By God, Jordan Vogt-Roberts did it. After a fan-casting movement on social media wanted Oscar Isaac for the role of Solid Snake for his long-in-development Metal Gear Solid movie, the filmmaker has officially landed the Star Wars actor for the lead role, EW has learned.

During a press junket interview for Triple Frontier in March 2019, Isaac told IGN "I'm throwing my hat in for that one" in reference to Metal Gear Solid, which is an adaptation of the popular video game series from Hideo Kojima, published by Konami. Hearing of this as word continued to spread online, Vogt-Roberts went on Twitter to quell the fan storms. "The full process required to cast an icon hasn’t even started," he tweeted, while mentioning, "The ball's in Oscar's court."

Now, it's official. Isaac is attached to star in the film from Sony Pictures, which also finished filming this year on another long-awaited videogame adaptation, Uncharted. Deadline was the first to report the news.

Derek Connolly wrote the script for Metal Gear Solid, which is produced by Avi Arad and executive produced by Peter Kang. The first game launched on PlayStation in 1987 and followed Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from a renegade special forces unit known as Foxhound.

Add this to Isaac's still-growing list of roles across movies and TV. As of now, those include HBO's Scenes From a Marriage with Jessica Chastain, Marvel's Moon Knight series on Disney+, the adaptation of the Brian K. Vaughn comic Ex Machina, and a movie about the making of The Godfather. We're also still owed his "space daddy" performance in Denis Villeneuve's Dune, rescheduled for 2021.

Related content:

• Oscar Isaac in talks to star in Moon Knight Disney+ series
• Jessica Chastain is replacing Michelle Williams in HBO's Scenes From a Marriage
• Oscar Isaac and Jake Gyllenhaal to star in film about the making of The Godfather

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Watch out, villains of the world, because Sharkboy and Lavagirl's super-powered daughter has shark strength and she's not afraid to use it.

The new trailer for Netflix's We Can Be Heroes, directed by Robert Rodriguez and set in the same universe his The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, leans into the wild and silly fun that comes from the movie's premise: with all the world's premiere adult superhero team, The Heroics, captured by invading aliens, it's now up to their kids to save the day.

Six-year-old Bird Box star Vivien Lyra Blair is the adorable, pint-sized Guppy, who can manipulate water with her mind and wields that "shark strength," which she unleashes on a bunch of guards—but not before putting some cushions down on the floor "to protect [their] butts when [they] hit the ground." So says the cutest protector of earth!

Pedro Pascal, who famously stars in that sci-fi series where he hides his modelesque face under a helmet the entire time, gets to be a mask-less hero as the katana-wielding Marcus Moreno. It's his daughter, Missy Moreno (YaYa Gosselin), who rallies the kid troops in everyone's hour of need, including Isaiah Russell-Bailey as Rewind, Akira Akbar as Fast Forward, Hala Finley as Ojo, and Dylan Henry Lau as Slo-Mo.

Christian Slater and Boyd Holbrook play two of the adult heroes, while Priyanka Chopra-Jonas stars as Ms. Granada, the Agent Coulson type for The Heroics.

Watch Guppy in action in the trailer above.

Related content:

• Watch Sharkboy and Lavagirl’s daughter blast into action in We Can Be Heroes first teaser
• Sharkboy and Lavagirl return (as parents) in new We Can Be Heroes photos
• Pedro Pascal and Christian Slater are superheroes in Netflix's We Can Be Heroes first look

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Black Panther and Small Axe star Letitia Wright became the focus of anti-vaxxer claims after the actress shared a controversial video that, in part, questioned the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines that are in development.

The video, running over an hour in length, comes from the YouTube channel On the Table in which the presenter discussed his personal doubts about vaccines in general and what he claimed to be the supposed origins of the COVID-19 vaccines without providing much of a fact-focused argument. The presenter also expressed apparent doubts regarding climate change, accusations of China spreading COVID-19, and transphobic comments.

Wright posted the video on her Twitter platform with the prayer hands emoji, a tweet that garnered fervent responses from other social media users about spreading misinformation when it comes to vaccines. "if you don’t conform to popular opinions. but ask questions and think for yourself….you get cancelled," Wright then tweeted with a laughing face emoji.

The initial tweet with the video has since been removed from her account, and the actress issued another response. "my intention was not to hurt anyone, my ONLY intention of posting the video was it raised my concerns with what the vaccine contains and what we are putting in our bodies. Nothing else," she wrote.

Engaging with multiple user accounts online, Wright further stated she wasn't suggesting not to take the COVID-19 vaccine, just that she was "concerned about what's in it." She added, "I think it’s valid and fair to simply ask what’s in it."

Don Cheadle, one of Wright's Marvel movie costars, also chimed in on the matter. In a now-deleted tweet, Cheadle spoke up in defense of Wright, but later mentioned he hadn't watched the video and would "pull her coat if it's off." When he did watch the video, he posted a lengthier comment.

"jesus… just scrolled through. hot garbage," he wrote. "every time i stopped and listened, he and everything he said sounded crazy and fkkkd up. i would never defend anybody posting this. but i still won't throw her away over it. the rest i'll take off twitter. had no idea."

Marvel movie actors came out in droves on social media recently to defend colleague Chris Pratt after the Guardians of the Galaxy star began trending as the worst of the Hollywood Chrises. He was dubbed so partly due to his attending the Hillsong Church, the executives for which come with a history of making homophobic remarks. Umbrella Academy star Elliot Page had called out Pratt in 2019, to which Pratt argued the church community was there for him through his divorce from Anna Farris "despite what the Bible says," and that he has seen them offer similar love and support "regardless of sexual orientation, race, or gender." In Wright's case, co-workers have remained largely silent on the matter as of Friday.

Related content:

• See John Boyega and Letitia Wright in new trailer for Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology
• Black Panther's Letitia Wright honors Chadwick Boseman with moving video: 'An angel on Earth'
• An original Black Panther novel centered on Shuri will publish next year

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

After AMC aired the latest midseason finale for Fear the Walking Dead, the network announced an official renewal for its Walking Dead spinoff.

Season 7 is now officially a go, AMC revealed on the show's official social media channels on Thursday. Word came with a little video teaser. "The past is dead... but the future is bright," a tweet read.

Colby Minifie's Virginia took a larger role as leader of the Pioneers in the first half of season 6, which saw the group displaced among her different encampments and Lennie James' Morgan taking on a new axe-wielding cowboy persona to take her down.

Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Jenna Elfman, Garret Dillahunt, Maggie Grace, Austin Amelio, Ruben Blades, and Alexa Nisenson also feature on Fear.

While The Walking Dead sets plans into motion to wrap up the flagship series with an expanded season 11, Fear seems like a player in the franchise's future, at least at the moment. You might say the main show is being stripped for parts. James, who debuted as Morgan first on The Walking Dead, moved over to Fear in a leading role. Amelio's Dwight found a similar on the spin-off, which recently reunited the character with lost love Sherry (Christine Evangelista). Now, Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Melissa McBride (Carol) will eventually ride into the sunset on their own separate spin-off series. There's also an anthology series in the works with the potential to see familiar characters pop in and out.

The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the other spin-off, wrapped the first of what will only be two seasons this past Sunday with a story that offered more intel on the mysterious Civic Republic group that took Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes away in a chopper.

Six additional episodes for The Walking Dead's current 10th season will begin airing this February.

Related content:

• Fear the Walking Dead showrunners answer midseason finale burning questions
• Fear the Walking Dead is having its best season ever
• Fear the Walking Dead showrunners on John Dorie's big decision

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

There are a bunch of new gods on the block. Not "the New Gods" as in the deities of modernity the Old Gods of myth are fighting for control in American Gods. Just gods who are new, and they are coming for the third season of the Starz TV series adaptation.

The official American Gods season 3 trailer peers through the godly realms to bring us new looks at Marilyn Manson's Viking rocker Johan Wengren, Blythe Danner's Greek goddess of the harvest Demeter, Iwan Rheon's leprechaun Liam Doyle, Danny Trejo and Dominique Jackson as new guises for Crispin Glover's Mr. World, Herizen Guardiola as Yoruban goddess of love Oshun, and rapper Wale as one of the Orisha gods of Shadow Moon's (Ricky Whittle) ancestors.

The fresh faces mingle with the familiar as returning characters continue the story, which takes us now to the town of Lakeside, a location plucked from the middle chapters of author Neil Gaiman's original book. Here, Shadow is trying to lay low after the Maury moment in season 2. ("Mr. Wednesday, you are the father!") But he'll find it's not possible to ignore the godly blood that runs through his veins.

In a previous note penned by Gaiman, one of the executive producers on the show, he stated the story is "back on track." This came months after yet another showrunner change, as well as accusations of racism lodged at that new showrunner, Robert Eglee, from actor Orlando Jones (Mr. Nancy), who said he was fired from the show after helping set up the storyline for season 3.

Character arcs we peek in the new trailer include Laura Moon (Emily Browning) and her mission to get a hold of a weapon that could kill Wednesday (Ian McShane); Bilquis (Yetide Badaki) grappling with Tech Boy (Bruce Langley), who's also grappling with Mr. World; the return of Salim (Omid Abtahi), Czernobog (Peter Stormare), and Mr. Ibis (Demore Barnes); and the townsfolk of Lakeside, including Julia Sweeney as Hinzelmann and Eric Johnson as police chief Chad Mulligan.

Season 3 premieres in the new year on Sunday, Jan. 10.

Related content:

• American Gods' Neil Gaiman pens letter on season 3's relevancy: 'America must be for everyone'
• Orlando Jones opens up about American Gods firing: 'It was a blindside'
• Orlando Jones says he was fired from American Gods, Mr. Nancy sent 'wrong message'

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Something wicked this way comes, and a new trailer for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 4 signals its arrival.

For the final eight episodes of Riverdale's companion series, both of Kiernan Shipka's Sabrinas (the one living life at Baxter High and the one secretly sitting on the throne of Hell), the coven, and the Fright Club are facing the Eldritch Terrors, something a mad Father Blackwood (Richard Coyle) has been raving about since getting his clutches on that time-warping egg.

The Eldritch Terrors are ancient, world-destroying beings. The Weird, The Returned, and The Darkness are just a few of them. The witches of Greendale will have to do battle with each one as they arrive, leading up to the biggest threat of all, The Void, which brings with it the end of all things. Of course, Blackwood is out here, still in a crazed stupor, trying to harness the magic of the Terrors to manipulate reality itself.

A new image gives us a better look at the angelic entity spotted in the trailer as Ambrose (Chance Perdomo) is explaining The Void.

There are a lot of other plot points packed into this trailer, and for that matter, the eight episodes, which will mark the final season for Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Nick Scratch (Gavin Leatherwood) is still trying to win his way back into Sabrina's heart by, it appears, becoming a student at Baxter High; Hilda (Lucy Davis) is still canoodling with Dr. Cerberus; the Fright Club's garage band takes the stage; Theo (Lachlan Watson) and Robin are still going strong; Caliban (Sam Corlett) is coming back into the mix, as spotted in another photo from the series; and there are still the ripple effects to consider from when Sabrina messed with time.

Miranda Otto, Ross Lynch, Michelle Gomez, Jaz Sinclair, Tati Gabrielle, Adeline Rudolph, and Abigail Cowen also return for Part 4, arriving on Netflix this Dec. 31.

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• Chilling Adventures of Sabrina boss breaks down THAT kiss, reignited love triangle, and more

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Mad Max: Fury Road

• Movie

• Action Adventure
• Thriller

Hugh Keays-Byrne, the Anglo-Australian actor behind Immortan Joe in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, died Tuesday during a hospital stay, according to his friend and former movie director Brian Trenchard-Smith.

A rep for Keays-Byrne confirmed to EW that he died peacefully and that his family requests privacy at this time. He was 73.

Trenchard-Smith helmed Keays-Byrne in films like 1975's The Dragon Flies, a.k.a. The Man From Hong Kong. Afterwards, the actor became "a good friend" to him and wife Margaret for 46 years, as the filmmaker wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "We spent many happy Sunday mornings with him, his partner Christina, and a group of fellow actors and artists (the Macao Light Company) at the house they shared in Centennial Park," he wrote.

Trenchard-Smith mentioned the "innate sense of humor" Keays-Byrne brought with him to every production. "Hugh had a generous heart, offering a helping hand to people in need, or a place to stay to a homeless teenager. He cared about social justice and preserving the environment long before these issues became fashionable," Trenchard-Smith continued. "His life was governed by his sense of the oneness of humanity. We will miss his example and his friendship."

No other information surrounding his death was given.

Keays-Byrne's Mad Max legacy extends beyond Fury Road — about 36 years before that when he debuted in the film series' first movie in 1979 as Toecutter, the main antagonist as the head of a motorcycle gang terrorizing the outback.

On returning for Fury Road as the raging tyrannical lord of his Citadel, he told The New York Times earlier this year, "It was a wonderful thing to feel everyone around me crashing about in their costumes and absolutely living it."

Miller recalled in a 2015 interview with USA Today that he brought Keays-Byrne back partly because an early print of the first Mad Max had a bad American dub of the actor's voice. "I always felt so guilty about that," Miller said. "I thought I had to make up for it in some way."

"It's a sad day to have to say goodbye to The Toecutter and Immortan Joe," filmmaker Edgar Wright tweeted. "RIP Hugh Keays-Bryne [sic], who played indelible baddies in the first and last Mad Max films—36 years apart."

Born May 18, 1947 in Srinagar, Keays-Byrne and his British parents moved to England when he was child. He began his career as a stage actor, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in productions of As You Like It, Hamlet, King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and more. His television career began in 1967 with Bellbird and Boy Meets Girl, and his film roles kicked off with 1974's Stone.

Keays-Byrne would later appear in as Mr. Stubb in 1998's Moby Dick, the character Grunchlk in episodes of Farscape, and in a minor role for 2011's Sleeping Beauty. Mad Max: Fury Road was his final film role.

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• Charlize Theron says Mad Max prequel scripts were written

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

The Lord of the Rings (Book)

• Book

A battle is waging to claim dominion over the birthplace of Middle-earth — though nothing as dramatic as the war against Sauron.

The Oxford home of late fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien is up for sale, and some of the stars from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies are calling on fans to help a charity organization purchase the property to create a literary center dedicated to Tolkien.

Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli, Treebeard) from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Martin Freeman (Bilbo) from The Hobbit, and Annie Lennox (singer of the Oscar-winning "Into the West" from the Return of the King soundtrack) are some of those voicing their support for crowd-funding campaign Project Northmoor.

Sir Derek Jacobi, who appeared opposite Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins in last year's Tolkien biopic, is also seen joining the call in a video announcement released this week. Others include The Lord of the Rings illustrator John Howe; A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and the Great War author Joseph Loconte; and Cliff Broadway from Tolkien fan site TheOneRing.net.

The campaign launched on Dec. 2 with a call for donations from Tolkien fans. Award-winning author Julia Golding, who helped launch the campaign, negotiated a three-month fundraising window with the current owner.

The goal is to raise $6 million (approximately £4.5m), but only $5.3 million is needed to buy the house. In the event $6.1 million is raised, the campaign will fund renovations and restore the garden. If they hit the $6.2 million mark, they can fund a scholarship for those from low-income backgrounds to attend creative courses and special events at the house. A $6.3 million total will fund the building of a hobbit house at the end of the garden, while $6.45 million could get a flet in Tolkien’s tree and Smaug’s lair for pipe smokers.

“We cannot achieve this without the support of the worldwide community of Tolkien fans, our fellowship of funders,” McKellen says.

"Unbelievably, considering his importance, there is no centre devoted to Tolkien anywhere in the world," Rhys-Davies adds. "The vision is to make Tolkien's house into a literary hub that will inspire new generations of writers, artists, and filmmakers for many years to come."

Related content:

• New collection of J.R.R. Tolkien's writing coming next year
• Eminent Tolkien nerd Stephen Colbert stuns the world, declares The Hobbit is 'meh'
• How the late Christopher Tolkien preserved his father's Middle-earth writings

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Of all the jokes that could have landed John Mulaney in the Secret Service hot seat, his one about Leap Year and Julius Caesar was the one that actually did him in.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live ahead of the latest season of Big Mouth, Mulaney recounted the time that he was investigated by the president's service that is secret after his February 2020 hosting turn on Saturday Night Live.

Here's the joke from that episode's opening monologue: "Leap Year began in the year 45 B.C. under Julius Caesar. This is true. He started the Leap Year in order to correct the calendar and we still do it to this day. Another thing that happened under Julius Caesar was he was such a powerful maniac that all the senators grabbed knives and they stabbed him to death. That'd be an interesting thing if we brought that back now. I asked my lawyer if I could make that joke and he said, 'Lemme call another lawyer.' And that lawyer said yes."

Mulaney told Jimmy Kimmel that the Secret Service investigated him after that show. "I guess they opened a file on me because of the joke, and I have to say, am I stoked there’s a file open on me? Absolutely. Did I enjoy it in the moment? Not so much," Mulaney said. "But the person vetting me was very understanding that the joke had nothing to do with Donald Trump. It was an elliptical reference to him. I didn't say anything about him."

The comic recalled the interviewer being "very nice" and that he was eventually "cleared," or so he was been told. "In terms of risk assessment, no one who's ever looked at me thought I registered above a 1," he joked. So, add Mulaney to the George Lopez and Kathy Griffin crowd as a comedian whose jokes put him on the radar of the Secret Service.

Less dramatic was the backlash he received about his more recent SNL monologue from October, in which he promised nothing will change in America no matter who wins the 2020 presidential election. "Which I really didn't even agree with," Mulaney remarked. "I often say things on TV in front of 10 million people that I'm just kinda floatin' as ideas."

Regardless, he received responses about the fact that he seemed to be suggesting a Joe Biden presidency wouldn't be any different than another four years of Trump. He called that a "deserved" backlash.

"I should have said, 'I very much want one to win over the other and there will be improvements if one wins,'" Mulaney added. "I flat out forgot, I just forgot to do it. I ran the joke in like a field in Connecticut and I was like, 'OK, let's rock 'n' roll.' And I never was like, 'Hey, don't you mean that one guy's worse than the other.'"

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• John Mulaney joins Late Night With Seth Meyers as staff writer
• Saturday Night Live recap: John Mulaney returns for Halloween episode with musical guest the Strokes
• John Mulaney shares his pop culture Must List, from a Werner Herzog doc to Floor Is Lava

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

• TV Show

• History

• Historical

The last 10 episodes of Vikings' sixth and final season will be raiding through streaming before it actually debuts on History Channel.

Amazon will roll out the back half of season 6, which finished its first half this past February, on its Prime Video platform this Dec. 30 in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, and Ireland.

"Our monumental Vikings saga is coming to its conclusion, but not before you’ve had to chance to watch some of my all-time favorite episodes," series creator and sole writer Michael Hirst said in a statement. "Prime Video will uniquely expose the series finale to a streaming audience first. Prepare to be astonished, and for many surprises along the way. And if you have tears to shed, then also be prepared to shed them."

Amazon Prime Video is already the streaming home of the show's first five-and-a-half seasons and now continues to welcome Vikings as the platform curates a roster of original titles. The service had a ratings-high success this past summer with the premiere of The Boys season 2.

Vikings season 6 was announced as its final season on History Channel last year, though Hirst is developing a sequel series on another streaming destination, Netflix.

Travis Fimmel initially starred on Vikings, which premiered in 2013, as farmer-turned-warrior-turned-king Ragnar Lothbrok. With season 4, the show's story paved way for a newer generation of characters to claim the spotlight. The first episodes of season 6 finished with a battle between the Rus and Vikings for control of Norway. Betrayed by his brother Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen), Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) was left for dead on the battlefield. A logline shared by Amazon for the concluding episodes teases "grave consequences."

"While in Iceland, Ubbe is determined to fulfill his father Ragnar’s dream and sail further west than any Viking has traveled before," the description reads. "And there is unfinished business in England. The Vikings have established settlements there, and over-run most of the country – except for Wessex. The King of Wessex, Alfred the Great, is the only Saxon ruler to seriously challenge their complete domination. Ivar the Boneless must again face, in battle, the King he only knew as a boy for a final reckoning."

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• Vikings creator reveals the deaths he kept postponing
• All hail Lagertha on Vikings
• Netflix orders Vikings spin-off set 100 years after original series

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Taylor Swift wasn't the only one writing music during the months of lockdown, but unlike Folklore, Jimmy Fallon's Fallonlore probably won't ascend to hit-making status.

The Tonight Show became the destination for Fallonlore: the 30 rock sessions, a spoof on Swift's Disney+ concert film she surprise released last week. Like the "Last Great American Dynasty" singer joined producers Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner at Long Pond Studio in upstate New York to talk through and perform her album's tracks, Fallon joined Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter at 30 Rockfeller Plaza to discuss their songs.

And just as Bon Iver's Justin Vernon was Swift's special guest, Coldplay's Chris Martin was Fallon's.

"When lockdown first started, I heard that Taylor was writing songs and I felt inspired, too. So maybe I should write some music," Fallon said. "I remember I called you, Tariq, and I asked if you would help me and you said..."

"Only if you pay me a lot of money," Trotter joked.

Fallonlore isn't as nuanced as Folklore. The songs are mostly made up of titles like "Peed My Pants at an Applebee's," "Song About Milk," "Sourdough Heart," and a folk-song take on "Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear." The spoof makes up for lack of substance with Trotter doing his best Antonoff impression on the guitar.

Watch the spoof above.

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• Jimmy Fallon surprises chart-throb Steve Kornacki for being MSNBC's election map daddy
• Taylor Swift unveils William Bowery's identity, and more revelations from Folklore concert film
• Taylor Swift explains how re-recording her first six albums can 'improve upon' some of the songs

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

• Movie
• Romance

A popular COVID-19 testing site at Union Station in Los Angeles will remain open Tuesday after appointments were suddenly canceled due to filming on He's All That, the remake of the 1999 rom-com She's All That.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's office made the announcement on social media late Monday night following an uproar from the local community.

"Working with [the Los Angeles Fire Department], @Curative & [L.A. Metro], my team has worked to reopen testing at Union Station on Tuesday," Garcetti tweeted. "The 504 Angelenos who were scheduled for a test there can visit the kiosk as originally planned or any of the other 14 City sites, where we offer 38K tests daily."

Ktown For All, a homeless advocacy group, made note of an email sent out from Curative, which operates the testing site, on Monday. The email mentioned the site had to "cancel all appointments for Dec. 1 due to an event being held at this location," though the kiosk would be "available for testing again on Dec. 2."

Days earlier, L.A. County enacted a new stay-at-home order amid more COVID-19 spikes in California. Garcetti made note on social media earlier on Monday that cases were "surging" and urged citizens to "take urgent action to flatten the curve."

According to The New York Times, the event causing the closure was He's All That, which stars TikTok personality Addison Rae, now in the Freddie Prinze Jr. role for the gender-swapped film. Cobra Kai actor Tanner Buchanan will fill the role once played by Rachael Leigh Cook in She's All That. The original movie saw a popular high school jock making a bet to transform a girl from the loser crowd into prom queen. The remake will now see a popular social media influencer (Rae) turning the biggest loser in school (Buchanan) into prom king.

Reps for Miramax, the L.A. mayor's office, Curative, and filming permit organization FilmLA did not immediately respond to EW's requests for comment.

A spokesperson for FilmLA told Deadline, “Prior to this issue being brought to our attention, neither FilmLA nor the locations team for the production company had prior knowledge of a Covid-19 testing center operating on-site... Made aware of the testing site closure, production reps for the film offered to work with station representatives to restore access to the testing site tomorrow. The two uses of the facility may be compatible, based on the area to be used for filming and the production’s interest in making it work.”

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• She's All That gender-swapped reboot casts TikTok star Addison Rae
• Don't Worry Darling with Florence Pugh and Harry Styles temporarily stops filming due to positive COVID-19 test
• Too soon: Hollywood can’t capture the COVID-19 crisis yet, and should stop trying

She's All That

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

The witches of author Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, those supernatural beings unbound by gravity who dwell deep in the arctic north where the veil between realities is thinnest, don't commonly intervene in human affairs. Unlike the religious zealots of The Magisterium, who are hellbent on spreading their authoritarian rule to the entire world, their business lies beyond this plane. Witches live for hundreds of years, maintaining magical secrets that span multiple realities. It's knowledge some might kill for, which is why the sisterhood of witch clans tend to close ranks around mortal company. However, the team behind His Dark Materials, the HBO and BBC series adaptation, have made an exception.

Since season 1, based on the first book in Pullman's fantasy trilogy, The Golden Compass, showrunner Jane Tranter and writer Jack Thorne made a few executive decisions, changes from the text that would better serve the needs of a more visual medium like TV, while always maintaining the essence of the central story. Season 2, which adapts the second book, The Subtle Knife, continues in that spirit with witches being a part of that plan.

The team crafted a slightly different mythology and purpose for Pullman's witches for the screen, as Tranter and a season 2 addition, actress Jade Anouka, explains to EW. Anouka likens these women to superheroes, and she gets a superhero moment of her own while flying through a thundering storm as Queen Ruta Skadi in this season's premiere episode. "It's cool to be a witch," Anouka says over Zoom. "The witches in Philip Pullman’s world are potentially not the witch you grew up thinking witches were like. They’re robust and they have their own minds and they’re independent women and they fight for what they believe in and they have purpose."

All hail the queens

What remains the same are the clans.

Witches run in communities known as clans with a queen at the head of each. In a situation, like the council gathering in season 2's premiere, all witches, regardless of rank, have the right to speak their piece, but it's the queens that make the final decision for their people. Serafina Pekkala (Ruta Gedmintas), though a relatively younger witch at around 400 years old, holds the rank of queen of the Lake Enara clan, while Ruta Skadi is queen of Lake Lubana.

Anouka says there was "a lot of work and rework" in the depiction of the witches on the show. Tranter confirmed Anouka's casting helped the writers flesh out the characterization further. "Ruta isn’t in [The Subtle Knife] that much and so they really wanted to extend that character and that relationship with Serafina," the actress says.

The clans have a problem when we first see them at the start of season 2. After Serafina went rogue and helped rescue the kidnapped children from Bolvangar, her sisters fell on The Magisterium's radar. The church had since captured a witch and tortured her for information—that last part courtesy of Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson). Serafina and Ruta found themselves at opposite ends of the ensuing debate, a moment not depicted in the books but that showcased how each rule their clans differently. Serafina preached caution, while Ruta urged an offensive approach.

"That scene changed quite a lot from filming," Anouka recalls. "The scene as you saw it [on screen] wasn’t the scene when we first filmed it. There were different things added in postproduction that helped tell the story as it developed. I think the writers went back and felt they had to adapt it slightly, but I do think it’s great because you’ve got Serafina there holding this witch council and everyone’s giving her the kind of power and authority, and then Ruta flies in and takes over. It shows in a few seconds what’s going on. These are two very powerful witches who are definitely on par. [Ruta's] not like all the other withes you see in the council, this is somebody who can actually and is willing to and is actually allowed to fly in and say what she needs to say and Serafina doesn’t stop her."

It's a dynamic, Anouka adds, on which the show continues to play as season 2 adapts the later parts of The Subtle Knife, which involves the witches flying through the portal after Lyra (Dafne Keen) and ensure the prophecy surrounding the child comes to pass. "Ruta’s not going to become more Serafina and Serafina isn’t going to become more Ruta," she says, "but they have to work out a way to allow each other to be their true selves and also make sure that they are working together for the greater good."

While the witches play a larger role in The Golden Compass as opposed to their limited presence in season 1 of the show, Tranter said there just wasn't room to include the clans in those first eight episodes. All their attempts lacked "the propulsion" the season 1 story required. "We hadn’t entirely worked out how the witches were gonna be [at the time] I think because we hadn’t really gone into the writing of all of the clans and worked out how many clans we were gonna have and when we would bring in Ruta Skadi," she adds. Season 1 already had a lot of "spectacle," from the different locations each episode to the massive action pieces around Bolvangar and the opening of the anomaly. The witches, then, became the "spectacle" for season 2.

Cloud-pine

Cloud-pine is the essential ingredient to a witch's power. It's a type of tree with magical properties that grows in their world and allows them to fly. In Pullman's novels, they physically hold a branch of cloud-pine to ascend into the air. For the show, it became another puzzle for Tranter to unravel.

"Philip never describes [the witches] as sitting on [cloud-pine]," Tranter explains. "So, it’s almost like you imagine them to start off like that. [Tranter holds her hands up above her head in a superhero flying pose]. It just felt so wrong and not very 'other.'" The point was to take what they knew about the original books to create something that felt different from previous cinematic portrayals of witches. That's when she landed upon a tweak to the mythology that would create something new.

"We had this idea that the older you get as a witch, because they are so in touch with nature, that [cloud-pine] would literally grow through them," Tranter says. Serafina and Ruta are two of those witches, with the cloud-pine snaking through their arms like veins. Therefore, ripping out a witch's cloud-pine from her skin, as Mrs. Coulter did to her prisoner, becomes a painful affair.

The idea that witches are one with the natural world and that nature itself is flowing through them became a defining element for costume designer Caroline McCall and hair-and-makeup artist Jacqueline Fowler. As Tranter puts it, "They’re not sirens. They’re badasses." Using the idea of coal-silk, a material described in the books as a "very fine" and almost "weightless" fibre, the wardrobe department crafted something for Ruta that felt battle ready, while the metallic embroidery mimicked the look of feathers. Her cuffs became a hiding place for daggers, and even the pins holding up her hair can be repurposed as weapons.

"They mean business and they’re always ready for what’s coming," Anouka says. "We may have beautiful dresses on, but don’t get it twisted. We will fight for what we believe in."

Weathering the storm

One of Anouka's earliest sequences for season 2 was Ruta's attempt to rescue her sister from the clutches of The Magisterium. Against the majority rule of her fellow clanswomen, she and her daemon Sergi race through the sky to lay waste to their enemies. After the episode aired, Anouka shared a behind-the-scenes video on Instagram to reveal the work that went into that moment. Against a green screen, Anouka is held up on wires as fans blow wind through her hair and a hose doses her face in water.

But Anouka, like Ruta herself, remains unfazed by the harsh elements. Though witches feel the effects of nature, whether it be intense cold or the chaos of a thundering storm, they are magically undeterred by them. This provides a unique challenge when Anouka is trying to hold herself up in the wire harness.

"It is quite a thing to be held in that position horizontally because you’re being held by your hips or your pelvis. If you relax you’ll just go ass over tit," she says with a laugh. "You’ve really got to work the whole time you’re in the wire and you really have to work to keep your composure, which is quite straining."

Tranter remembers filming the aftermath of Ruta's retaliation, after The Magisterium burned her land in response for the balloon attack. "We put them on location and it was absolutely pissed with rain," she says. "You can see the water dripping off their bare feet and yet they just look like they really didn’t care about it." Anouka remembers the sensation of filming in that autumn weather in Wales as "standing in ice-cold slush." "It felt like daggers were going up the bottom of my feet. That was a quite hard one," she says.

Despite the challenges, this attribute of the witches helped shape Anouka's performance as Ruta, specifically how she moves about the environment. "We did work with a movement coach, as well, to help us especially between the different clans to have a slightly different way of holding ourselves," she says. "There’s definitely something I felt almost like the back of your neck and the back of your arms. You know when the hairs on your neck stand up? It’s almost like how they experience the weather and the environment around them and even potentially another being approaching. It’s not always by sight, but it’s by feel."

Dealings with daemons

The same obsession of Pullman in the books became the same focal point for the producers: the relationship between a person and their daemon. In world of His Dark Materials, in Lyra's reality that exists parallel to our own, a human's soul exists outside of the body as a talking animal companion called a "daemon." They are both part of the same being. If something happens to one, the other feels it, and neither are able to physically move too far away from each other or suffer tremendous anguish. Witches are another matter.

They are the rare being with the ability to separate from their daemon over great distances. Mrs. Coulter is one of the only known humans to do this, though it took years of painful training to do so. Witches undergo a coming-of-age ritual in which they traverse a mysterious, condemned piece of land to the north where no daemon can tread. Upon their return, they acquire this new power, but the relationship between them and their daemon changes forever. It's something Pullman expounded upon his novella Serpentine, which became published for the first time earlier this year, as well as The Secret Commonwealth, the second book of his sequel trilogy to His Dark Materials.

Anouka's approach to Ruta was then different than Wilson's in that same regard. Wilson, like most of her costars, performed opposite physical puppets on set that stood in place for their daemons. It helped further flesh out that connection. As a witch, Anouka's puppet was more "fixed," unlike the others which "could move and have expressions." She sees this as a further reflection of that unique dynamic between a witch and her daemon. Ruta always senses Sergi, even though he may not be physically present.

Witches, and their daemons, have the agency Mrs. Coulter desperately seeks in season 2 as a woman who's not allowed to hold higher rank in the world of The Magisterium. Mrs. Coulter sees daemon separation as "a terrible act of sacrifice," Tranter explains, while witches accept it as a good thing. Witches are always born with birds for daemons. "There’s a real sense of freedom, flight, and soaring to them," Tranter says. "And Mrs. Coulter has a monkey. It’s a lot heavier and much more attitudinal mentally, whereas the witches’ daemons are more physical."

"I read an early version of The Secret Commonwealth while developing season 2 and I was like, 'OK, what can we use?'" Tranter says. "Understanding how important daemon and human separations is a theme in Philip's work. We lean into that in episode 6 for sure." It's also something she's leaning into with the development season 3, which is based on The Amber Spyglass. HBO and BBC did not formally announce a season 3 renewal for His Dark Materials, though Tranter and the writers began development work in October. "We're adapting that book in all its magnificence," Tranter teases, "and having a marvelous time while we do so."

His Dark Materials airs on HBO in the U.S. Monday nights at 9 p.m. ET.

Related content:

• Lin-Manuel Miranda teases a 'very different journey' with Andrew Scott on His Dark Materials
• The Subtle Knife cuts open new worlds in His Dark Materials season 2 full trailer
• Fleabag reunion! Phoebe Waller-Bridge to voice Andrew Scott's His Dark Materials daemon

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Episode 9, "The Deepest Cut"

Let's start with that first question. The asset is Hope. At least, that's who the Civic Republic believes to be the asset. Huck's whole mission has been to bring Hope to the CR. The CR didn't want to put a lot of resources into this. Military spending and budget cuts must be tight. That's why Kublek gave Iris and Hope a map to their dad at the beginning of the season to keep them "on course." But first, Huck has to separate Hope from the others.

On the road in the night, while Hope, Iris, and Felix doze off, Huck crashes the car so that they have to take a rest and seek shelter, which happens to be an abandoned house she already scouted earlier on. The area is shrouded in mist as they walk along the road and empties begin to surround them on all sides. They are tangled in barbed wire, making it difficult to escape. They manage to fight through but Huck, without anyone noticing, cuts the back of Felix's ankle, which he thinks is just from getting snared on the wire. He doesn't tell the others the true extent of his injuries. Meanwhile, it's festering and he's grappling with memories of his fights with Will and Leo, about how Will volunteered to go with Leo to the CR so Felix might learn to let others handle things once in a while. Gratuitous bedroom make-outs are appreciated. The group scouts the house for supplies. Huck takes Iris aside to chat about how she is different from Hope, suggesting that maybe Iris is the asset after all — which we'll get into later. The big takeaway from this moment is that there's a room Huck promises is filled with dead bodies from the house's owners and to not go in there. Iris is suspicious. Huck also plants another seed of discord by mentioning the reason Hope wanted to learn how to fight was so she could leave for Omaha, which clearly Iris didn't know about.

The next day, they are out walking and attempting to hop a barricade in the road. That's when Felix can no longer hide his injury. They help him back to the house and Huck mentions Felix can't move for a while until his ankle is healed, which was her plan since crashing the car. Hope and Iris argue off to the side given how quick Huck was to suggest Felix not continue on with the girls. Given all that Hope was able to confide in Huck over the past few weeks with no judgment, she's quick to speak up for her. Later, when Huck and Felix make it official — he's staying behind while the girls continue on with Huck and they'll circle back for him eventually — Iris suggests to Hope that maybe Huck isn't who they think she is. Apparently, Iris has been thinking this for a while, though that hasn't been made clear in any of the storytelling, so we're just going to accept that for her character and move on. This strikes a bigger rift between the sisters. Hope feels like Iris looks at her differently ever since she told the half-truth about how their mom actually died, but Huck never judges her. As the two argue, Hope confesses she had plans to leave for Omaha without telling Iris, creating a rift.

Turns out, this is just part of Hope's plan to keep Felix and Iris safe. With Felix injured and Iris angry at Hope, maybe they won't be suspicious when she and Huck sneak off together in the middle of the night. Hope wakes up Huck and tells her they need to leave because Iris just won't depart without Felix. It's revealed Hope had cracked the codes found in that CRM pamphlet by herself earlier on. The code read: "Raft Embed Agent En Route to NY/ W/ Asset and Four/ All Four Expendable." Huck famously came to the Campus Colony adrift on a raft, and given that Huck was willing to leave with Hope without the others, it became clear that Hope was the asset. Hope had taken Felix's gun in secret with her to defend against Huck.

While all this is going on, there's Elton. He's off by himself, still dealing with the revelation that Hope killed his mother, when he finds Percy. He's barely hanging on to life and losing more blood by the second. Elton drags his unconscious body along and begins to hallucinate entire conversations with an apparition of Percy, who's telling Elton to leave him behind, that he's dying anyway. Elton examines the body and finds a bullet wound in Percy's shoulder. He bandages the wound and defends Percy from a pack of empties that are approaching. Elton then finds a walkie in Percy's jacket and calls out over the radio. That's when he gets a hold of Huck, who at this point is out on the road with Hope. Percy wakes to the sound of Elton talking with Huck and cuts them off. Huck is the one who shot Percy and killed Tony. Again, this part is all entertaining, but the results are too haphazardly spun together to make any of it worth it.

There is a brief post-credits scene that sees Will running through the woods being chased by CRM soldiers, but who needs to think too much on that when the finale episode aired directly afterward.

Episode 10, "In This Life"

The last question remains: what is the CR's bigger plan here? Why do they need Hope? It comes back to Dr. Lyla Bellshaw, the character who first appeared in a post-credits scene at the end of episode 4. She's part of a team that's involved with scientific experimentation on empties, and she's dating Leo. In a series of flashbacks, we find out that Leo told Lyla about Hope in confidence, how she was able to take apart a computer and put it back together at the age of 6. Lyla then told the CR, who designated Hope to be one of the new generation's brighter minds they could tap to help develop a better future for civilization. In other words, they believe that children are their future, teach them well and let them lead the way... Lyla has been trying to tell Leo the truth but can't seem to bring herself to do it over the fear of losing him. But Hope is going to arrive at the CR hidden base regardless, so he'll find out anyway sooner or later. One night, after a failed attempt at telling him, Leo confesses he believes the CR might be feeding them lies. He mentions how odd it was that their former teammate Dr. Abbot apparently left the CR to visit his ailing sister under mysterious circumstances. Will also went out on an expedition with someone named Scotty and they haven't returned. Given how easily Lyla broke his confidence when his own daughter was involved, it's likely Lyla snitched on him again so maybe Leo isn't as safe as he seems.

Cut to the present and Hope is holding Huck at gunpoint, demanding answers. Huck confesses she's with the CRM and that Hope is the asset, but a group of empties comes up on them. They were drawn to the gunshot Hope fired as a warning to Huck. In the scuffle, Hope loses the gun and she and Huck are forced to work together to fend them off. Once it's safe to continue talking, Huck confesses Leo was not in danger. The CR found the fax messages he was sending to his daughters — which, again, implies Leo's actually in a whole lot of danger — and Huck was the one who sent those last few messages, believing it was the easiest way to get Hope away from the Campus Colony. She wanted it to be just her and Hope on the road together, but since that didn't go as planned, she decided to separate them up as peacefully as possible. She still loves Felix as a brother and cares for the other kids, but she's still ready and willing to do what's needed for this idea of building the future of tomorrow. That's why she killed Tony and tried to kill Percy. They were so close to finding a CR location, and if they were found out, the soldiers would've killed them all. So, she decided to kill two to save five.

Hope still has one lingering question: "Why me?" Frankly, I'm asking myself the same. So, Hope is smart. That's something we haven't really seen from her character beyond the brewery she built at the Campus Colony. It was slightly on display when the kids decided to build a makeshift steamboat, but nothing too standout to suggest she's some kind of prodigy. I find it hard to believe that there's such an abysmal lack of brilliant minds that it would warrant the CRM butchering an entire Campus Colony — which was a friggin' university full of kids who were trying to learn and become brilliant minds — and hatching this whole plot to smuggle Hope out of the colony to the CR. Huck doesn't even say what her field of expertise would be, which suggests they don't know what specifically Hope is good at exactly — which, again, makes this whole thing sound so silly.

Iris and Felix, meanwhile, are figuring things out, too. They open the door Huck told them was full of bodies and instead find medical equipment and air tanks, both of which would've been helpful for getting them mobile again. They fix the truck and go after the others, although Huck has convinced Hope that it's better to keep them in the dark. If they know, they become targets for the CR. When Iris and Felix find them out, they try to play it cool. But Felix grabs Huck's gun, which then leads to a big fight that ends up setting their hideout home on fire. Hope manages to find the gun and threatens to blow her own brains out if the fighting doesn't stop.

They agree to go their separate ways peacefully. Huck will take Hope to the CR location and Felix will go off with Iris, presumably back home, although they'll have a rude awakening should they go back to the Omaha. Hope quietly tells Iris that she's only going with Huck because she knows she's not the asset. The real "asset" is both Hope and Iris together. That's when we go back to examine some of the flashback scenes more thoroughly. It turns out it was both girls working on the computer together when they were 6. Leo just didn't realize Iris was a part of it. So, again, why all these theatrics for something so silly as a teenager who just maybe might be good at computers?! There doesn't seem to be any further evidence of Hope's brilliance beyond the words of a doting father, who also wasn't paying enough attention to realize his other daughter also had a scientific aptitude.

The next day, Huck brings Hope to the rendezvous point. A CRM helicopter touches down in an open field and Kublek emerges. Hope doesn't fight back though the colonel gathers there's still some kind of resistance from her. She speaks off to the side with her daughter and mentions "the loose ends" Huck/Jennifer forgot to tell her about. Those would be Felix, Iris, Silas, and Elton. The CRM intercepted Huck's dispatch over the radio and Kublek has already made arrangements to deal with those loose ends. So, despite Huck's efforts, the other four are now targets. Kublek mentions an "incident" with Huck "back home" before she left for Omaha that put her trustworthiness into question among other members of the CRM. She also mentions the Campus Colony but just says "a lot has happened since you left." Huck is visibly disturbed by all this talk and perhaps she, too, is beginning to realize that, for all that talk of doing bad to do some good for the future, the bad might be outweighing the good.

Silas, too, has also been taken into CRM custody. Elton and Percy manage to find Silas living alone, barbecuing rabbit he hunted. They reveal he definitely wasn't the one that attacked Percy and Tony, which lifts a weight off the kid's shoulders. But now they are determined to save the others from Huck, unaware of all the other stuff going down. They start making their plans but are forced to flee when CRM soldiers start swarming the area. Elton fears they may have heard his radio call out to Huck and decided to intervene. The trio try to sneak out later that night, but there are too many soldiers. They reach a gate and attempt to sneak past, but Percy fears he's slowing them all down with his injury. Silas instead decides to turn himself in so the other two can get away and save the others.

The other two loose ends, Iris and Felix, are walking through the woods when they hear the crackle of leaves. They turn to see a group of hooded figures, one of which turns out to be Will. After the initial reunion hugs and tears, Will mentions he thought they were all dead, seemingly referring to the obliteration of the Campus Colony. Iris and Felix, of course, don't know what he's talking about just yet, but now the deck is stacked for season 2. It's for the best that this show is only two seasons long.

This story originally appeared on: EW - Author:Nick Romano

Saturday Night Live

• TV Show

• NBC

• Comedy

Streaming Options

Saturday Night Live has set its hosting and musical guest roster for the rest of the year with a mix of first-timers and veterans.

Timothée Chalamet, former SNL cast member Kristen Wiig, and Jason Bateman are on lock to host individual episodes, while Bruce Springsteen, Dua Lipa, and Morgan Wallen are set as musical guests. NBC made the announcement on Wednesday.

Things kick off on Dec. 5 with Bateman, who will host SNL for the second time. Wallen will be his musical guest, marking the musician's first time in the role after being dropped as musical guest in October when he was caught partying without a mask during the pandemic (which he later apologized for). Wallen's upcoming album Dangerous: The Double Album drops this Jan. 8.

Chalamet will then make his SNL hosting debut on Dec. 12, accompanied by Springsteen and the E Street Band — which is appropriate considering the actor is set to play Springsteen's buddy Bob Dylan in an upcoming biopic. Chalamet was supposed to be seen promoting his turn in director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, but the movie got bumped to next year amid Hollywood's pandemic-prompted shifts.

Finally, Wiig returns to the Studio 8H stage for what will be her fourth appearance as host on Dec. 19. Wiig hosted last April's season 45 at-home finale while the show aired virtually-recorded episodes during the beginning of quarantine. The Wonder Woman 1984 star will be joined by Dua, who recently received six Grammy Award nominations, including album of the year. The pop singer will also perform her live-streamed virtual Future Nostalgia concert out of a warehouse ahead of the appearance this Friday, Nov. 27.

Related content:

Episode Recaps

Saturday Night Live

The original late-night comedy sketch show from the one and only Lorne Michaels.

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Author:Nick Romano - Source: EW

A corporate behemoth in the book world was conceived on Wednesday with an announcement from ViacomCBS Inc. about plans to sell Simon & Schuster, the third largest publishing entity in the United States, to Penguin Random House, the No. 1 largest entity.

The sale comes with the price tag of $2.175 billion in cash and will bring both imprints under the German company Bertelsmann. ViacomCBS plans to use the money towards streaming, funding the dividend, paying down debt, and other "strategic growth priorities." The transaction is expected to close in 2021.

Simon & Schuster maintains more than 30 publishing units across the adult, children, audio, and international spaces. Stephen King, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Bob Woodward, and Jason Reynolds account for some of its notable authors. The company was put up for sale in March, as reported by The New York Times, while the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. The imprint will continue to operate as a separate publishing unit under Penguin Random House.

It's a move that will no doubt drastically reshape the book publishing landscape. Approximately one-third of all books sold in America will now come from one corporation, Bertelsmann. And because the now-combined shares of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster are so high, the deal also raises antitrust concerns and may attract attention from the U.S. Justice Department.

Book sales have been on the rise this year, given the environment surrounding lockdowns and the pandemic. According to market researcher NPD Group, bread cookbooks and chess books — the latter a result of Netflix's The Queen's Gambit — specifically have been on the rise over the past few months. The firm also notes that about one-fourth of total book sales for the year are made during the holiday months.

In a statement given to Publisher's Weekly, Penguin Random House worldwide CEO Markus Dohle called it a "good day for books, book publishing, and reading."

"Simon & Schuster aligns completely with the creative and entrepreneurial culture that we nurture by providing editorial autonomy to our publishers, funding their pursuit of new stories, ideas, and voices, and maximizing reach for our authors," Dohle wrote in an email to employees, according to Publisher's Weekly. "We recognize — and our success has demonstrated — that collaboration makes us all stronger, and by bringing Simon & Schuster onto our global platform, we will be able to connect their authors and books with even more readers."

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Author:Nick Romano - Source: EW

As Taylor Swift dropped Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions on Disney+, the singer also made known that she's currently re-recording her first six albums after music producer Scooter Braun had purchased her masters a year and a half ago without her blessing. In a new interview that aired on Good Morning America Wednesday, Swift describes the process as "a really amazing and fun adventure" that could "actually, possibly improve upon" some of her earlier songs.

"So far, of the ones I've recorded, I think it's been the most fun doing 'Love Story,' " Swift says of the track off her 2008 album Fearless. She explains, "The older music, my voice was so teenaged and I sometimes, when I hear my older music and my older young teenage voice, it makes me feel like I'm a different singer now. And so, it's been the most fun to re-record ones that I feel like I could actually, possibly improve upon the song. That's been a really amazing and fun adventure."

It was during a Good Morning America interview last year for the show's summer concert series where Swift said she would start re-recording the songs from her first six albums in early 2020. Braun recently sold her masters for reported millions earlier this month to a private equity company. In a statement to her fans released on social media, Swift made it clear that she attempted to buy back her masters from Braun but was met with an "ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG."

"I have recently begun re-recording my older music and it has already proven to be both exciting and creatively fulfilling," Swift wrote in her statement. "I have plenty of surprises in store. I want to thank you guys for supporting me through this ongoing saga, and I can't wait for you to hear what I've been dreaming up."

The singer is also still focusing on her latest album Folklore, which is the subject of a new concert film she surprise announced for Disney+. On Wednesday, Swift then revealed the deluxe edition album of her performances in Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.

Author:Nick Romano - Source: EW

"I've lost my swag on Stephen Colbert."

Those were former President Barack Obama's words when he lost miserably to Stephen Colbert in a game of wastepaper basketball, which is the exquisite, sacred art of throwing balled up paper into a trash can from a distance.

Obama asked the Late Show producers if Colbert had been practicing for this moment. They promised not, but then Colbert managed to score eight in the bin while Obama managed none. "I didn't even hit one. How am I gonna live this down?" he said.

Earlier this year, at an event supporting Joe Biden for president, Obama had landed a three-pointer shot on an actual basketball court. He slipped his mask below his mouth briefly to say, "That's what I do!" Colbert exclaimed those same words Tuesday when he came out ahead of Obama.

The two shared a lengthy interview for the Late Show, pre-recorded a day earlier at a socially distanced length apart. Obama has been on the promotional trail touting his new book, A Promised Land, though the former president got into his frustrations about how Donald Trump and his administration handled the pandemic response.

"This would have been hard for anyone," Obama said in a separate interview portion. "I mean, you see people like Angela Merkel [chancellor of Germany], who is herself a scientist, exemplary, but you still see some spikes in Germany. But let's take Canada, where the death rate is 39 percent ours per capita, right?"

To date, Canada has recorded more than 11,600 deaths from COVID-19. More than 257,000 people have died from the virus in the United States.

"That's a measure of if we had done the work, that was not rocket science. We're not talking about inventing vaccines — I'm glad to see the vaccines are now coming on board — but preliminary communicating effectively, respecting the science, not undermining the leading epidemiologist in the country and saying he's an idiot, being consistent in terms of masks and social distancing, not suggesting that this is some act of oppression but rather just a common sense thing to prevent people from getting sick," Obama continued. "Had we just taken those steps, there is no doubt that we would've saved some lives and, ironically, the economy would be better because we would not be swinging back and forth in the ways that we have and people would feel more confidence about making day-to-day decisions about shopping or going out."

Not as lighthearted stuff as wastepaper basketball, but necessary.

Author:Nick Romano - Source: EW

After Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and the culmination of those wars in Avengers: Endgame, Tom Holland is facing a much different kind of conflict.

The Spider-Man actor reunites with his Marvel directors on those movies, Joe and Anthony Russo, for Cherry. Apple TV+ has just released new photos from the upcoming drama, which sees Holland playing an army medic in Iraq who returns home and, facing undiagnosed PTSD and a drug addiction, becomes a bank robber as his life spirals downward.

Along with the photos, Apple TV+ and the Russos' production company AGBO announced that Cherry will premiere in theaters on Feb. 26 and on Apple TV+ on March 12.

Describing the lead character, Joe Russo told Vanity Fair, "He travels a great distance over a 15-year period. The movie's broken up into six chapters that reflect those different periods, and each one has a different tone. It's shot with different lenses, different production design. One's got magical realism. Another chapter is absurdism. Another is horror… There's a bit of gonzo in it. It's raw in its tone. He's a character in existential crisis."

Cherry also stars Ciara Bravo, Kelli Burglund (Fosse/Verdon), Jack Reynor (Midsommar), Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant), Jeff Wahlberg (Dora and the Lost City of Gold), Michael Gandolfini (The Deuce), Kyle Harvey (The After Party), and Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!).

Apple TV+ picked up Cherry as many films have relocated to streaming platforms amid the coronavirus pandemic. The movie is based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Nico Walker, and the script was co-written by Angela Russo-Otstot and Jessica Goldberg.

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Author:Nick Romano - Source: EW

The Expanse

• TV Show

• Amazon
• Syfy

• Sci-fi

After surviving cancellation once already with a move from Syfy to Amazon, a true ending for The Expanse has been set into motion.

The sci-fi drama, initially developed by writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, has officially been renewed for a sixth and final season at Amazon Prime Video. The news arrives ahead of the fifth season, which is set to premiere on Dec. 16.

The Expanse enjoyed three seasons on the Syfy channel before the network announced its cancellation in 2018. In the aftermath of calls from fans — as well as the cast and crew — to #SavetheExpanse, as the collective hashtag campaign was called, Amazon picked up the show and gave it a fourth season on the streaming platform.

"The dedication and artistry of everyone who helps bring The Expanse to the screen is incredible,” showrunner Naren Shankar said in a statement. “Our fans are awesome, and we cannot wait to get rolling on season 6!”

Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson, co-CEOs and co-founders of Alcon Television Group who executive produce The Expanse, gave a special thanks to Shankar and writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. Abraham and Franck wrote for both The Expanse book series and the show.

“From the moment we committed to bringing this show to life up until this final season, we have worked tirelessly to honor the vision of the writers," Kosove and Johnson said jointly. "We have prided ourselves on having one of the most diverse casts on television and giving a platform to stories that matter. A special thanks to Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, the writers of both the books and series, and to Naren Shankar, the series showrunner and Executive Producer. It continues to be an honor and privilege to work with this team. We also would like to thank Amazon for their continuing support to help us tell this story in its fullest and to bring The Expanse to a global audience."

Vernon Sanders, co-head of television at Amazon Studios, said this sixth season will offer "the incredibly loyal and passionate fans" "the satisfying conclusion to the series that they deserve."

EW spoke to Shankar ahead of the season 5 premiere, and the showrunner teased the theme of the new episodes "really is about the sins of the past."

"To one extent or another, that's every single story line, whether it is Naomi [Dominique Tipper] personally confronting the fact that she had a son with this very charismatic, and now quite violent, revolutionary-type leader. Whether it's Amos [Wes Chatham] connecting to his past, or going back to Earth for reasons that we're not quite sure of. Whether it's Holden's [Steven Strait] past with unleashing the protomolecule. Whether it is the past geopolitical history of the Belt, and its relationship with the inner planets, which we see through Avasarala."

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Author:Nick Romano - Source: EW