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Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Latest Movie News From Moviefone

Latest Movie News From Moviefone


'Game of Thrones' Has '15 More Hours Left' in Total

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Brace yourselves, "Game of Thrones" fans: You have only 15 hours of content to look forward to, stretched out over two years. Just 15 hours left to see if Jon Snow is stabbed to death for a second time. The hour count may change, star Iain Glen warned, but we can only hope the total goes higher, not lower.

Glen, who plays the greyscale-afflicted Jorah Mormont, recently talked to Radio Times about the "extraordinary" episodes ahead. He mentioned the number of episodes -- seven confirmed for 2017's Season 7, and six as the still unconfirmed-by-HBO count for Season 8. That's 13 episodes, which is the same number we've heard for a while. So it was actually encouraging to hear Glen slide in this detail:

"There are fifteen more hours left in Thrones as we understand it, but that may change, but that's as far as we know."

That 15 number can't becoming out of nowhere. They are almost done shooting Season 7, which premieres this summer, and the writers are probably already hard at work on Season 8, the final season, which should start shooting later this year for a 2018 premiere. If there are 15 hours for 13 episodes, that means we're in for some supersized episodes.

The Season 6 finale is the longest episode we've had to date, and that was "only" 69 minutes, breaking the previous record of the Season 4 finale, which was 66 minutes.

The next two seasons would need to add two additional hours of (commercial free!) programming to go from 13 hours to 15. Perhaps we're in for 2-hour finales -- for Season 7 and the series finale? Or perhaps one or both premieres will be supersized to 1.5 or 2 hours. Or one of the penultimate episodes, leading into a finale? As of now, we can only speculate, and wait for official word from HBO on anything.

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Ellen DeGeneres: Kim Burrell Won't Be on 'My Show' After Anti-Gay Video

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Obama Honors 21 Americans With Presidential Medal Of FreedomGospel singer Kim Burrell was scheduled to join Pharrell Williams on "Ellen" this Thursday to perform "I See a Victory" from the movie "Hidden Figures." That's not happening anymore. Instead, Deadline reports, Pharrell will perform solo.

Over the holiday break, a sermon from Burrell went viral, with the singer repeatedly referring to homosexuality as "perverted," saying "the perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women." After the video came out, Burrell argued that she never discriminated against gays and lesbians. "I love you and God loves you," she said. "But God hates the sin."

Kim Burrell Visits Music ChoiceBurrell was scheduled to be on "Ellen," which is hosted by the openly gay Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen officially announced Burrell's departure on Tuesday:

Not just "Ellen" -- "my show." Burrell made it personal for Ellen, and the popular talk show host kept it that way.

Pharrell Williams and several "Hidden Figures" cast members shared this post to condemn Burrell's sermon:

A photo posted by Pharrell Williams (@pharrell) on

Burrell was featured on Frank Ocean's song "Godspeed," and the openly gay singer's mother tweeted about Burrell's hypocrisy, wondering if they could somehow crop her voice out of Ocean's song.

"Hidden Figures" is out in limited release now, and goes wide this Friday, January 6.

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Why Andrew Garfield Offered 'His Whole Heart and Soul' to Martin Scorsese's 'Silence'

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Andrew Garfield in Martin Scorsese's SILENCEIn Martin Scorsese's long-in-the-works passion film, "Silence," Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver play 17th-century Jesuit priests who journey to Japan to find out what happened to their mentor, played by Liam Neeson, who is rumored to have renounced his faith after Christianity is outlawed. Unwilling to accept this terrible news, Garfield and Driver are smuggled into the country despite facing nearly certain death, torture or imprisonment for practicing their forbidden faith.

Garfield said that Scorsese's enthusiasm about the project was "contagious." In December, the actor told Moviefone, "Marty was very excited to finally be making the film, so it was very contagious, that feeling."Garfield said he was in the right place at the right time to play the part of a priest struggling with his faith. "These themes were really interesting to me. I was exploring these themes in my own life anyway, so that there was something serendipitous, obviously, about the fact that I was in a place to explore them. I think [Scorsese] sensed that. I think he was excited that I seemed very, very willing to dive in with him. I think that was a big part of why he ultimately wanted me to play the part."

He was impressed with Scorsese's ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions while filming. "When fog would roll in, he'd at first be pissed off and then he'd like, 'Let's have a scene in the fog.' [He was] very, very open to collaboration, very trusting that all will work out as it's meant to and open to all the elements."

Filming on location in Taiwan, which stood in for feudal Japan, was arduous. Besides rough terrain and foul weather, Garfield's character undergoes considerable mistreatment as a practicing Christian. "Every day was pretty tough, in a good way, in a way that pushes you beyond what you know," said Garfield. "And that's all I really want, is to expand and grow as a human being and as an actor. I want that kind of challenge."Garfield was thrilled to work for the legendary director for the first time. "For me, this was so exciting because of Marty, because of him being the master filmmaker that he is." He said he gave his all to the demanding film: "I could show up and offer my whole heart and soul and I know that [Scorsese] would handle it with so much sensitivity and intelligence and intuitiveness."

Among the things the actor learned during production was to trust himself. "The thing that I'm still learning, that I'll always be learning, is to just trust myself, that's what Marty would always tell me: 'It's right there, you've got it all right there.'"

"Silence" is now playing in select cities and expands to more theaters on January 13.

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Why Matthew McConaughey Rejected 'Guardians' Sequel for 'The Dark Tower'

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Walter (Matthew McConaughey) and Roland (Idris Elba) in Columbia Pictures THE DARK TOWER.Matthew McConaughey could've played Chris Pratt's dad in "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2." Instead, Kurt Russell will play Star-Lord's father -- aka Ego the Living Planet -- and McConaughey will be the Man in Black in "The Dark Tower."

Why say no to Marvel?

In a new interview with Playboy (via Collider), McConaughey explained why he ditched the "Guardians" sequel for the Stephen King adaptation:

"I like 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' but what I saw was 'It's successful, and now we've got room to make a colorful part for another big-name actor.' I'd feel like an amendment. 'The Dark Tower' script was well written, I like the director [Nikolaj Arcel] and his take on it, and I can be the creator, the author of the Man in Black—a.k.a. the Devil—in my version of this Stephen King novel. We've done the first one. It's a fantastic thriller that takes place in another realm, an alternate universe, but it's very much grounded. For instance, the gunslinger's weapon isn't a lightsaber or something; it's a pistol. I enjoyed approaching my character as if I were the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them."

"The Dark Tower" -- starring Idris Elba as the gunslinger Roland Deschain -- is now scheduled for release July 28, a push-back from its previous February date. According to Entertainment Weekly, the film will be followed by a spinoff TV show. Meanwhile, the "Guardians" sequel opens May 5.

Do you think McConaughey made the (wait for it) alright alright alright choice?

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Woody Harrelson Is Top Choice to Play Young Han Solo's Mentor: Report

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BRITAIN-ENTERTAINMENT-CINEMA-HUNGER GAMES-MOCKINGJAYThe "Star Wars" galaxy could use some good news right about now, so how about the idea of Woody Harrelson as Han Solo's mentor?

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor "is in early talks" to join the Han Solo standalone movie. Variety took it further, confirming the "early" talks, but adding that Harrelson is the top choice. Either way, he would play an early mentor to Alden Ehrenreich's young Han Solo. (Woody Harrelson does seem like the kind of guy a "scoundrel" like Han would look up to, doesn't he?)

THR said Disney and Lucasfilm were searching for "a big name" for the role, and the search previously included Christian Bale. If Harrelson is still just in talks -- "early" talks at that -- then it's too tentative to say whether he's the top contender. You probably recall how many actors were up for Han Solo before they settled on the "Hail, Caesar!" star.

So far, the untitled Han Solo movie, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, has Ehrenreich in the lead, with Donald Glover as young Lando Calrissian, and Emilia Clarke as ... the lady lead. The movie is scheduled for release on May 25, 2018.

It has big shoes to fill, since the first Star Wars standalone, "Rogue One," is crushing everything in its path earning $800 million (and counting) at the worldwide box office.

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'Sherlock' Season 4, Episode 2 Is 'the Darkest One We've Ever Done'

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If you thought the "Sherlock" Season 4 premiere was dark, hold on for dear life. According to showrunner Steven Moffat, things are going to get even worse -- and yet also funnier? -- in the second episode.

SPOILER ALERT: Stop reading if you haven't seen the premiere.

In "The Six Thatchers," Mary Watson (Amanda Abbington) took a bullet for the grandstanding Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch), leaving John Watson (Martin Freeman) in anguish, from a mix of personal guilt and anger at Sherlock.

Moffat told Entertainment Weekly that the core of the show will always be Sherlock and Watson, so Mary had to get out of the way so they could "reset to the most traditional and famous version of the format." He said, after the premiere, they don't ignore the Sherlock/John rift. "If anything, the rift gets worse. We decided if we were doing this we're doing grief properly. We were doing the consequences properly. We tried to have people go through what they'd actually go through in this circumstance which, of course, is hellish."

Moffat said they debated whether to kill Mary in Episode 1 or the more traditional Episode 3, which ends the season. EW basically asked if the rest of the cast should consider themselves safe in the next two episodes. Here's what Moffat had to say about that, teasing the darkness ahead:

"Anything can happen to anyone. I think it's safe to say we couldn't do Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson without Holmes and Watson. But nobody's safe and consequences are everywhere and there's some emotionally grueling stuff coming. There's proper humor too. We showed Episode 2 to some people and though it's the darkest one we've ever done there were still people laughing."

Episode 2, "The Lying Detective," was written by Moffat and airs Sunday, January 8 (opposite the Golden Globe Awards). Episode 3, "The Final Problem," will end the always-too-short season.

What could happen in Episode 2 to make it the darkest they've ever done? The synopsis reads, "Sherlock squares off with Culverton Smith (Toby Jones), a chilling enemy with a very dark secret." It airs Sunday from 9 to 10:37 p.m. ET on PBS.

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'The Walking Dead' Season 7: 'Magnificent' Second Half Has 'Jig'-Worthy Finale

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If you did not like the first half of "The Walking Dead" Season 7, you should love the second half, 'cause "it's probably the opposite of what you just witnessed."

That's the word from Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) to Entertainment Weekly. Lincoln has been surprisingly candid about his distaste for the first eight episodes of Season 7. He understood the need for Negan to push Rick down, in order for Rick to learn from his mistakes and prepare for the butt-kicking ahead, but it was still hard for him -- and fans -- to watch.

But pull a "Frozen" and let it go, because the next eight episodes are much more to Lincoln's taste. As he told EW:

"There are several episodes that I loved being involved in and it certainly feels very much more like a show that I knew and recognized in the back eight. I loved the episodes that I was in."

What about the episodes that he's not in? Is he preparing us to see less Rick Grimes? Whatever we do see, it should be good:

"There's a lot more levity, if you can believe that, than you've ever seen before in Mr. Grimes. There's sort of a freedom in him, a feeling that comes from losing everything, and also the thrill of the fight. It's the thrill of the fight again. He's back in."

Lincoln added that the band finally gets back together, comparing the second half's eight episodes to "The Magnificent Seven":

"Rather, the magnificent eight episodes. Wait till [Episode] 16. I promise you, there is one beat in 16, I dropped my script and started punching the air and did a little jig."

Episode 16 is the Season 7 finale, which should air the first Sunday in April. Interesting that Lincoln is already hyping it as worthy of some kind of celebratory dance. Yeah, it's his job to promote the show, but he didn't like how the first half treated Rick, and he's all-in for the second half. Will you be there to watch it play out?

TWD Season 7 returns Sunday, February 12 on AMC.

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Janet Jackson Gives Birth to First Child, Eissa, at Age 50

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Giorgio Armani - Front Row - MFW F/W 2013Janet Jackson is starting 2017 with the most principle of pleasures: motherhood! The 50-year-old singer/actress welcomed her first child today (Tuesday, Jan. 3). Her rep confirmed the happy news to People, sharing the following statement:

"Janet Jackson and husband Wissam Al Mana are thrilled to welcome their new son Eissa Al Mana into the world. Janet had a stress-free healthy delivery and is resting comfortably."

What a blessing -- borderline miracle -- for the new year. (The name Eissa is reportedly pronounced like EYE-ssa.) News broke last spring that Jackson and her Qatari businessman husband were expecting their first child. Jackson postponed her Unbreakable World Tour to focus on her family, and she managed to keep the months of her pregnancy pretty private. A source told People in September that Janet was "super excited about her pregnancy" and doing "extremely well" up to that point. "She actually feels very good about everything." Good for her. She must've done something right, probably more than one something, to have such smooth sailing.

In addition to being one of the bestselling artists of our time, Jackson is also an actress known from the TV series "Fame," "Diff'rent Strokes," and "Good Times," plus the movies "Poetic Justice," "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," "For Colored Girls," and both "Why Did I Get Married?" and its sequel.

Congrats to this happy, healthy family, and best wishes for the future.

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Ben Affleck May Not Direct 'The Batman' Solo Movie After All

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The upcoming standalone Batman movie, titled simply "The Batman," still doesn't have a completed script, and now, it looks like it may not have a director, either.

That word comes straight from the Caped Crusader himself, Ben Affleck, who revealed in a recent interview with The Guardian that he's not 100 percent sure yet whether or not he'll actually helm the feature. It had been the plan for the actor to take the directing reins for "The Batman," after debuting as the character in 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," but as Affleck explained to The Guardian, nothing is definitive just yet.

"That's the idea," Affleck said when asked about directing "The Batman." "But it's not a set thing and there's no script. If it doesn't come together in a way I think is really great I'm not going to do it."

Affleck himself is writing the movie, alongside Warner Bros. exec Geoff Johns, so it's curious that he's worried about the quality of the film. Obviously, if he doesn't think he's up for both acting in and directing a huge superhero tentpole flick, that's his prerogative, but it's odd that he'd be discussing concerns about the movie so candidly before it even gets made.

DC has been dinged in the past for its overly-serious recent takes on the superhero movie genre -- "Batman v Superman" and "Suicide Squad" were particularly maligned by critics -- and Affleck's comments certainly have us worried that the comics powerhouse hasn't learned its lesson. There's still no official release date yet for "The Batman," so fans will have to wait a while to see how things turn out for the Caped Crusader, as well as the man who plays him.

[via: The Guardian]

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Ryan Reynolds Wants to Give Deadpool a Boyfriend

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Last year, the internet started a campaign to give "Frozen" protagonist Elsa a girlfriend. Now, "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds wants to give the Merc With a Mouth a boyfriend.

Reynolds revealed the request in an interview with Variety, in which he discussed the hero's unique position as a pansexual character in comic lore. Deadpool's attraction to both men and women makes the character stand out, according to the actor.

"What love is to Deadpool may not be what love is to Batman or someone else," Reynolds told the trade. "I think that could be played up more. He's an outsider in every way, shape, and form."

Of course, fans of the first "Deadpool" flick will recall that the hero was in a happy relationship with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) when the 2016 film ended. And Reynolds insisted that a future potential male love interest wouldn't be shoehorned into the story, but would come about only if the natural progression of the series allowed for it.

"The only thing that you have to consider going forward is, 'Are we being faithful to the canon that we nurtured and created?'" the actor told Variety. "One of those things is that Deadpool is in love with Vanessa. Deadpool isn't in love with Vanessa just because she's a woman. He's in love with Vanessa because he loves her."

It seems that something terrible would have to happen to Vanessa in order for Deadpool to pursue a romance with someone else, male or female. Reynolds told the trade that he already has stories in mind for "Deadpool" sequels beyond 2018's "Deadpool 2," but wasn't sure yet when or if audiences could expect to see the hero wind up with a male love interest. Fans will have to stay tuned.

[via: Variety]

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Justina Machado Takes It 'One Day at a Time' (With a Latina Twist)

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Paley Center's Tribute To Hispanic Achievements In Television Presented By VerizonAs a member of the cast of HBO's beloved "Six Feet Under," Justina Machado already has a bona fide classic TV series to her credit. Now, she's turning her attention to resurrecting another for Netflix.

Following her stint on USA's telenovela-inspired summer series "Queen of the South," Machado moves from melodrama to mining the sitcom-mentary spirit of one of legendary television producer Norman Lear's biggest hits of the '70s and '80s: "One Day at a Time." One of Lear's wildly popular comedy series -- along with "All In the Family," "The Jeffersons," "Maude," and "Good Times" -- that ventured into serious social and interpersonal issues, the original explored hot topics of the day, including single parenting, women in the workplace, sisterly rivalry, and other second-wave feminist topics, as well as contemporary spins on classic family clashes.

In the rebooted version -- with Lear, 94, still at the producing helm -- Machado plays Penelope, who, like Bonnie Franklin's Ann Romano, is a single mom to two teenagers (a daughter and a son this time) who's also a Cuban-American and a military veteran, aided -- and often interfered with -- by her live-in mother, played by Rita Moreno.Justina Machado and Rita Moreno in Netflix's ONE DAY AT A TIMEThe series -- shot in the once-traditional four-camera format -- promises to dig into today's relevant issues in the same spirit as the original, and, as Machado reveals to Moviefone, she thinks audiences will be as eager to think and feel along with the laughs as they were in back 1975.

Moviefone: When the call that came about this job, it must have been mind-blowing, to a degree. Tell me about when they expressed interest in having you come and try out for it.

Justina Machado: I don't even think they expressed interest for me. It just happened; I got the audition -- I'm on a list, you know what I'm saying? There's people that they'll want to see -- but I don't think ... I had never worked with any of them before. And also, I think a lot of people always think of me as a dramatic actress. So I think it just was that it was meant to be. There was no, like, "We've got to see Justina Machado," you know what I mean? I walked in and it was all meant to be.

How easy was mastering the comedy? Did you know that you could do comedy?

Yes, yes, because it's not set-up, set-up, set-up, joke. That's what's hard for me, when you've got to hit a certain word. And that's all important, but the wonderful thing about this show is that we're not trying to. The writing is so fabulous that it's just funny. It's like everyday funny stuff. We don't have to set anything up. We don't have to look for a joke. It's just, it's great. And we're OK if it's not always funny because it's got a lot of different levels. It's classic Norman Lear: a lot of laughs, a lot of heart, and you're going to talk about important issues.

Yeah, it breathes and it has a pulse.

Yeah, definitely. It's a pulse. Absolutely.

Where did the original "One Day at a Time" fit in your experience? Did you watch it as a kid?

No, I was too young, but I saw reruns. But by the time I saw the reruns, the single mom and all that wasn't as a big deal by the time. It wasn't as groundbreaking by the time. And then I was into like "Growing Pains" and "Family Ties" and stuff like that. But yeah, I've definitely seen reruns.

Did you look at it at all to prep for this?

I did. I did because a friend told me. He was like, "You should look, and look at the essence of Bonnie Franklin." At first I was like, "I don't really want to do that," because I don't want my head to go there. But then I'm so glad that I did because she actually gave me permission to breathe, like you just said. She gave me permission.

I was like, "Oh wow, they had real conversations." That's what's amazing. It's a different show, but it's really kind of similar, with the dialogue, and with the comedy, and with the drama, and with the tone of the show. The tone is really similar.

What were you excited about as far as the topics and the issues you're going to explore -- because that's Norman Lear's trademark? And we're in a great time in television where nothing is really taboo any more. What was fun for you to do, in terms of "Oh, we're going to talk about this thing that nobody's been talking about?"

I love the immigration episode. I love the episode about Cuba, then we also deal with LGBQT. The church episode; I love that episode, the whole thing. But I think the immigration show was a great one. I have this fabulous monologue that they wrote, and everything is put in this monologue, all of this information, and it's not as if I'm preaching. It's not as if any of us are trying to make you understand.

We don't have an agenda. I love that. It's so heartfelt and it's so informative. I think that's probably one of my favorite episodes. We put a face to it. We put a family to it, and a story. It's not cliché, even though it is cliché because we've heard it, but it's not, the way we deal with it.

Do you think that it's time that comedy got back to the kind of material that Norman did so well, which was to look at something from different angles and really talk about something -- with laughs? Because most comedies in the past, I don't know, 15 years, have been about the laughs.

Yeah, yes. I think that it is important because, right now especially, with the climate of everything that's happening, sometimes maybe we can use it, and I don't want to sound arrogant, but maybe change minds. On the show, we all have different opinions, even with the sexism episode. My mother thinks one thing, I think another thing, my daughter thinks another thing, but yet we're all able to talk to each other. And nobody wants to talk to each other any more. Everybody just wants to insult each other, and yell at each other and be mad, and "I'm on this side and you're on that side."

And it's true -- I think Norman said it: people don't want to talk to people who have different opinions anymore. They don't want to do it. When I go to New York I see it sometimes, but they don't want to do it because it's uncomfortable. Nobody wants to be uncomfortable any more, but now what's happening? Now there's a lot of discomfort.

Now it's like people have got to wake up. Every single one of us, me included, and be uncomfortable, and deal with the stuff that we have to deal with and have that dialogue again. So yes, I think it's super important. And I think "Blackish" is doing it -- I think that's a great show, and that's doing it. That's what I love about his format. And yes, I think that the entertainment has to go that route again, a little bit. We can get a little bit of everything. Everything is good, but more of this needs to happen.

Then there's that traditional quality of the show with the four-camera setup, which hardly anybody is doing any more.

I know, that was weird to me. I think that when you think of that you think cheesy, and that's the truth. Or, like, corny. It's like "That's corny. I don't want to watch that show." But watching it, it was kind of awesome because it looks like a play. It really looks like a play.

We don't have the fancy single-camera shots. Because if you watch a single-camera show, it's like close-up, close-up, close-up, side view. No, it's kind of like, "Maybe I don't get a close-up right now. Maybe the camera is all the way over there." It's all about the storytelling and not about fancy shots. That's what's interesting. It's not about fancy shots, the four-camera.

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Michael Keaton Turned Down 'Batman Forever' Because the Script 'Sucked'

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michael keaton, batman, batman forever, script, sucked, joel schumacherChristopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy marked a departure for the superhero genre, and particularly the "Batman" films, exploring the character's darker roots. But those still cringing over Joel Schumacher's cheese-tastic entries in the series may have forgotten that Batman had previously been given a more gritty treatment under the guidance of director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton, who paired for the franchise's first two installments. And according to Keaton, it was specifically because Schumacher wanted to change so much of that tone that he decided to bow out of one of his most famous roles.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor explained how his collaboration with Burton on 1988's "Beetlejuice" led to them working together again on the inaugural big screen outings of the Caped Crusaded. While 1989's "Batman" and 1992's "Batman Returns" were hits, they were also a big gamble, Keaton told THR, and their darker tone certainly set them apart from previous superhero flicks like those in the Christopher Reeve-fronted "Superman" series.

As Keaton tells it, he much preferred that direction, which is why he bristled at Schumacher's insistence on changing the tone of the series when he took the helm for 1995's "Batman Forever." According to the actor, there were problems with the flick from the very beginning:

"It sucked," Keaton says of the script he was shown. "I knew it was in trouble when he [Schumacher] said, 'Why does everything have to be so dark?' "

The actor walked away from the franchise, and the titular role in "Batman Forever" eventually went to Val Kilmer (George Clooney later played the hero in "Batman and Robin"). As he explained to THR, Keaton didn't work very steadily in the years directly following that decision.

But the actor has found success again in recent years, lampooning his superhero past in "Birdman" (and earning himself an Oscar nomination for Best Actor and an armful of other awards in the process), and returning to the genre with an appearance as a villain in the upcoming Marvel flick "Spider-Man: Homecoming." We'd say that's a pretty fair trade.

[via: The Hollywood Reporter]

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'Fuller House' Renewed for Season 3 With More Episodes

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fuller house, season 3, renewed, renewal, more episodes, longer season"Fuller House" is getting even bigger: The Netflix original series has officially been renewed for a third season, and has also received an expanded episode order.

News of the renewal broke just in time for last month's Christmas holiday, with the "Full House" sequel series announcing the news on its social media accounts. Season two of the show premiered on Netflix on December 9.

Jeff Franklin -- the creator of both "Full House" and "Fuller House," who recently purchased the iconic San Francisco house used for exterior shots of the Tanner/Fuller home on the two series -- followed up that announcement with one of his own, revealing on New Year's Day that instead of the traditional 13 episodes that made up seasons one and two of "Fuller House," season three would be getting 18 installments. Franklin made things official with a post on Instagram.

Happy New Year! Looking forward to season 3 -- 18 episodes -- Back to work on Monday!

A photo posted by Jeff Franklin (@fullerhouseguy) on

According to Variety, viewership has actually been down since season two launched, with Symphony Advanced Media (an unofficial chronicler of Netflix viewing data) reporting that the audience for the season two premiere was 67 percent smaller than that of the season one premiere (a 3.32 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo, versus the debut season's 10.16 rating). Despite those grim numbers (which Netflix has said in the past are inaccurate), the streaming service apparently wants to see more from the Tanner and Fuller clans, and this upped episode order confirms the company's faith in the series.

No word yet on when season three of "Fuller House" may premiere. According to Fuller, production on the new episodes starts this week.

[via: Fuller House/Twitter, Jeff Franklin/Instagram, Variety]

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Doctor Strange to Have Big Role in 'Thor: Ragnarok'

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doctor strange, benedict cumberbatchThe secret keepers at Marvel have managed to conceal a key role in "Thor: Ragnarok" -- until now. A new preview of Disney fan expo D23 has revealed that Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) will be front and center alongside the titular god of thunder for the threequel.

The news was revealed thanks to a posting on the D23 website, which listed a bunch of upcoming projects from the Disney family, including Pixar releases like "Cars 3," live-action features such as the "Beauty and the Beast" remake and the hotly-anticipated "Star Wars: Episode VIII," and several Marvel movies, including "Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2." Listed among that latter group was the third "Thor" flick, which D23 gave the following synopsis:

"Thor: Ragnarok" in November brings together Thor, the Hulk, and Doctor Strange to face off against intergalactic baddies both familiar and new.

According to TheWrap, Strange's involvement in the "Thor" franchise was telegraphed by the post-credits scene in October's "Doctor Strange" standalone, which depicted "Thor [Chris Hemsworth] paying Strange a visit in his Sanctum Sanctorum, with Strange promising to help Thor locate Loki so the brothers can return to Asgard. 'Thor: Ragnarok' director Taika Waititi reportedly shot the scene."

In addition to Doctor Strange, the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) will also play a crucial role in the flick. The trio will hit the big screen again when "Thor: Ragnarok" debuts on November 3.

[via: D23, h/t TheWrap]

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25 Things You Never Knew About the Golden Globes

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Nominations Announcement For The 74th Annual Golden Globe AwardsFor a night known as Hollywood's most notorious open-bar gala, the Golden Globes ceremony remains (somewhat) shrouded in mystery.

Most viewers probably don't even know who presents it (the Hollywood Foreign Press Association), how many voting members it has (only about 90), or what qualifies them to pass judgment on movies and television. Yet movie fans and awards mavens continue to take the Golden Globes seriously as a precursor to the Academy Awards, since some of the Globe honorees will indeed go on to win Oscars.

With Jimmy Fallon set to make his hosting debut this weekend, here are 25 things you never knew about the Golden Globes.

1. Founded in October 1943 by eight foreign-market journalists, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (then called the Hollywood Foreign Correspondents Association) held its first awards ceremony the following spring, as a luncheon at 20th Century Fox. Instead of trophies, the winners took home scrolls.

2. The next year, the foreign press group held the ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel, but the young group had so little money to stage the event that it solicited actress Joan Bennett's gardener to supply the flowers for the centerpieces.

3. Bette Midler raised eyebrows with her speech in 1980, when she won a pair of trophies for her film debut in "The Rose" (Best Actress and Best New Female Star). Purporting to quote Joan Crawford, she mimed cupping her breasts and said, "I'll show you a pair of Golden Globes!"

4. For the first 14 years, the Globes were presented by HFPA journalists, but, in 1958, Rat Packers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. stormed the stage, wielding whiskey glasses and cigarettes, and began riffing. They were a hit, and the next year, they were asked back as presenters. Now all the awards are presented by celebrities, just like at the Oscars.

5. The Globes first handed out a career achievement prize in 1952, to legendary director and Hollywood founding father Cecil B. DeMille. The award has been named for him ever since. (Meryl Streep will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award at this year's ceremony.)

6. Since 1961, the Golden Globe ceremony has been held at the International Ballroom of The Beverly Hilton.

7. The Miss Golden Globe tradition, in which a starlet helps the presenters usher the winners on and off the stage, began in 1963. Originally, there were two Miss Golden Globes, one for TV and one for film. Today, there's just one, and she's traditionally the daughter of a star.

8. The Golden Globes were first televised nationally in 1964, as a segment on "The Andy Williams Show." Shirley MacLaine won Best Actress for "Irma La Douce," but her speech was abruptly cut off by a commercial break.

9. NBC stopped airing the show in 1968, after the FCC complained that the HFPA "misled the public as to how the winners were determined." According to the FCC, the judges would choose winners based on attendance; if the chosen star didn't show, they'd pick someone who did. The HFPA revised its voting procedures and handed over the responsibility of tallying the votes to an outside accounting firm, as the Oscars do. NBC lifted its ban and resumed broadcasting the Golden Globes in 1975.

10. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," one of only three films in Oscar history to win the top five awards (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay), was the first (and only) movie to pull off the same feat at the Golden Globes, in 1976.

11. The most nominated movie ever was 1975's "Nashville," with nine nods, but it won only one, for the original song "I'm Easy."

12. Before he was famous as a conspiracy theorist, Oliver Stone was a Golden Globe winner for his screenplay for "Midnight Express." His 1979 speech turned into a tirade against U.S. drug policy (a theme relevant to his movie) that soon had the audience booing and presenter Chevy Chase urging him to just say thank you and exit. Finally, security guards approached, and Stone left the dais.

13. Group president Marina Cisternas designed the trophy in 1946, envisioning a golden globe encircled by a strip of film. The strip is delicate and flimsy, and more than one honoree (including Laurence Olivier) has accidentally broken it even before leaving the podium.

14. The Golden Globes took the biggest hit to their credibility in 1982, when Pia Zadora won the Best New Female Star prize for her campy turn in the exploitation melodrama "Butterfly," a movie that hadn't even opened theatrically at the time of the nominations. (Among the actresses she beat: Elizabeth McGovern in "Ragtime" and Kathleen Turner in "Body Heat.") The award was widely assumed to be payback to Zadora's husband, casino mogul Meshulam Riklis, who had treated some HFPA members to a lavish junket at his Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas (where Zadora had a nightclub act) and to an extravagant luncheon at his house. A couple years later, the group stopped giving out the New Star awards altogether.

15. Everyone remembers that Christine Lahti was in the bathroom when she was announced as a winner for TV's "Chicago Hope" in 1998. Not many remember, however, that the same humiliating moment befell Renée Zellweger three years later.

16. Ties are extremely rare at the Oscars, less so at the Golden Globes. In 1949, "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "Johnny Belinda" tied for Best Picture.

17. The only three-way tie in Golden Globe history occurred in 1989, when the Best Actress award was shared among Jodie Foster ("The Accused"), Shirley MacLaine ("Madame Sousatzka") and Sigourney Weaver ("Gorillas in the Mist").

18. Jamie Foxx holds a record for the most nominations in a single year. He came into the 2005 ceremony with three nods, for his role in TV movie "Redemption," his supporting role in the big-screen thriller "Collateral," and his lead role as Ray Charles in "Ray." His "Ray" performance won him the Golden Globe (and the Oscar).

19. Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford met when she accidentally spilled wine on him at the 2002 Golden Globe ceremony.

20. Golden Globe voters once nominated a fictional character for a screenwriting award. The nomination came in 2003 for the "Adaptation" screenplay, credited to real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and his imaginary brother, Donald -- both of whom were played in the film by Nicolas Cage. The Oscars later went on to nominate Donald Kaufman as well.

21. In 2008, the Golden Globes were pre-empted by the Writers Guild strike. NBC simply ran a two-hour episode of "Dateline" instead, while the winners were announced via press conference.

22. The red carpet hasn't been immune to controversy. In 2005, Kathy Griffin joked that 10-year-old Dakota Fanning was entering rehab, which led to a forced on-air apology from the E! channel, a donation from the channel to Fanning's favorite charity, and Griffin's firing from future E! awards show coverage. The following year, E! red carpet interviewer Isaac Mizrahi generated complaints for grabbing Scarlett Johansson's breasts during their chat. Maybe the designer was measuring her for a gown.

23. The most notorious backstage interview came in 2007, among the "Grey's Anatomy" cast, involving Isaiah Washington making an offensive comment regarding co-star T.R. Knight. Washington soon left the drama series under a cloud of controversy.

24. Worst fashion faux pas? Probably Lara Flynn Boyle's notorious ballerina tutu in 2003, along with her David Cardona leotard and lace-up slippers. Runner-up: Whoopi Goldberg's yellow track suit, worn at her first Golden Globe appearance in 1986.

25. Allegations of payola surfaced again in 2011, when Columbia's thriller "The Tourist" was nominated for Best Comedy/Musical, as was the studio's "Burlesque." (Also nominated, for their lead roles, were "Tourist" stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.) Both movies had underwhelmed critics, and it was a real stretch to call the mildly tongue-in-cheek "Tourist" a comedy, but it came out that the studio had flown HFPA members to Vegas on a junket that included a private concert by "Burlesque" star Cher. (It was almost the same situation as the "Butterfly" scandal three decades before.) There was no proof of a quid pro quo, and in the case of "The Tourist," there might not even have been one. Rather, its nominations were a way of ensuring that Depp and Jolie would show up on the red carpet.

The 74th Golden Globe Awards airs Sunday, January 8, on NBC.

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Mark Hamill Writes Touching Tribute to 'Star Wars' Sister Carrie Fisher

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Star Wars Celebration 2015Just like Luke and Leia will forever hold a bond as twins, so too will Mark Hamill and the late Carrie Fisher.

Hamill wrote a touching tribute column in the Hollywood Reporter, recalling how they first met and and their friendship over the last few decades.

"I was just bowled over," he remembers of their first meeting before filming "Star Wars." "I mean she was just so instantly ingratiating and funny and outspoken. She had a way of just being so brutally candid. I'd just met her but it was like talking to a person you'd known for 10 years."

He recounts anecdotes about discovering they were famous and how she told stories about her celebrity parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (who died a day after her daughter). And he writes about doing "crazy things" to amuse Fisher.

"Making her laugh was always a badge of honor."

Hamill also feels grateful that they "got to have this second act with the new movies." Both appeared in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," though Luke only popped up briefly at the end. It seems likely that he and his sister will reunite in "Episode VIII."

"I think it was reassuring to her that I was there, the same person, that she could trust me, as critical as we could sometimes be with each other," he says. "We ran the gamut over the years, where we were in love with each other, where we hated each other's guts. 'I'm not speaking to you, you're such a judgmental, royal brat!' We went through it all. It's like we were a family."

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11 Times 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' Made Us LMFAO

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"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" is about to start its 12th season! Yes, you read that right, "It's Always Sunny" is older than some popular actresses on the Disney Channel right now.

To celebrate its return, we're looking back on the show's funniest moments. Here are 11 that will never not make us laugh.

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Amazon Renews 'Man in the High Castle' for Season 3

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Dystopia isn't ending anytime soon on "The Man in the High Castle." Amazon announced that it is renewing the dark thriller for a third season.

The series broke viewing records for Amazon in season 1, and the streaming service claimed that season 2 premiered with the most viewers over its debut weekend than any of its other original series.

Season 2 continued to explore the story of what America would've been like if the Allies had lost World War II. Germany controls the East Coast, while Japan oversees the West. Meanwhile, insurrection is brewing in the heartland.

Amazon also revealed that a new showrunner will come on board in season 3. Original executive producer Frank Spotnitz abruptly left in the middle of season 2 after reportedly clashing with Amazon. Now, "Bosch" executive producer Eric Overmyer (who also co-created "Treme") will take the reins.

"As timely as ever, the exploration of characters at a dark point for humanity has provided incredible stories for two seasons," Amazon Studios comedy and drama chief Joe Lewis said in announcing the renewal. "Eric and his team are doing an incredible job crafting stories about the inner lives of those who struggle to do good in a world that is not. We couldn't be more excited to bring Season 3 to customers in 2017.

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Here's Arnold Schwarzenegger's Top-Secret Catchphrase For 'Celebrity Apprentice'

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"You're fired" is so 2015. There's a new "Celebrity Apprentice" host and a new catchphrase for the new year.

The words that Arnold Schwarzenegger, the host of "The New Celebrity Apprentice," utters to eliminate contestants were kept so top-secret that not even he knew what they would end up being. The producers filmed nine different catchphrases and the final choice was not revealed until last night's premiere episode.

And it is: "You're terminated."

Duh! So obvious!

The first two celebs to hear the new phrase were singer Carnie Wilson and Youtube star Carrie Keagan. The movie star and former governor of California tweeted about unveiling of the elimination motto:

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The Past Haunts Christian and Anastasia in New 'Fifty Shades Darker' Trailer

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Every fairy tale has a dark side, warns the new extended trailer for "Fifty Shades of Grey."

The spot debuted last night during the premiere of "The Bachelor" and is set to the smoldering new song "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" by Taylor Swift and Zayn.

There isn't a ton of new footage, as previous trailers have shown the steamy shower scene and risque elevator petting. But we get more in-depth looks at the obstacles who seek to disrupt Christian (Jamie Dornan) and Anastasia's (Dakota Johnson) reunion.Two of those obstacles are women from Christian's past, including a creepy stalker and an older woman (Kim Basinger) who asks Ana, "Do you think you're the first?" And then there's Ana's menacing boss (Eric Johnson) who snarks, "Your boyfriend has a reputation." Looks like "happily ever after" is going to be a tough task for these two.

"Fifty Shades Darker" opens in theaters Feb.10.

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