run from it, but he’ll get it in the end.”

    Melisandre, on the other hand, will be more open to death.

    “I have a feeling that she’s tired. She’s old, man,” van Houten told the magazine. “She knows what this world is about. That’s what makes her powerful, but also more vulnerable in the end.”

    The actress suggests that her character is “afraid of dying before seeing for herself that everything ends all right” and will do her best to make sure it does — “even if it means she has to sacrifice herself.”

    We all know that Melisandre’s methods can be terrible (like, say, burning an innocent girl to death), but if van Houten is right, she will do some good in the end.

    “Game of Thrones” Season 7 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

    [via: Elle]

  • ‘Transformers’ Spinoff ‘Bumblee’ Announces Cast, New Release Date

    “Bumblebee” will be getting his turn in the spotlight next Christmas.

    The “Transformers” spinoff has a new release date: December 21, 2018 (moved back from June). The movie is being directed by Travis Knight (“Kubo and the Two Strings”), who makes his live-action helming debut.

    Paramount also announced the cast, headlined by WWE star John Cena and Hailee Steinfeld. Pamela Aldon, Stephen Schenider, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Jason Drucker, Kenneth Choi, Ricardo Hoyos, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, and Grace Dzienny also appear.

    Here’s the official synopsis:

    On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld), on the cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken. When Charlie revives him, she quickly learns this is no ordinary, yellow VW bug.

    The “Bumblebee” spinoff is the first in what Paramount hopes becomes a “Transformers” Cinematic Universe, in the vein of what Marvel and DC Comics have done. The recent “Transformers: The Last Knight” opened last month and has earned $568.9 million worldwide.

    With the Dec. 21, 2018 release date, “Bumblebee” will now go up against Warner Bros. “Aquaman.”

  • MTV Officially Reviving ‘TRL’ for October Premiere

    'Spankin New Music Week' on MTV's 'TRL' - November 6, 2001The ’90s really are back!

    MTV is reviving “TRL” aka “Total Request Live,” a show that featured the day’s top music videos as voted on by fans over the phone or online. The original series ran from 1998-2008 and was hosted by Carson Daly. Musical acts like Britney Spears, ‘NSYNC, and the Backstreet Boys often appeared on the show, which overlooked Times Square in New York City.

    Apparently, MTV is looking to reinvent itself by returning to its roots. Network president Chris McCarthy told The New York Times that “TRL” would return in October in a massive new studio again overlooking Times Square.

    MTV has experienced falling ratings in the last few years. The network has reinvented itself several times since the heady days of “TRL.” It brought in scripted programming, like “Teen Wolf.” Now, it’s refocusing on music content and reality fare.

    The new show will run an hour a day to start, though it may expand to two or three hours. Daly will not return as host; instead, five relatively unknown co-hosts, including rapper/comedian DC Young Fly, will share duties. And the new “TRL” will create content for other platforms, like Instagram and Snapchat.

  • ‘Walking Dead’ Season 8: Robert Kirkman Reveals More Time Jump Details

    THE WALKING DEAD Season 8 old man RickThe Walking Dead” — in more ways than one.

    After an appearance at AMC’s panel during the Television Critics Association’s fall TV season press tour, Kirkman — the co-creator of the comic book series that inspired the television sensation, which he also executive produces — huddled with reporters to add some extra dimension to the fan-wowing Season 8 trailer that debuted at Comic-Con — including a still-cryptic nod to the apparent time-jump that featured a bearded, increasingly white-haired, cane-needing Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

    On the big picture on the upcoming season:

    Robert Kirkman: It’s a little early, but we all know it’s the all-out war story. So, in Season 8, we’re trying to do a more fast-paced season, a more action packed season, really focusing on momentum and we feel like over the first seven seasons we kind of set all of the characters into place and now it’s kind of time to break them, to a certain extent.

    On the surprising similarities between Rick and Negan:

    We used to talk about how the Governor and Rick are two sides of the same coin, and I think Negan is probably a better illustration of that just because, or as Rick has advanced, Negan has advanced in the same way.

    They’re both very capable leaders, and they both have very strict world views and strict ideas about how it is they’re going to keep their people safe. It’s just that Negan has kind of shifted in a certain direction and gone down a dark path, but I think they are in their own way two people who are devoted to the people they feel are under their protection and under their leadership.

    [Negan brutally punishes his own allies] to keep the other people in line. It’s a very psychotic mindset but I think that Negan does truly believe that by doing that he’s keeping people in line and keeping people protected.

    On Daryl’s lingering guilt that he may be responsible for Glen’s death:

    That will be a plotline for Daryl at some point in the next season. It’s something that will be addressed.

    On keeping the audience engaged going forward:

    I think it’s been all about an expanding scale for the last two season, and it’s really hit its pinnacle this season. We’ve got all these different factions, all these different locations — we’ve got the Hilltop, we have the Sanctuary — and I think getting all these people together and kind of continuing to expand the scale in a cool way, but really using all these pieces to their fullest. We’ve spent a lot of time setting these characters up and now we’re going to bash them against each other and see what happens.

    But one of the things that really keeps “The Walking Dead” going is that every season feels like a different show and as we start to show more promotional material and you guys get to see episodes, you’ll see this is another continuation of that. This is a very fresh take on the world of “The Walking Dead” and we’re going to be breaking a lot of new ground this season.

    On the storytelling time jump hinted at in the recent Comic-Con trailer:

    That is an intriguing tidbit that we did throw out there on purpose, and we’re hoping that people continue to question how that fits into the storyline and what it is. Comic book fans know where a scene that kind of looked like that would fall, but it also doesn’t seem like we would be getting to that just yet if you were a comic book fan, so there is a mystery to that. You’ll just have to see.

    Don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure you’ll learn in the first episode what that image means. [Laughs] You’re going to quote me on that!

  • Nia Long Joins ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ as Series Regular in Season 9

    BET's 2017 American Black Film Festival Honors Awards - ArrivalsNia Long is heading to the City of Angels.

    The actress is joining the cast of CBS’ “NCIS: Los Angeles” as a series regular ahead of Season 9. She’ll play Shay Mosely, the team’s new executive assistant director, filling the void left by the previous assistant director Owen Granger. Granger had been portrayed by Miguel Ferrer, who died in January.

    Mosely is a former Secret Service agent and Washington insider who brings an East Coast vibe to the L.A. branch of NCIS.

    Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill said, “The character was created specifically for Nia to capitalize on her strengths and personality and we are excited about the new opportunities and dynamics she brings to the show,” said “We couldn’t be happier to have her join our family.”

    Long is a veteran actress who has appeared in television shows including “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Third Watch,” “Boston Legal,” and “House of Lies.” Most recently, she starred in the Lifetime remake of the movie “Beaches” and did an eight-episode arc on “Empire.”

    She is also an accomplished film actress, with roles in “Boyz n the Hood,” “The Best Man,” “The Best Man Holiday,” and “Are We There Yet?”

    “NCIS: LA” Season 9 premieres Sunday, Oct. 1 at 9:30 p.m. on CBS.