Marvel Studios(LOS ANGELES) — The second Captain Marvel movie has finally found its new director in Candyman‘s Nia DaCosta.
Deadline reports that DaCosta, who directed Jordan Peele’s reboot of the 1992 slasher film, will sit in the director’s chair when Captain Marvel 2 starts filming. This makes her the first Black woman to direct a Marvel Studios picture.
DaCosta is an up and comer who broke into the spotlight directing the critically acclaimed indie flick Little Woods, which ultimately led Peele to hand-pick her to helm Candyman.
She replaces Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who directed the first film that saw critical box office success, grossing $1.13 billion worldwide.
While Disney and MarvelStudios have not confirmed DaCosta’s involvement, Deadline reports that the studios had spent the “past couple of months” interviewing candidates to give a “fresh voice” to Captain Marvel’s second chapter.
Brie Lason is attached to reprise the role as one of the MCU’s most powerful superheroes. Further movie details, such as when filming will start, is currently unknown.
It is also predicted that Captain Marvel 2 could also become the highest-budgeted movie helmed by a Black female director. The record is currently held by Ava DuVernay, who directed the $115 million budget A Wrinkle in Time.
Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
(NEW YORK) — Along the East Coast, where millions are still without power thanks to Hurricane and Tropical Storm Isaias, the region is set to get more rain in the coming days.
Already Thursday morning, a round of storms is moving through parts of Maryland and Virginia. These storms are headed off to Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the next few hours.
A new flash flood watch has been issued for the region because parts of the area received 7-9 inches of rain from Isaias. In eastern Pennsylvania, rivers are just beginning to recede from elevated levels due to the excessive rainfall. Any additional rain could cause flash flooding.
As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, more than 2.1 million customers were still without power along the East Coast. Those numbers are particularly bad in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where each state has more than 600,000 customers without power.
High-resolution models are showing that some of the storms will likely make it into the New York City metro area by Friday, where localized flooding will be possible.
Then it appears another wave of strong storms will arrive early Saturday morning in parts of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and perhaps New York City.
These storms could bring 3 to 4 inches of rain to parts of the Mid-Atlantic, especially northern Virginia to southern New Jersey, which means the flooding threat could last for the next few days.
Meanwhile out west, a fire threat remains from Arizona to Montana due to dry and gusty winds. In Nevada, the dry air and lightning pose a risk for fires.
ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Alyssa Milano is cautioning fans that COVID-19 testing isn’t 100 percent reliable after testing negative for the virus three times despite having serious symptoms. Finally, an antibody test — her fourth overall — told her what she already knew.
The Charmed actress shared two photos to Instagram on Wednesday, the first one of her breathing with the assistance of a ventilator and the second being that of her positive COVID-19 test.
“This was me on April 2nd after being sick for 2 weeks. I had never been this kind of sick,” The 47-year-old explained. “I basically had every Covid symptom.”
“It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t keep food in me. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks,” Milano listed off, adding that she suffered from fever, malaise and confusion.
Despite presenting all the textbook symptoms, the Who’s the Boss? star claimed she tested negative for the virus on three separate occasions, including a finger prick antibody test.
Still, symptoms persisted and morphed into other complications, such as vertigo and “zero short term memory.” Finally, she submitted herself for a fourth and final test, a blood draw antibody test, and finally learned that she did have COVID-19.
Now, she’s using her platform to educate her followers that “our testing system is flawed and we don’t know the real numbers.”
“This illness is not a hoax,” Milano continued. “I thought I was dying. It felt like I was dying.”
The mother of two revealed that she now intends to donate her plasma “with hopes that I might save a life.”
Urging her 2.8 million followers to “take care of yourselves” by wearing a mask and social distancing, Milano begged, “I don’t want anyone to feel the way I felt.”
Incidentally, Milano created a firestorm on Twitter back in May when she uploaded a picture of herself wearing a mask that appeared to be crocheted. She later addressed detractors by insisting she had a real protective mask under the crocheted one, which was full of holes.
ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — Ratings for Ellen Degeneres’ daytime talk show hit an all-time low last month following the bombshell Buzzfeed article alleging a toxic work environment behind the scenes, according to The Wrap.
Ellen’s ratings, for the week ending July 26, were down 9% from the previous week, based on Nielsen, and a staggering 29% from the same week last summer.
That 29% drop compares with a -27% drop in the prior week — versus the comparable week in 2019 — which was the same week in which Buzzfeed published its first story about The Ellen DeGeneres Show, according to The Wrap.
It should be noted that ratings for talk shows are typically lower while in summer repeats.
A growing number of former employees and one current Ellen staff member have spoken out about experiencing misconduct, racism and intimidation in the workplace. An internal investigation is taking place.
(NEW YORK) — Video released of five North Carolina detention officers restraining an inmate in a cell shows the prisoner saying “I can’t breathe” before he lost consciousness and died two days later.
The five officers and a nurse were charged last month with involuntary manslaughter in the December 2019 death of John Neville, a 56-year-old Black man, at Forsyth County Detention Center in Winston-Salem.
Neville was being held at the facility on a pending assault charge when he apparently fell from the top bunk of his bed onto a concrete floor, prompting officers to check on him, according to authorities.
“Alright John, we’re going to take your blood pressure,” one of the five officers to respond could be heard telling Neville in body camera footage of the Dec. 2 incident that was released Wednesday.
Things took a turn when the officers put a spit mask over Neville’s head as the nurse attempted to treat him. An autopsy report said he was thrashing and at times unresponsive.
The officers handcuffed Neville behind his back and moved him to another cell for observation.
“I can’t breathe,” he can be heard saying in the video.
The five detention officers restrained him facedown and attempted to unlock the handcuffs, but required the use of bolt cutters to remove them from Neville’s wrists.
Again, Neville said he was having trouble breathing, to which a guard responded, “You can breathe — you’re talking aren’t you?”
Neville died two days later in an area hospital, after jail staff found him not breathing and could not detect a pulse. A medical examiner said he ultimately died from a brain injury that was caused by the way he was being restrained.
The autopsy also found a number of underlying medical conditions, including asthma and heart disease. The five detention officers were fired as a result of the incident.
A spokesperson for Wellpath, the medical agency that employs the nurse, said that she did not engage in misconduct and, when permitted to act, she worked diligently to save Neville’s life. The spokesperson added that she is currently on paid administrative leave and has Wellpath’s complete support.
Forsyth County Superior Court Judge R. Gregory Horne issued a ruling Friday releasing the video footage because he said it “is necessary to advance a compelling public interest.”
The Forsyth County sheriff issued an apology in the wake of the newly released videos.
“I apologize again for what happened on that day,” Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough said at a news conference Tuesday. “We’re sorry for the mistakes made that day. I take responsibility for that as the sheriff.”
Neville’s family, represented by attorney Michael Grace, has filed a civil lawsuit against the county of Forsyth and Wellpath “to see the family is justly compensated.”
“The sheriff has acknowledged mistakes were made and that means a lot to the family. It won’t bring John Neville back … but it goes a way toward causing this terrible scar to heal over again,” Grace said at the news conference.
Marvel Studios(LOS ANGELES) — The second Captain Marvel movie has finally found its new director in Candyman‘s Nia DaCosta.
